Apologies to Mary Poppins fans. I just had to write that headline… But it’s true, and it’s one of the most underrated, least-known kitchen hacks you’ll ever discover. I learned it from an old friend who’s always claimed she’s ‘not such a great cook’!
The objective, more often than not, when frying onions, is to caramelize them. That is, to tenderize them and impart a beautiful brown colour without overcooking them…
Chef secrets…
This kitchen hack is as fundamental; to successfully cooking onions as adding a teaspoon of sugar to tomato sauce. And it’s just as unknown to the average cook.
I first encountered it before I even enrolled in culinary school. And I can tell you – no offense to my instructors – that none of those top-tier Red Seal-certified chefs ever mentioned it.
I learned this invaluable trick from an old friend, Natalie, who had relocated to a town 100 mi. / 160 km from where I first knew her. Lucky for me, her new place was right on my route ‘home’ from Ottawa to visit my Mom…
A revelation
I arranged to arrive at Natalie’s place, along side an idyllic river that glittered with life under a full noonday sun, just in time for lunch. Nat had enticed me to stop by with the promise of a bowl of her trademark French Onion Soup and a fresh, homemade baguette.
When I got there, she was just slicing the onions – a big yellow ones – into nice 1/4 in. / 0.75 cm sliv-ers. I had to ask,” Oh! Am I early?”
I assumed it would take some time to caramelize the onions and them make the soup… I was wrong.
Natalie’s process
She just smiled and explained her ‘family secret’… Using olive oil rather than butter to start the on-ions, she waited until they were just transparent. Then sprinkled on a teaspoonful of plain white granulated sugar. The onions caramelized beautifully in only about another minute or so, stirring constantly. And they remained substantial – did not go mushy in subsequent simmering like so many over-cooked onions in soups.
After the onions reached the desired appearance , she added two cups of her own beef stock stirred once more and put on the lid. After another few minutes, the onions were perfectly tender, and the flavour was… Like nothing I’d ever tasted before!
My take
For a long while after that, I was putting Nat’s onions and putting them in and on everything I could think of. Pizzas, stews, soups (of course), Asian stir frys… You name it.
Knowing Natalie’s hack… Will you make dishes more often that call for, or absolutely cry out for cara-melized onions?
~ Maggie J.