Topic: No more bitter onions for me

[noble ox]

Noticing a bucket of chopped onions in water in a local Bir a few weeks ago I had to ask why assuming it was to stop the fumes irritating eyes etc 
To my surprise the chef said it takes the bitterness out of the onions
At home the experiments began 1st was a bitter onion chopped then put in very cold water for 20 mins
drained then I made some dips red onion and WOW no bitter tastes
Onion bargee was next WOW again
A base was next 4kgs in water 25mins drained JBs base it was which I like WOW again
After a search on google its quite common in Spain and Mexico to tame the raw onions
So have we all missed this so obvious technique
For me this is a revolution   ;D

[livo]

I'm in.  NO, have you made a dish out of the base? Did you find it was a milestone?

[Geezah]

This is not something new in my book.
Peel and chop onions, allow to sit in 3x their own volume of water for 1/2 hr, drain & rinse, then use said onions to make a base.

[ELW]

...or cook a the 4 kg onion base for 3 hrs minimum. Chuck some coconut block in if you want it sweeter. That's why its used

I'd agree with you about raw onion though, the type used in the burger chains are great & can't be bought in supermarkets as far as I know

ELW

[noble ox]

Livo
A much better base and curry taste the onions before and after for evidence
Geezah
If its not new why has it not come to our attention ?
ELW
Even when adding coconut it does not hide the bitter harshness sometimes found
Much easier with agreeable onions

[Madrasandy]

Surely soaking in water first removes some of the magic that creates the flavour and aroma of a bir base 

[bamble1976]

I do it regularly for my spiced onions but never for my base.  I never get a bitterness coming through in the base that I can detect??

barry

[macferret]

When I first moved to France I had endless problems trying to get onions as sweet as the Dutch ones we used to get from the Indian wholesaler in the UK. I even tried growing my own!  But we found that simply cooking the gravy for longer solves the problem.  Soaking in water is worth a try too though, N-O - thanks.

[curryhell]

Very useful snippet of info.  Personally never had a bitter tasting base. If could certainly have its uses though.  And I too am surprised this has not come to light before But at least it's on here first.  Thanks NO

[noble ox]

MA
My thoughts exactly until I tried it out
So simple