Recipe Turmeric Pickled Onions

[The Late Night Gourmet]

We all learned in school that blending two colors creates a new color. If you've ever made pickled red onions, you know that the skin bleeds into the rest of the mixture, creating a nice magenta sort of color. Add in the yellow of turmeric, and you get - say it with me class - orange. Or, an orangey sort of yellow.

A traditional pickled onion requires vinegar, sugar, salt, and red onions. You can certainly pickle a white onion to get a more vibrant yellow color. Since I seem to want everything I eat to be spicy, I also add in ground chile de arbol, but that part is optional. Note that the sugar really is required to temper the intensity of the onion.

Ingredients

1 red onion
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground turmeric (NOTE: I don't measure, and I believe I used more than this in the picture below)
1/2 teaspoon ground chile de arbol

Directions

1. Heat vinegar and water in a pot until bubbles just start to form. Dissolve salt, sugar, turmeric, and chile de arbol in the mixture, then raise to a boil.

2. Slice the onion into uniform pieces (I used a mandoline set to 2mm).

3. Remove the pot of boiling mixture from the heat, then immerse the onion in the mixture. Cover, and let sit for at least 20 minutes.

4. Stuff the onion slices into a large jar. Pour the pickling mixture in the jar until it completely covers the onions. Seal the jar, and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate. The pickled onions can be used immediately if desired, but the flavor is better if it is allowed to sit at least overnight.

 

[Burt Blank]

Fantastic mate.