The most effective ways to remove bitterness from onions

Rich in vitamins onion - a healthy product that is used to prepare a variety of salads, main courses and soups. They fried him pickle, stew and boil. However, the specific taste spoils some dishes, which is why housewives often refuse the bitter ingredient.

From the article you will learn what you need to do so that the onions in the salad do not taste bitter.

Why onions are bitter

Many housewives are interested in the question: where does the unpleasant bitterness come from? Onions have phytoncides... When you peel a vegetable and chop it up, these volatiles evaporate. They contain specific essential oils consisting of sulphides. They are based on sulfur and metals. It is thanks to these elements that the onion has such a characteristic flavor. Due to its special composition, the vegetable neutralizes most dangerous microbes and viruses, for example, diphtheria and Koch's bacillus.

The taste of onions changes with the seasons. In the summer, the bitterness is usually felt slightly, and in the fall the aftertaste becomes more noticeable.

Important! The vegetable is useful for the prevention of respiratory diseases, improves digestion. Those who are on a diet should not give up onions, because 100 g contains only 41 kcal. In addition, it cleans blood vessels from cholesterol plaques.

What affects bitterness

You can choose special soft varieties, but this method does not always help. Depending on the care and type of soil, the taste of the crop varies significantly. If you grow onions yourself and want to get tasty, healthy and large vegetables without strong bitterness, add phosphorus fertilizers. The main thing is not to disturb the balance of minerals. A bitter harvest occurs with rare watering. It is recommended to moisten the soil at least once a week.

The storage characteristics of vegetables also affect their pungency. If the temperature is low in the room where the onion is located, after a while the volumes of essential oils in the collected heads will increase by 2-3 times. Accordingly, the taste will also change.

Important! Spicy varieties are better stored than sweet ones, because essential oils have disinfecting properties. This means that pathogenic microbes die faster. So it is recommended to choose onion with bitterness for food.

How to remove bitterness from onions

The question often arises before the hostesses: how to make the onion for the salad not bitter, while retaining all the useful properties? Let's take a look at the most popular ways.

With boiling water

One of the simplest methods that will help you quickly and effectively get rid of unnecessary bitterness is using boiling water:

1. Cut the onion into cubes or rings.
2. Scald with boiling water in a colander. Do not overdo the onion in hot water, otherwise it will taste like boiled. Experienced housewives usually wash the vegetable in cold water after scalding.
3. Then transfer to an enamel bowl, cover with vinegar and leave for 15 minutes.
4. Then again, fold the chopped vegetable into a colander and wait until the liquid is completely drained.

Try another hot water method to remove the bitterness:

1. Slice 5 large onions into rings.
2. Pour a glass of water into a saucepan, dissolve 3 tsp in it. sugar and ½ tsp. salt.
3. Bring water in a saucepan to a boil and add 70 ml of vinegar to it.
4. Pour the onion cut into rings with the resulting marinade and leave for 1 hour at room temperature.Then discard in a colander so that the liquid glass.

This bow is ideal for cooking fish dishes.

Pickling

If you want to get rid of the bitterness, while maintaining the characteristic crunch, and at the same time give the vegetable a new unusual flavor, try pickling it.

To prepare the marinade you will need:

• 4 tbsp. l. vinegar;
• 1 tsp salt;
• 1 tsp Sahara;
• 200 ml of water.

Cooking process:

1. Add all the ingredients to the water and mix thoroughly.
2. Pour the chopped onion with the mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. If you plan to cook kebabs, onions can be marinated in kefir or tomato juice in advance.

Both of these methods help reliably rid the onion of unwanted bitterness.

There is also an alternative recipe:

1. You will need a handful of sugar, a pinch of salt, citric acid on the tip of a knife, and some ground pepper.
2. Mix all the ingredients with water, and then pour the finely chopped vegetable with the resulting mixture and leave for 15 minutes.
3. When the time is up, wash the onion in a little boiled water.

Roasting

Chop the onion and fry in a preheated pan with a little vegetable oil until golden brown. Then put the frying on a paper towel to get rid of the excess oil.

