They might be bring a tear to the eye when preparing them, but if you’ve bitten into a crisp onion ring – those tears will be well worth it.
There’s nothing better than a pile of crunchy and savoury onion rings, served on the side of juicy steak or mouth-watering burger but, on their own, they can be a treat.
It’s amazing how a something as simple, a food basic, can transformed into legendary snack by simply coating it and deep-frying them to bring out it’s sweet flavour.
Whether they come in towers or flowers, they remain a firm favourite in any steak house or burger joint.
If ever you needed an excuse to munch into these crunchy treats, you’ll be delighted to know that today is Onion Rings Day.
Here’s a brief history on the onion ring.
According to Day of the Year, the origin of the onion rings is somewhat mysterious, but what they do know that, in 1802, a recipe was published in “The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined”.
This recipe describes a process of dipping half-inch onion rings into a rather flavourful mixture of flour, with creams and cheeses, and then boiling them in a vat of lard.
Following on the heels of this was a suggestion to serve it with a sauce made of a mixture of mustard and butter.
Now there are hundreds of recipes, involving different mixtures of batter to coat them in, different sauces to dip them in, and even the type of onions you use to prepare them.
We’ve found a simple onion rings recipe to satisfy your craving.
Foolproof Crispy Onion Rings
What you’ll need
Heavy-bottomed pot, such as Dutch oven
Slotted spoon or spider straining utensil
Large baking sheet
INGREDIENTS
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 large egg
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 cups vegetable or canola oil, for frying
For serving (optional):
Ketchup
Sriracha sauce
Method
In a large bowl, combine egg, ¼ cup oil and milk. Mix with an electric mixer, set to low speed, for 1 minute. Add dry ingredients and continue to mix until smooth.
Add 6 cups oil to a large, heavy-bottomed pot, over medium heat. Preheat for about 10 minutes, or until oil reaches about 375°C. Reduce heat to low-medium. Prepare a large baking sheet with paper towels, to drain excess grease off the fried onion rings.
Dip onion slices in batter, then place into hot oil. Do this in batches of 4-5 onion rings at a time, so they don't stick together. Fry until golden on both sides, flipping after 30 seconds to a minute. Be attentive and take care not to burn. You may need to continue to reduce your heat as they cook.
With a slotted spoon, remove onion rings to paper towel-lined sheet. Repeat with remaining batches.
Serve with ketchup, or a spicy ketchup + Sriracha mixture.