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Onion Pickle

A pickled onion dish preserved in salted water, vinegar, spices, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,226 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Onion Pickle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the onions

  1. Peel and scald the onions in strong salt water for 25-30 minutes.

  2. Remove the onions and lay them on dishes in the sun for 1-2 days.

  3. Pour boiling water over the onions and let them stand until the brine cools.

Brine over nine days

  1. Change the brine for nine mornings, warming it each day.

  2. On the ninth day, soak the onions in fresh water for one day and night.

Finish and season

  1. Boil the spices and vinegar, then add the onions for a few minutes.

  2. Add sugar to taste.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,226 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Onion + sugartop 36% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,747 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Onion and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,747 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Onions
Form the main body of the pickle, becoming softer and milder as they are brined.
Strong salt water
Draws moisture out of the onions and seasons them during the initial scalding and brining.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the pickle its sharp, preserving tang.
Sugar
Balances the sourness of the vinegar with sweetness.

The step that matters

Changing the brine each morning. Repeated brine changes gradually remove harshness and excess salt from the onions. Skipping or rushing them leaves the pickle too salty or sharp, since the onions need steady time to equalise with the fresh liquid.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Cucumberfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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