On a note. If you want a sweet taste, thoroughly coat the onions in flour before frying in the pan.

With salt

The housewives like this method for its simplicity, because everything you need can be found in the kitchen. Dilute in 1 tbsp. water 1 tbsp. l. salt, pour over the pre-cut vegetable and leave for 10 minutes. Then rinse the onion under cold water.

Important! The finer you cut the onion, the faster the bitterness will leave it.

Passing

Sauteing is a slight heating of chopped vegetables in a small amount of oil until transparent. It is important to mix them constantly so that they do not burn. Cover the skillet with a lid to prevent the onions from fried.

How to deal with green onions

For green onions the proposed methods are not suitable, because from boiling water, the greens instantly become sluggish, and sometimes even turn into tasteless gruel. When pickling, the piquant taste is lost.

It is better to use one of the safest and easiest ways:

1. Chop the onion finely and crush it lightly so that the herbs give juice.
2. Melt a small piece of butter and pour over the herbs.
3. Then add the onion to the soup or sprinkle it on the boiled potatoes. If you plan to add this ingredient to your salad, rinse the herbs with warm water first.

In the microwave

Experienced housewives recommend heating the chopped onion for about 10 seconds at medium power. If you put an entire medium-sized head in the microwave, decrease the power, but increase the residence time in the device.

Chill the vegetable slightly until it is at a comfortable temperature for eating. Since there is no contact with water, the beneficial properties will be preserved. The taste does not change.

In a refrigerator

Sometimes housewives get rid of bitterness in an unusual way - they put the onion in the refrigerator for several hours. Judging by the reviews, it becomes soft and juicy.

Use a freezer to speed up the process. The main thing is not to overexpose the vegetable, otherwise all its taste will go along with the bitterness.

Useful Tips

If you realized that the onion was hot when it was already ground together with the minced meat, you should not worry and throw out the resulting mixture... Cook one patty first and taste it. Bitterness may disappear on its own during heat treatment.

If you are unlucky and the aftertaste persists, simply dilute the minced meat a little by adding meat or bread dipped in milk. Other ingredients, such as semolina or carrots, will work as well.

For salads, it is better to buy red varieties.Such vegetables rarely give off bitterness, so you don't have to go to special tricks, which means that the cooking process will take much less time.

Another nuisance when cooking dishes using onions is a specific smell, which is then felt from the hands for a long time. Add some natural coffee to the liquid soap and rub the skin thoroughly with this mixture.

If you find harsh breath irritating, brush your teeth thoroughly and then chew on the dried clove (seasoning).

It is easy to get rid of the onion smell that has soaked the cutting board by wiping the surface with carrots.

To help digest the vegetable, sprinkle it with salt before adding it to the salad and let it sit for a few minutes. Pouring white wine or water into a dish makes fried onions easier to digest.

note! If you suffer from urinary tract infections, be sure to add dishes that include onions to the menu. But there are times when it is better to refuse it. The use of a hot vegetable is contraindicated for people with diseases of the kidneys, stomach and liver.

Sweet onions

For those who do not like bitter taste, it is better to choose certain varieties, which are characterized by a high sugar content:

1. Globo. This variety is ideal for salads. The bulbs are juicy, the taste is slightly sweet. There is practically no specific smell.
2. Exibition. Bred in Holland, you won't cry when slicing. Bitterness is not felt, so additional processing is not required before cooking.
3. Yalta. Sweet onions without a pungent smell, which are grown in Crimea, are brought home by many tourists as a present to relatives and friends. The popularity of this variety is due to its excellent taste. Many gardeners try to grow this variety on their plots in different regions of Russia, but they cannot achieve a characteristic taste.

If you don't want to waste time pre-processing the vegetable, look out for red onions as well. For salads, soft varieties are ideal, for example, Black Prince, Retro, Crimson Ball.

Conclusion

A slight bitterness will become the highlight of the specialties, but excessive piquancy will only spoil them. Now you know how to get rid of the bitterness of an onion for a salad, while retaining all its useful properties. Feel free to experiment and try different methods to find the most effective one.