Disagree, one of the reasons I'm an onion hater is precisely because they're in flipping everything. Anything savoury is likely to have that pervasive thickness that chases any other flavour out.
You're not wrong. I love onions, but I will freely admit that they are a powerful flavor and they are basically in everything.
I will note that if you're in this camp, that if you soak your onions in water for a couple minutes after slicing they are significantly less pungent, and will allow you to taste the other stuff better without sacrificing the texture they add
And, if you instead soak them in a thinned, high-fat dairy of your choice (ie. buttermilk, diluted crème fraîche, etc.), the onions' allinases are even more delicate and allow for the subtle notes of your chosen cultivar to be enjoyed in their place. FWIW, this is a key step in fried onion rings.
I'm curious about how far your onion dislike goes. For example, I recently cooked lohiketto, a Finnish salmon soup. It feels like a rare meal that doesn't use onions (it's basically leek, carrot, potatoes, cream, salmon and dill), but the leek sort of fills the role that onions usually would, albeit more delicately.
Y'all must have some crazy strong-flavored marsh weed. The common leeks in the US (store bought or homegrown) tend to be milder than late-season scallions with a fibrous structure akin to artichoke leaves. That's genuinely interesting!
I don't mind onions when they're used as a real ingredient. French onion soup, stir-fry, onion rings, all good. Onions also make decent filler in soup and curry, but I think the only soup I've had without onion is cheese & broccoli. Every ground meat I've seen uses onions as filler, so every burger, nearly every taco, most sausages, every lasagna, every spring roll, all have that onion taste.
If leeks were used like this, I'd probably hate them too.
There are a number of uses for raw or very lightly cooked onion. In my experience people with rigid rules around how ingredients can be used or prepared often can't cook well
Nah a good raw red onion is exactly what some salsas and guacs want. Ooh and the occasional salad that could use a bit of bite. And of course sandwiches.
Yup. The only real exception is trimming connective tissue from meat. A slightly dull knife can perfectly peel it away without wasting much meat, a nice sharp knife will cut straight through it and make way more work for yourself
Uh huh. How much meat have you trimmed? Tons? Slightly dull is sharp enough to separate meat from silverskin, but not chop into the meat or silverskin. It's faster, more efficient, less wasteful. If you're using a sharp knife, you're either not being thorough, you're being wasteful, or you're taking longer than you need to. Full stop. A slightly dull blade is the technique.
I bit into a whole onion once. I peeled the skin first though, which tells you there must have been some insane part of me that expected to enjoy the experience. "Hang on, get that paper off first or it'll taste bad"? What was I thinking.
If it were a sweet onion, I think I could survive it. A red onion... I think I'd toss it to the lad next to me and try to deck him when he went to catch it. Run out the door while he's down and have a friend yell after me that I could have politely said no thanks
this well describes a taste I got when eating shrimp which otherwise had no reaction before I had a full blown puff your face up and trouble breathing from eating a different shellfish.
Related: Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats explored different ways to mince garlic, finding that some methods significantly increased garlic's pungency/strength (and also that long cooking methods negate much of this difference)
I'm not saying that leeks are onions (though they are alliums, i.e. of the same family). To me, whilst they do taste quite different to onions, there is still a flavour that I would describe as onion-y
Yeah as a chef I only learnt how to dice, chiffonade, brunoise, batonnete, julienne and tourne all sorts of food cause it looks cool.
Different shapes and sizes is extremely important, it's why salt flakes taste different to iodized salt because of surface area or why a thicker slice of ham will taste different to a thinner one.
Also if you cant cut something consistently half of its going to overcook and half of its going to undercook.
It's true though.
As I say to the onion-haters, "They're in almost all the food you enjoy: you just don't know it."
Disagree, one of the reasons I'm an onion hater is precisely because they're in flipping everything. Anything savoury is likely to have that pervasive thickness that chases any other flavour out.
You're not wrong. I love onions, but I will freely admit that they are a powerful flavor and they are basically in everything.
I will note that if you're in this camp, that if you soak your onions in water for a couple minutes after slicing they are significantly less pungent, and will allow you to taste the other stuff better without sacrificing the texture they add
“deflaming”
And, if you instead soak them in a thinned, high-fat dairy of your choice (ie. buttermilk, diluted crème fraîche, etc.), the onions' allinases are even more delicate and allow for the subtle notes of your chosen cultivar to be enjoyed in their place. FWIW, this is a key step in fried onion rings.
I'm curious about how far your onion dislike goes. For example, I recently cooked lohiketto, a Finnish salmon soup. It feels like a rare meal that doesn't use onions (it's basically leek, carrot, potatoes, cream, salmon and dill), but the leek sort of fills the role that onions usually would, albeit more delicately.
TIL: In Finland, leeks are like onions.
In Sweden we call them purjolök (lök means onion)
Y'all must have some crazy strong-flavored marsh weed. The common leeks in the US (store bought or homegrown) tend to be milder than late-season scallions with a fibrous structure akin to artichoke leaves. That's genuinely interesting!
I don't mind onions when they're used as a real ingredient. French onion soup, stir-fry, onion rings, all good. Onions also make decent filler in soup and curry, but I think the only soup I've had without onion is cheese & broccoli. Every ground meat I've seen uses onions as filler, so every burger, nearly every taco, most sausages, every lasagna, every spring roll, all have that onion taste.
If leeks were used like this, I'd probably hate them too.
It really is just a texture thing for me. Hate onions, love onion powder.
Edit: or a homemade onion slurry is also fine
I didn't even know "onion-haters" exist
Cooked onions. Only people who can't cook serve them raw.
