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 Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash, peel, and slice the onions very thinly.
Barely cover the onions with water and boil for 8 minutes.
Drain the onions and rinse quickly in ice water.
Drain thoroughly and season with salt and vinegar to taste.
Chill and serve
Place the onions in the refrigerator to chill.
Serve within 30 minutes.
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.
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Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,226 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Onions
- Form the salad itself; boiling softens their sharp bite and makes them mild.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the onions' sweetness.
The step that matters
Drain thoroughly before seasoning. Water left on the onions dilutes the vinegar and salt, so the dressing tastes weak and pools at the bottom of the dish.
“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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