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 ↓
Pickled Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Pour boiling water over the onions and let them stand until the brine cools.
Change the brine for nine mornings, warming it each day.
On the ninth day, soak the onions in fresh water for one day and night.
Boil the spices and vinegar together.
Drop in the onions for a few minutes and add sugar to taste.
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).
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Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Onion + sugartop 36% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar):
- Mustardfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Cucumberfits better
- 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.
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