Pickled Red Onions Recipe
Serve these tangy, crunchy onions with Mayan-Style Pit Pork and a few warm corn tortillas—their beautiful pink hue brightens any table.
- 2 medium red onions, halved lengthwise, root ends removed, and thinly sliced (about 5 cups)
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 4 medium limes)
- 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 5 medium oranges)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 jalapeño pepper, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, and very thinly sliced
- Bring a small pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the onions and blanch for about 15 seconds. Drain well and set aside.
- Combine the lime juice, orange juice, sugar, and salt in a large, nonreactive bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the blanched onions and the jalapeño and stir to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.
The actual recipe is red onions very finely diced, fine brunois. Mix lime juice, enough to cover the onions with about a handful of kosher salt. The mixture of salt vs lime should be that of salty pickle juice. Add about 1/2 of a cup of dried oregeno and two ripe habenero peppers very finely diced as well. Last add a teaspoon of sesame seed oil. Mix well and cover onions. Marinate over night in a refrigerator. I learned this from a world class chef in mexico city
Does anyone have the traditional recipe for pickled onions that you would find Pollo Loco in Guadalajara, Jalisco..I love that recipe and have been dreaming about it for a while. I like this one but I don't remember orange juice in the recipe..am I right? I need some Mexican input!
For the pickled cucumber question. place the ( peeled and thinkly sliced or hothouse variety) cucumbers with about 1/4 c. white vinegar, 2 tbsp fresh or 2 tsp dried dill, fresh ground pepper, salt and good pinch of sugar. You can add crushed red chilies, garlic, or peppers to turn up the heat, but the first way is the classic Swedish way and I can barely get them in the fridge before my husband digs into them. I like to give them about an hour before serving... with whatever you like!!!
Recently I've made these with just sour orange juice - no sugar, salt or jalapeno. Nuke in the microwave for one minute and marinate for a day in the fridge. Great with pibil and so much else! For a little heat, slip a whote chile habanero in during the marination.
Oh my... ;-)
a scotch bonnet pepper! http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11500546/Scotch_Bonnet_Peppers.jpg
What's a Minced Scotch Bonnet? It certainly sound good... :-)
pulled my batch out of the fridge and tried some this evening. good lord, these are great! i tossed in a minced scotch bonnet for some added heat. wowie zowie.
This recipe looks great. I grew up with a French version of marinated onions, but now that I live in California, I'll have to try these! I think these onions would also be great with some tasty sausages!
you know what? I think i'm going to put this condiment on whatever the heck I want. good lord, you purists kill me...
i think these would be great on a hot dog.
I like adding pickling spices to this and use as a condiment with grilled fish or meats, but pretty overpowering in a fish taco. I use Stockton Red onions which are very sweet. Sometimes I use dried chiles in place of jalapenos if I can't get the red ripe ones. Also serranos are great for this but red and ripe-no green taste
I don't know what you "purists" are complaining about. These onions are on the table of any good taqueria in Mexico and at most throughout the southwest. I've had them many places in Sonora and many places in Sinaloa and plenty here in AZ. Sometimes in Sonora, they take the green onions and rest them in a jar of pure lime juice and serve them to the table like that, but that's the only occasional difference I've seen.
This sounds similar to a southern dish which uses cucumbers. I haven't been able to locate a recipe for this but I remember it was cucumbers and I think onions and vinegar. The mixture was not necessarily refrigerated and was eaten with just about anything. Does anyone have a recipe for this cucumber dish? The pickled red onions are not common in Sonoran cooking. francelle
If you don't like these onions with sugar, here is my recipie/ Also blanch the onions for one minute,drain them and pour over them white vinegar, salt and some oregano, let them cool and refrigerate. If you like you can add a small can of vinegar chilies, they are really delicious. enjoy
aidam: Haven't tried them with any CH recipes, but they go just fine with store bought carnitas and homemade shredded beef tacos. IMO the balance of the recipes sweet and sour ingredients is very good - could even go a little tarter for me...
DiveFan: Have you tried them in with our Mayan Pork, as Regan suggested? Otherwise, try them aside grilled lamb, with kebabs, as an accompaniment to grilled fish, as an acidic side note to Braised Brisket - http://www.chow.com/recipes/10493 , stirred into this mash -http://www.chow.com/recipes/10616 , or even as an alternative topping to our zucchini blossom tacos - http://www.chow.com/recipes/10984 .
I followed the recipe to the letter and the onions are fine (and crunchy after three days). I now have the oft-mentioned reason for posting - What do I do with so many ??? If you can't eat them all soon after preparation, the blanching step is very important because it will kill bacteria; hopefully the tasty and acid citrus juice will do the rest.
When you store these, do you store them in the pickling juice or do you drain them first?
I don't know about Tacos.. but this has been a long standing tradition in our Persian cuisine... it goes well with so many dishes specially Sabzi Polo and Mahi ( Rice with fresh herbs and fish) Love the stuff! Try is also with some Cumin once.... it give it an amazing taste!
Pickled red onions like this are not unique to Yucatan, or even Mexico. They are an integral part of Ecuadorian ceviche. In Ecuadorian use this cebolla encurtida does not include peppers (those of course some sort of aji sauce will be on the table). I wouldn't be surprised if it could be traced back to Spain. As to crunch, they are softer than raw onion, but retain most of their crispness for several days in the fridge. Sweetness will vary with your choice of juice (lemon, lime, orange, bitter orange), and the small amount of added sugar. paulj
How long will the onions keep in the fridge?
Cristina, Last year I had these wonderful onions at a Bay Area restaurant whose owner was from Guadalajara (it closed unfortunately). It was served with pollo adobado. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/40748 That's why this recipe caught my eye. When I was searching around I didn't find much information.
Eat_Nopal, the onions stay crunchy because they're only quickly blanched and then they marinate a little bit. there's plenty of crunchiness there. I agree that there are tons of different ingredients you can pickle with; these turn out really well. The jalapenos add a warm, deep heat.
Since these onions are only blanched for 15 seconds, they should definitely retain some of their texture. Marinating onions does not breakdown the structure of the onion completely.
I think Regan doesn't have a clue. First, these are marinated onions... how are they going to be crunchy. I've had these many, many times in the Yucatan (where they originate), not one version would I describe as crunchy. Did he even try them? Second, there should be know Jalapenos in this Recado, it is usually flanked by Xnipec (chopped Habanero salsa)... both condiments play on each other's fruitiness.... you don't want to mess with that well tested combination.
this was definitley a staple on every dish of cochinita pibil or poc-chuc i had in mexico. thank you so much for this. now do a recipe for poc-chuc! :)
On a torta, yes, I have enjoyed them... but the taco with the corn tortilla... is sacred ... Yes, Cristina, the sauce has to be "searingly hot"... then the sweet of the onions will do wonders to the palate... With the pierna, sauce and the sweet pickled onions... you might be able to see wonderful things...
These onions are traditionally served in Guadalajara, Mexico as an accompaniment to a regional specialy--the torta ahogada. Made with bolillo salado (a version of Mexican bread similar to a small baguette), pierna (roasted leg of pork), and a searingly hot and very thin red chile salsa, the pickled red onion takes a bit of the bite and converts it to heaven on your plate. Marvelous.
Please don't change the original taco .... this sweet condiment would compete with the main filling... raw onions or even in chile escabeche, I prefer. But, I could taste your version of sweet pickled onions in a savory empanada with meat and raisins.