These can be made in minutes and will keep around a week in the refrigerator. These are not a true pickle and will not store for long times nor should they be left unrefrigerated long periods.
INGREDIENTS:
1 bunch red spring onions, roots trimmed and discarded, greens trimmed off and saved for another use, any thin skin peeled off 1 scant tablespoon coarse kosher salt, or some other coarse grained salt 1 cup white balsamic vinegar ½ cup heaping granulated sugar
METHOD:
Slice the root end and the tip end off, and then slice the onions into rings around 1/16th of an inch. (You can use a sharp thin bladed knife, but I prefer a Ben-Riner* mandoline/fixed blade slicer.)
In a non-reactive bowl, carefully break up the onion slices into rings and then sprinkle enough of the salt to lightly coat all the pieces. Allow the onion rings to rest until starting to soften a little, around 5-10 minutes.
While the onions are bathing in the salt, mix the sugar and vinegar together. You can do this in a jar or a non-reactive bowl with a whisk. Mix until the sugar is no longer visible. Taste the solution for balance-it should be neither very sweet nor too tart. Adjust with vinegar or sugar as needed.
After 5 minutes, feel the onions, they should no longer feel brittle and will have softened a little. If not, leave a few more minutes. When ready, have a fine meshed strainer ready and rinse the onion rings in the bowl with cool water, pouring out the water until the onions no longer feel salty. Taste one to be sure you have rinsed away the excess salt. A little salty taste to the onion is fine, but you do not want to taste salt on the outside of the ring or a lot of salt. Shake the onion rings to shed as much water as you can, then roll them in paper towels to blot more water.
When the onion is fairly dry, add to the “pickling” mix. You want to have the onions below the surface of the liquid. The onions will soften a bit and will seem to shrink a little. This is fine.
The onions should be ready to use within 30 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.
Chef’s Tips:
*The Ben-Riner is a fairly inexpensive Japanese mandoline that comes in two widths. They are also equipped with three “combs” that can be fitted for producing shreds that are more defined than a grater will produce. The combs give shreds that are similar to fettucine, spaghetti, and capellini, and you can adjust the thickness of the shreds as well. This gadget is well worth the investment as it can really save time and allows for some fun experimentation. Look for them in Japanese grocery and hardware stores, and kitchen supply shops.
Yield: Around 1 1/2 cups
Source: Chef Andrew Cohen
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