In general, maybe so. But I love a burger with the fresh crunch of a slice of red onion
There are a number of uses for raw or very lightly cooked onion. In my experience people with rigid rules around how ingredients can be used or prepared often can't cook well
I think that applies in life more generally tbh. People who tend toward extremes don't handle nuance very well. Most of life is nuance
Nah a good raw red onion is exactly what some salsas and guacs want. Ooh and the occasional salad that could use a bit of bite. And of course sandwiches.
Salad isn't generally "cooking", TBF. Hell, it's one of the reasons why garde manger is the next rung up from commis/chaos goblin. 👩🏼🍳
So... You? 🤷🏽♂️
The more you cut, the more you break cell walls, and the more pungent the onion becomes.
Finally. ty.
Huge stretch here, but did you watch the ultimate onion guide on YouTube?
Maybe? I've watched a lot of YouTube videos. I spent several years working in a kitchen, which is where that knowledge comes from.
The finer you cut, the less you bite, which would also break cell walls, maybe more over a sharp knife?
Kidding kinda
Pungency is volatile. The first cuts either need to happen right before as garnish, or go into something before all the good stuff evaporates.
If you keep your knife properly sharp, you'll do better in pretty much every cooking project.
A dull knife crushes more than it cuts, squeezing out the allinases and misting the air with them.
Yup. The only real exception is trimming connective tissue from meat. A slightly dull knife can perfectly peel it away without wasting much meat, a nice sharp knife will cut straight through it and make way more work for yourself
Um... No. Don't blame your tools. Improve your technique. A knife is only as sharp as the mind wielding it. 👩🏼🍳
I've trimmed literally tons of meat. You don't know what you're talking about, slightly dull is better.
Uh hunh. 30+ years in culinary across several countries and dozens of cultures, and you're the expert. Oh, sweetie.
Uh huh. How much meat have you trimmed? Tons? Slightly dull is sharp enough to separate meat from silverskin, but not chop into the meat or silverskin. It's faster, more efficient, less wasteful. If you're using a sharp knife, you're either not being thorough, you're being wasteful, or you're taking longer than you need to. Full stop. A slightly dull blade is the technique.
Especially when cooked
Especially after you factor in cooking. How fast. How hot. What method.
It's about the texture, the consistency and how much onion you get with your bite.
Exactly. Putting rings of onion in, say, a pot of chili would make it have a weird texture, as would dicing them finely for a French onion soup.
Just shovel them into my mouth. 👀
I too love red onions.
I'd eat an onion like an apple.
I bit into a whole onion once. I peeled the skin first though, which tells you there must have been some insane part of me that expected to enjoy the experience. "Hang on, get that paper off first or it'll taste bad"? What was I thinking.
If it were a sweet onion, I think I could survive it. A red onion... I think I'd toss it to the lad next to me and try to deck him when he went to catch it. Run out the door while he's down and have a friend yell after me that I could have politely said no thanks
God I hate imagining you eating all the red onions 😭
What’s wrong babe? You haven’t even touched your onion plate
Kathy Bates has entered the chat
I had a roommate that was obsessed with replicating the McDonald's dollar menu hamburger. He said the finely chopped onions made all the difference.
They absolutely do. He is correct.
They are actually dehydrated to ship then rehydrated in the store also
This makes me want to cry
Snort
Put your head in the freezer
it's like different shapes of pasta all over again
I'd argue that they all taste like licking a 9v battery.
Maybe I should start licking batteries, then. I had no idea they tasted so delicious.
that may be a sign you’re allergic
this well describes a taste I got when eating shrimp which otherwise had no reaction before I had a full blown puff your face up and trouble breathing from eating a different shellfish.
I thought that was more like salt and vinegar?
...which I also love
Related: Daniel Gritzer of Serious Eats explored different ways to mince garlic, finding that some methods significantly increased garlic's pungency/strength (and also that long cooking methods negate much of this difference)
None of those are "finely sliced rings", though...
Then OP must die.
Sorry, OP, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. RIP.
Top right, with sliced tomato, on a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese.
So good...
For the 3 on the right side, it matters quite a bit whether you slice in direction from root to stem or cross, root to stem is much better.
https://youtu.be/NUXKbBEjSqU
.......
yeah?
is this actually news to anyone?
"I ALREADY KNEW THIS! HEY EVERYONE! DID YOU KNOW I ALREADY KNEW THIS?!?"
yes.
I want to argue you, but I can't.
Sharp, bitter, stomach pains.
I'm not saying that leeks are onions (though they are alliums, i.e. of the same family). To me, whilst they do taste quite different to onions, there is still a flavour that I would describe as onion-y
Where's the cheese and apple?
Dear community: do we downvote to disagree here? Because OP is wrong bite me…
tell me you’ve never cooked any actual food without saying you’ve never cooked any actual food
“oh I can make dinner! do you want pb&j, a grilled cheese, or one of those microwave curries from trader joe’s? We could doordash too I guess”
It's just a funny, honey bunny.
Yeah as a chef I only learnt how to dice, chiffonade, brunoise, batonnete, julienne and tourne all sorts of food cause it looks cool.
Different shapes and sizes is extremely important, it's why salt flakes taste different to iodized salt because of surface area or why a thicker slice of ham will taste different to a thinner one.
Also if you cant cut something consistently half of its going to overcook and half of its going to undercook.
Tell me you learnt to cook to get laid without saying you learnt to cook to get laid.
"If you play your cards right, I might let you taste my steak au poivre ;)"