Cook Onions Properly

Many people dislike onions in their food and many others think onions are supposed to taste burnt and coarse because they have never had the experience of well cooked onions, their experience has always been the quick-cooked version. This article teaches you about the long-cook style that will reward you with sweet, rich and delicious onions that are definitely worth the effort and will make a dish that includes onions even better than it has ever been.

Ingredients

 * 500 g sliced onions
 * Olive oil

Steps

 * 1) Be prepared for a long cooking process. It takes 40 minutes to achieve a decent tasting onion. Quick cooking leaves the onion in its acrid-tasting state and does not bring out the sweetness hidden within the onion.
 * 2) Slice 500 grams of onion.
 * 3) Place in a heavy based frying pan with olive oil.
 * 4) Cook slowly on low heat for 40 minutes. Allow the onion to caramelise in its own natural sugars during this time.
 * 5) Try a shortcut if you lack the time to do this by microwaving.
 * 6) *Slice as usual, place in a microwave proof dish and cover it.
 * 7) *Place in the microwave and zap until soft.
 * 8) *Do not add water.
 * 9) *Add the microwaved onions to the pan for preparation as part of your chosen recipe, and they'll already be sweet.

Tips

 * It is fine to use butter in place of olive oil if wished.
 * Use this slow cooking process for onions where their sweet taste really makes an important difference, for example in pies and in curries.

Warnings

 * If you do not cook onions long enough, they will taste acidic and half cooked onions are difficult for the stomach to digest. If you are trying to convince someone who dislikes onions to try them again, use the long-cooking process instead.

Things You'll Need

 * Frying pan, heavy-based
 * Wooden stirring spoon
 * Chopping board and sharp knife
 * Recipe requiring onions

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Make Caramelized Onions
 * How to Chop Onions without Tears
 * How to Peel an Onion Quickly
 * How to Make Sweet Onion Marmalade
 * How to Cut an Onion
 * How to Peel an Onion Quickly
 * How to Get Rid of Bad Breath from Onion or Garlic