Pearl onions are the darlings of holiday
buffets. Creamed onions are as traditional at Thanksgiving as are cranberries,
and as traditional at Christmas as is eggnog. Braised, glazed, creamed,
roasted, grilled, added to soups and stews, any way you enjoy them, they are
delicious, but many people forego dealing with them because the peeling seems
so daunting. If you're a pearl onion rookie, here is the best and easiest way
to peel them. Start to finish it only consumes about fifteen minutes of your
time, and is well worth it for the fresh taste.
This mixed assortment from Melissa's Produce is by far my favorite. Not only is the variety
of sizes and colors visually appealing, but the combination of tastes is
unsurpassed.
Now, let's get started. First of all, bring a
large pot of water to a boil. While you're waiting, cut the stem end (the end
OPPOSITE of the root end) off of each onion. It may seem tedious, but you can
develop a rhythm and knock them out in no time.
Discard the tips and put the onions in a small
bowl. When the water reaches a full, rolling boil, dump the onions in all at
once. Allow the water to return to a boil and boil them for three minutes.
While they are boiling, fill the empty onion bowl with ice water and set a
strainer over the sink.
When the three minutes of boiling time are up,
strain the onions and immediately dump them into the bowl of ice water.
Allow them a couple of minutes to cool and then,
one by one, squeeze the root end, and out will pop your peeled onion! Yes,
there will be a tiny bit of waste, but nothing beats this method for speed, and
aren't we all busy cooks? In some cases the root end may remain attached so
either pinch it off or cut it off. That's it!
Minimal waste, maximum speed. Perfect for busy
cooks!
7 comments:
That's great! Gotta try it next time when I need 500 grams of pearl onions for some stew.
Confession time - I have never used pearl onions nor have I eaten creamed onions, although they sound divine. I can hear you gasping all the way down here in north Texas!
What?! They are a holiday tradition! They are good creamed, but they’re also good in creamed spinach. Plus, you can’t make Boeuf Bourguignon without pearl onions.
Great info. I will look for some to try it.
Hello to you. By the way, the pearl onions you told us on this blog post can also grow in Indonesia, but they are not widely cultivated because they prefer cooler climates. Indonesia’s lowland areas are usually too hot, so these onions grow better in highland regions such as Lembang, Dieng Plateau, Batu, or the Karo Highlands.
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The soil can support them, but farmers commonly choose to grow shallots (bawang merah) instead, which are more suited to the tropical climate and have stronger market demand. Pearl onions remain possible, but not common in Indonesia. Excellent post my friend. Its interesting in everyway
I have only ever added pearl onions to stew and it was labor intensive. This looks like a great method.
I love this!! My mom loved pearl onions and now they've become my daughter's must have Thanksgiving dish.Thanks for making the prep a little easier!!
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