Kushi: On Onions

Onions can be the main vegetable of a dish.

We had some sesame teriyaki onions this week, and it was literally, a giant bowl of onions. It looked like jellyfish and tasted like magic. The other veggies, which were I believe burdock and carrots, made up the minority of the dish. It was 2/3 marinated onions, 1/3 other assorted vegetables. When you boil the onions and cook them over a long period of time, they take on a sweet, mild flavor. The heat associated with the onion that gets locked in with the frying is vastly reduced, and a very pleasing, sweet dish is the result.

To get this flavor, boil your onions until they take on a milky, translucent quality. Then you can mix them with your other blanched, slivered veggies, combine with teriyaki or another sauce, then enjoy!

When you're slicing your onion, one thing I didn't know that's important is to think about the poles of the onion. When you slice an onion vertically, you can see the way it grows:

What we're NOT seeing here are "tree-rings." We're seeing the long growth of the onion. A chef here told me that in order to make for more balanced eating, we slice the onion long-ways to get both the feminine yin energy and the hot, grounding yang energy. If you think about it, even from a flavor perspective it makes sense. The root is more spicy and hot, while the layers nearer to the outside are sweeter and more mild. Each bite should be balanced.

So was it written, so shall it be.