Pickled onions

This recipe needs advance preparation!

Around September in the UK pickling onions (shallots) are locally available and as the day grow shorter and cooler it's a great time to get pickling!

If you prefer a sweeter Pickled onion, then add one or two teaspoons of brown sugar to each jar.

The onions need to soak for two days before pickling so plan a little ahead.

Ingredients

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• 100 g sea salt
• 900 g (2 lb) small pickling onions, peeled
• 700 ml (27 fl oz) malt vinegar
• 200 ml Szechuan wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon juniper berries
• 3 dried chillies
• 5 clove buds
• 10 cardamom pods, green and black
• 2 tablespoons jaggery or demerara sugar
• 3 x 500ml Kilner jars

• 

  My pickling spices: Cardamom pods, Szechuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, cloves, three dried chillies (not pictured) and juniper berries

• 

  Use a salad spinner to remove excess brine

• 

  Soaking in brine for 48 hours

Method

2 days before the pickling is to start

1. Top, tail and peel the pickling onions and place in a large bowl.
2. This is quite a pleasant task if it can be done outside in the sun. No tears this way!
3. Mix the salt into 568 ml (2 pints) of boiled hot water and pour this over the peeled pickling onions.
4. Leave for two days in a cool place, covered with a tea towel. You can place a clean plate on top of the onions to keep them underwater

Pickling day:

1. Discard the salt-water and rinse the onions in a sieve under cold running water. Pat dry with a tea-towel.
2. You can use a salad spinner to remove excess brine.
3. Add all of the ingredients to a large pan and bring it to the boil, then turn off the heat and leave it to go completely cold
4. Sieve out the spices and discard. You can filter the vinegar through blotting paper if you are fussed.
5. Sterilise the pickling jars and pack the onions into the jars
6. Pour the vinegar, with the spices, into the jars and add the optional sugar
7. Seal and store in a cool, dark place for 2 months to mature

Chef's note

Quantities for pickling shallots and onions.

• 12 peeled medium sized pickling onions (shallots) fit nicely into a 500 ml Kilner jar
• 12 peeled medium sized pickling onions (shallots) weight approximately 257g
• 280 ml of pickling vinegar covers peeled medium sized pickling onions (shallots) in a 500 ml jar

The spices I added made a gorgeous warm vinegar and with the jaggery it was so good that I made some more just to use with fish and chips!

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