Curious not to see any mention of lye / baking soda / sodium bicarbonate. I think I learned this from either Good Eats or McGee or possibly both? When frying

Curious not to see any mention of lye / baking soda / sodium bicarbonate. I think I learned this from either Good Eats or McGee or possibly both? When frying onions in vegetable oil it rapidly speeds up the time taken to get from cold raw onions to unctuous brown goopy onions. It isn’t quite the same as genuine 45 minute onions but I think it’s the same chemistry, at least. It is also a risky shortcut only to be used when needed. More than a tiny pinch will drastically affect the taste.