More and more recipes these days involve these ‘quick’ pickled onions. They’re super easy to make but how quick are they?
These bright, pink, translucent onions look pretty and add that real zing of acidity that lifts so many dishes. They go great with Mexican or middle eastern food or on pizzas or salads. They can be really straightforward to make, they just need a bit of time for the acid to get to know the onion. How much time, well I’ve been doing the experimentation so you don’t have to!
How to make
slice 1/2 red onion as finely as you can
add the juice of a lime or a tablespoon of cider or white wine vinegar
add a pinch of salt
leave
Start:
After 10 minutes:
Not much has happened here. They really just look and taste like red onions dressed in vinegar at this point
After 30 minutes:
Still not too much happening.
After 1 hour:
They’re starting to turn translucent and soften at this point. If this is all the time you have for a midweek recipe these will still be really great! (But if you can see if you can prepare them further in advance)
After 2 hours:
After 4 hours:
It’s well worth giving these onions 4 hours in the acid, providing you’re at home and you’ve decided what you want for dinner by lunchtime!
After 24 hours:
With a little more forward planning they really get to their bright pink best overnight. They will keep in the fridge for a few days in a bowl covered with cling film, or longer in a sealed jar.
Do you need to add boiling water?
Some recipes call for either the onions and vinegar to be heated or for boiling water to be added but is this worth doing? I experimented by keeping the initial ingredients the same but covering them with boiled water from the kettle from the start. You can see the comparisons below, the heat does soften the onions quicker. So if you only have an hour or two between starting and eating this is worthwhile in speeding things up. But as time goes on the benefits diminish.
time:
no boiled water
boiled water
start
1 hour
2 hours
4 hours
Conclusions
As in so many things, time is the key. They’re at their best if you make them the day before. If you only have a couple of hours though they can still be great and really add that something extra to your dish, try adding boiling water to the simple recipe of red onion, acid and salt.
