Caramelised onion

One of the best pizza, burger or anything topper the food business. Nearly everywhere I have ever worked has some sort of onion jam or caramelised variety sitting in the menu somewhere. And for good reason.

Ingredients

3 brown onions

1/4 C brown sugar

60ml balsamic vinegar

50g Dijon mustard

Herbs

Apparatus

1 small, heavy based pot

1 wooden spoon

1 sharp chef knife

1 chopping board

Method

Slice the tops and bottoms from your onions, while leaving a small amount of skin attached to the removed base, or core end of the onions. Peel attached skin vertically upwards so to break the circular link of skin surrounding your onion. Peel away the the rest of the skin, and repeat the process with the rest of your onions.

Slice onions vertically in half. Slice away the core of the onion on a 45 degree angle, dependant on how deep and big the core is. Lay the flat side of the onion on your board, then slice vertically into strips, the thinner the better.

Heat your pot up to high temperature and douse the pot with a little oil, then apply the onions to the pot. The onions should transpose a lovely satisfying and sizzling crackle sound as the onions catalyse into caramelised goodness.

Stir the pot when required, but remember you want caramelise the onion, just like your favourite barbequed onions that get on your Bunnings sausage. Browning the onion in this process is important.

Once your onions are a dark brown and semi burnt colour, apply the brown sugar and simmer for a few minutes until they deglaze your pot and become as one with the onions.

Add your balsamic vinegar and work it through the sticky, caramelised goodness. Reduce the liquid until it returns to a thick, sticky viscosity.

Add the mustard and work it through the onions. The mustard will work as an emulsifier, as it does with your mayonnaise and balsamic vinaigrette.

Once your caramelised onions are of a homogenous consistency, place into your desired storage container and use as desired.

#Pro tip: Nearly everything we can eat holds it own type of sugar content, and releasing those natural sugars is a big part of how I cook. Making caramelised onion requires one to “caramelise” the onions, which releases the natural sweetness in a desirable fashion. If your making onion jam, then caramelisation is not important and you are fine to simply stew the onions. Know what you want, be it caramelised onion, or onion jam, and act accordingly.