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Caramelized onions are the perfect way to add a dash of sweetness to an otherwise savoury dish however, the process of actually caramelizing them is quite art. Here are some techniques on how to caramelizes onions so that you are on the right side of the fine line between burning and caramelizing!

The process of caramelizing onions is simply cooking them until they are sufficiently brown. How do onions produce a sweet taste? Because the process results in turning the natural sugars within the onion into caramel. And believe it or not, this is using yellow onions!

1. Peel the onions and dice them (cut them into small rectangular/square shapes). It is important that you try to keep the sizes that you are cutting the same so that some do not cook faster than others.

2. Using a non-stick frying pan heat some vegetable oil on a medium heat. As an approximate measure, you need to use three tablespoons of oil per two onions.

3. Wait until the oil is nice and hot and add the diced onions - if it is not hot enough, the onions tend to absorb oil. You will know that the oil is hot enough as it should create a loud sizzling noise when the onions are placed in it.

4. Stir the onions in the pan ensuring that they are all covered with the oil. Maintaining a medium heat on your cooker, let the onions cook. You only need to stir it every minute or so (you make the judgment call) to ensure that all the onions cook at the bottom of the pan for around the same time.

5. You will see how the onion looses a lot of it water - once this water evaporates, the actual browning will begin. When it does, lower the heat to avoid burning. At this stage you will need to keep a close eye on them and stir frequently.

You will know that they are caramelized when they turn from the tan colour that they start off at, to deep brown. Try to avoid letting them get much darker than that otherwise you will taste a distinct burning taste rather than a sweet one. It is best to transfer the caramelized onion into a cool bowl or container to make sure that they do stop cooking at once.

So you know how to caramelize onions, but where can you use them?

Caramelized onions goes with almost all dishes that require onions anyway! It is a great condiment to add to things like burgers, but if you are in the mood to be creative, you could even add it to a pizza. Try it with different flavours - a great combination I had recently was goats cheese, spinach and caramelized onions.

If you have the patience, caramelized onions add a beautiful depth of sweetness to any food, one which cannot be matched by simply adding sugar, or any other sweetener. Do however be careful as, the cooking process does result in them getting very hot.

Learn more about this author, Sumantha Dutta.
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