Aromatic
Onion
Also called brown onion, yellow onion, Onions
The brown (yellow) onion is the everyday cooking allium: layers of sulphur and sugar that collapse into sweetness if you give them time. Red and spring onions have different jobs.
Origin
Domesticated in Central Asia and spread so thoroughly that almost every cuisine assumes them.
Flavour
Pungent and tear-making raw; sweet and savoury once the water cooks out and the sugars brown. A scorched onion tastes bitter and sticks in black flakes.
How to use it
Sweat sliced onion in oil or butter over moderate heat with a pinch of salt to draw water, without colour, for pale sauces and shakshuka. Keep going until deep brown for gravies and butter chicken — that is twenty to forty minutes, not five. High heat is for a quick char in lomo saltado, not for a stew base. In phở, onion is often flame-charred before it hits the stock, a different flavour from a translucent sweat. If the onion burns, start again.
Storage
Cool, dry, dark, away from potatoes. Cut onion belongs in a sealed fridge box or it will stink everything out.
Recipes using it
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