Relish This
Barbecue season is almost upon us (or maybe already here, depending upon where you live), and that means great food with bright flavors. If you are lucky enough to live in the Bay Area, or visited, you probably already know that the best burger in San Francisco is at Zuni Café, and the best part of that experience, to me, is the pickled onion relish. You don’t have to be a burger-eater to enjoy them. Here’s how to make your own:
The technique for making these pickled onions may at first seem elaborate (and admittedly the first time you make them, you will think so, too), but the work actually goes by fast and is a pleasant project. And as you do not have to can these pickles, you can complete a batch easily in a lazy afternoon. This process leads to a hot pink, crunchy pickled onion that is infused with spices. It is simply the best garnish to barbecue that I have ever had.
They keep forever in the fridge — I have some from last summer that are still wonderful. I have doubled, and tripled the recipe and it scales well.
Adapted from the Zuni Café Cookbook, here is how to make them:
Equipment:
- Stainless steel or other non-reactive pot (anything but aluminum, really — it reacts with the vinegar and turns the pickles a nasty bluish-mauve color)
- Wooden spoons (or stainless steel) to stir; a slotted spoon is best, or even tongs will do
- Rimmed cookie sheet
- A couple of jars, with lids. Jars with shoulders are preferred, but I generally use jam jars.
Ingredients:
- One pound firm red onions — about two medium sized, peeled, trimmed, and sliced 3/4 inch thick. Discard any bruised or leathery rings
- 3 cups distilled white vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
- A few whole cloves
- A few allspice berries
- A small dried chili
- A star anise seed pod (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- a few whole black peppercorns
Make it:
- Combine the vinegar, sugar, and all the spices in the stainless steel pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 3 or four minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand to allow the spices to infuse the brine.
- Uncover the brine, and bring to a boil again over high heat. Immediately add about 1/3 of the onion rings and stir them under. They will turn a great hot pink color almost immediately. As soon as the brine begins to simmer again around the edges, stir them under again, and remove the pot from the heat; this should take less than a full minute. Immediately remove the onions from the brine with tongs or a slotted spoon, and spread on a rimmed cookie sheet to cool completely. (You can put them in the fridge to speed things up.) Repeat this process with the remaining 2/3 of the onions (that is, you will do it two more times, each time with half of the remaining onions).
- Put the cookie sheet in the fridge for a few minutes, and then repeat this whole process two more times, (I warned you it seems elaborate, right?)
- Place the onions in jars, and cover with the remaining brine, and put them in the fridge. Let them rest over night before eating.
