5 ms·

This is often true, but it is not true here. These recipes (Rogan Josh, Onion Soup) all call for slow cooked onions that take a long time. The 5-10 minute onio

This is often true, but it is not true here. These recipes (Rogan Josh, Onion Soup) all call for slow cooked onions that take a long time. The 5-10 minute onions are an inferior ingredient, and it's not the one to use for good results. This is a fib, not a language problem. I don't believe that most of these recipe writers are using 5 minute onions themselves. It takes 40m to make the onions good. It's not hard. You can do it in advance. They know the difference and they do not serve the inferior version. Fun article. This has been bugging me for decades.

Retric 5y ago
Spending an extra 30 minutes on onions isn’t always worth it. Sure, I could spend 2 hours making and cleaning up a glorious breakfast, but doing it every day isn’t worth the time.
- mcphage 5y ago
  It is if you want to make French Onion Soup.
- dalbasal 5y ago
  That's a different question. You can make a different dish, quicker. The dishes being described in these recipes call for slow cook onions. The chefs writing them prepare them this way. Maybe it's not worth the time, but that's the recipe. The printed recipe is a lie. In any case, it's 40 minutes of waiting.. not working. You can also onions them in advance. They last a few days in the fridge. Worth it..? If you're efficient with timing/prep then it doesn't really add any time. I would definitely say that it is worth having good onions if onions are the main part of the dish.. which these are. Meanwhile, the best quick alternative to caramelized onions is grilled onions, not quick fried onions.
  - Retric 5y ago
    No, if the recipe calls for 10 minutes that’s the recipe. You can always spice things up by spending 40+ minutes slow cooking onions, but that’s not the recipe as presented. It’s little different than changing the spices for your personal palette, but while you may prefer different steps or different ingredients that doesn’t invalidate faster, simpler, or cheaper recipes.
    - dalbasal 5y ago
      We're going in circles. The premise of this article is that the written recipe is a lie. There's a nebulous, yet "real" recipe which is instructions for onion soup or rogan josh with the flavour and texture it's supposed to have.. the good version.
      - Retric 5y ago
        Yes, and at it’s heart that premise assumes saving time isn’t a valid option. Which is as I am pointing out obviously false. Presumably, for most of these recipes there are many things that could be improved with more effort somewhere in the process. For example grinding flour is best done directly before you use it, it’s however not something that most people can even notice and takes a lot more effort.
- jffry 5y ago
  Properly caramelized onions freeze and thaw very well, since they are already pretty broken down and much of the moisture is gone. Since the big factor is the 40-60 minutes on the stove, I make a large batch in several pans. The onions can be cooled a bit and then individual portions in an old ice cube tray and frozen. Then I can just pop out an onion cube and microwave it until softened, anytime I'd like to add caramelized onions to something.

Retric 5y ago

Spending an extra 30 minutes on onions isn’t always worth it. Sure, I could spend 2 hours making and cleaning up a glorious breakfast, but doing it every day isn’t worth the time.

mcphage 5y ago
It is if you want to make French Onion Soup.
dalbasal 5y ago
That's a different question. You can make a different dish, quicker. The dishes being described in these recipes call for slow cook onions. The chefs writing them prepare them this way. Maybe it's not worth the time, but that's the recipe. The printed recipe is a lie. In any case, it's 40 minutes of waiting.. not working. You can also onions them in advance. They last a few days in the fridge. Worth it..? If you're efficient with timing/prep then it doesn't really add any time. I would definitely say that it is worth having good onions if onions are the main part of the dish.. which these are. Meanwhile, the best quick alternative to caramelized onions is grilled onions, not quick fried onions.
- Retric 5y ago
  No, if the recipe calls for 10 minutes that’s the recipe. You can always spice things up by spending 40+ minutes slow cooking onions, but that’s not the recipe as presented. It’s little different than changing the spices for your personal palette, but while you may prefer different steps or different ingredients that doesn’t invalidate faster, simpler, or cheaper recipes.
  - dalbasal 5y ago
    We're going in circles. The premise of this article is that the written recipe is a lie. There's a nebulous, yet "real" recipe which is instructions for onion soup or rogan josh with the flavour and texture it's supposed to have.. the good version.
    - Retric 5y ago
      Yes, and at it’s heart that premise assumes saving time isn’t a valid option. Which is as I am pointing out obviously false. Presumably, for most of these recipes there are many things that could be improved with more effort somewhere in the process. For example grinding flour is best done directly before you use it, it’s however not something that most people can even notice and takes a lot more effort.
jffry 5y ago
Properly caramelized onions freeze and thaw very well, since they are already pretty broken down and much of the moisture is gone. Since the big factor is the 40-60 minutes on the stove, I make a large batch in several pans. The onions can be cooled a bit and then individual portions in an old ice cube tray and frozen. Then I can just pop out an onion cube and microwave it until softened, anytime I'd like to add caramelized onions to something.