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Pickled Onions

Pickled onions preserved in a vinegar, peppercorn, and ginger brine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,595 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pickled Onions

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Peel the onions.

  2. Boil a strong solution of salt and water, then pour it over the onions.

  3. Let the onions stand in the saltwater for 24 hours, keeping the vessel covered to retain steam.

  4. After 24 hours, wipe the onions dry.

Pickle and store

  1. Boil the vinegar, peppercorns, and ginger together.

  2. Pour the boiling mixture over the onions, ensuring they are completely covered.

  3. Seal the container tightly and store for several weeks until ready to use.

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 + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Vinegar + gingertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,126 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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 tender and mild as they cure.
Vinegar
Provides the acidity that preserves the onions and gives the pickle its sharp flavour.
Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the onions during the saltwater soak, firming them and seasoning them.
Peppercorns
Add aromatic heat and pungency to the pickling liquid.
Whole ginger
Adds warm, aromatic spice that infuses into the pickling liquid.

The step that matters

Keeping the onions covered during the 24-hour saltwater soak. Covering the vessel traps steam and keeps the onions evenly moist and softened while the salt works. Uncovered onions can dry at the surface and cure unevenly.

Swap the ginger

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

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, vinegar. 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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