Pickled Onions On The Cheap All Over Isaan!

[Jezz]

Is it just the Brits who love pickled onions, or is the taste more widespread? Whatever, I’ve never found pickled onions on the shelves of supermarkets in the far north east of Isaan. (No doubt I’ll be corrected on that statement) Anyhow, I’m gonna have a bash at making some with medium sized shallots which fit nicely into jars. Here’s a recipe that can be adapted and played around with:

Some Onions and or Shallots.

Some Vinegar.

Some pickling spice.

Some Sugar.

A Jar.

Top and tail the onions you need and put them in the the jar you are going to keep the pickles in. This gives you the amount you will need to peel.

The pickle jar can be anything from a large jam jar to a plastic lidded container.

Vinegar is an acid and will react with certain materials, so leave some vinegar in the pickle jar over night to see if will take the pickling challenge. Metal lids will go rusty with vinegar so place some plastic wrap between the jar and the lid when you seal them.

Peel the onions and put them in a bowl with a little salt on them. Leave them overnight in a cool place where no one has to smell them much. The salt lifts the onion layers a little which allows the vinegar to seep in a bit.

Next day pop’em in the pickling jar and then fill the jar with vinegar.

Then put in some pickling spice of your choice such as dried chillies, black peppercorns, cinnamon, coriander, bay leaves, ginger, cardamom – maybe not all of them!

Finally put a teaspoon or more of sugar in to activate it all. Put the jar somewhere cool and dark and forget about them for 3 - 4 weeks.

Enjoy with tangy cheese and crusty bread. Mmm! Just in time for Christmas.

[BlueScouse]

Try a recipe from Delicious Delia

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/pickled-shallots-in-sherry-vinegar.html

[riepan963]

Been doing it for a couple of years via this link

[Jezz]

Yeah, I've checked out a few online recipes and just thought I'd post one which is dead simple and flexible in what sort of ingredients can be found easily in Isaan. I hate recipes that tell you precisely how many milligrams or ounces of this and that must be adhered to. Bring back dear old Keith Floyd who drank and cooked himself to death as one of the greatest TV chefs ever!

[bergen]

Yeah, I've checked out a few online recipes and just thought I'd post one which is dead simple and flexible in what sort of ingredients can be found easily in Isaan. I hate recipes that tell you precisely how many milligrams or ounces of this and that must be adhered to. Bring back dear old Keith Floyd who drank and cooked himself to death as one of the greatest TV chefs ever!

Wouldn't it be more correct to say: "cooked and drank himself to death."

Anyway thanks for the recipe.

Maybe we should have a "my favorite recipes" topic?

[barrybankruad]

_{I find that the shallot type of onions readily available in this part of the world make an ideal pickling onion. Trouble is finding white shallots the majority here are red in colour. However after peeling soak them overnight in salty water, this will remove some of the red colouration. Then pickle as desired. You will find that the end result will probably be somewhat greyish in colour} but delicious nonetheless.

[Totster]

Easiest way to pickle onions -

Peel and then soak overnight in salt water. Make sure the onions are completely dry and then pickle in Cider Vinegar (found all over Thailand, Heinz brand I think), crushed peppercorns and a few Thai chillies (to your taste)that have been pricked with a fork or something similar. Keep in a sealed airtight jar.

Leave in the fridge for a couple of months and voila !

Totster

[MrRed]

Easiest way to pickle onions -

Peel and then soak overnight in salt water. Make sure the onions are completely dry and then pickle in Cider Vinegar (found all over Thailand, Heinz brand I think), crushed peppercorns and a few Thai chillies (to your taste)that have been pricked with a fork or something similar. Keep in a sealed airtight jar.

Leave in the fridge for a couple of months and voila !

Totster

The trick is to keeping them crunchy,still haven't mastered that part yet.

[Totster]

Easiest way to pickle onions -

Peel and then soak overnight in salt water. Make sure the onions are completely dry and then pickle in Cider Vinegar (found all over Thailand, Heinz brand I think), crushed peppercorns and a few Thai chillies (to your taste)that have been pricked with a fork or something similar. Keep in a sealed airtight jar.

Leave in the fridge for a couple of months and voila !

Totster

The trick is to keeping them crunchy,still haven't mastered that part yet.

I am reliably told the trick is to make sure they are completely dry before pickling them (mine are always crunchy)

totster

[puchooay]

I mostly agree with everything here. Only one thing.

The Thai white vinegar is as good as anything and at 50 baht for a gallon is great value.

Be careful though. It is very strong. 2 weeks and the pickles are done.

[Jezz]

I mostly agree with everything here. Only one thing.

The Thai white vinegar is as good as anything and at 50 baht for a gallon is great value.

Be careful though. It is very strong. 2 weeks and the pickles are done.

Yes, I'm going to use the Thai vinegar - which I believe is made from sugar cane. The other thing I wondered is about either sprinkling the onions with salt overnight rather than soaking them in salty water which might make them go soggy. The salt, it seems, opens up the skin to let the vinegar soak in. The recipe I found advises sprinkling, not soaking in water. Oh, and that recipe suggests just a cool, dark place to store, rather than in the fridge which has been suggested in this thread.

[MrRed]

I mostly agree with everything here. Only one thing.

The Thai white vinegar is as good as anything and at 50 baht for a gallon is great value.

Be careful though. It is very strong. 2 weeks and the pickles are done.

I have not tried the white so will do next time i endeavour to make them crunchy the lesser time needed to pickle sounds like it might be better for the end product of crunchy pickled onions,it is annoying when you have left them a month or so and they come out soft,not what you want with your crusty baguette and cheese.

I think after soaking them in water overnight hang them out to dry before jarring and make sure the sun has dried them out really well.Trial and error with this process.

[riepan963]

I mostly agree with everything here. Only one thing.

The Thai white vinegar is as good as anything and at 50 baht for a gallon is great value.

Be careful though. It is very strong. 2 weeks and the pickles are done.

Better than all the others is Thai Jasmine Rice vinegar -- a bit more expensive but worth the cost. Sometimes available in Tesco

[SimonD]

Stop it! You're making me hungry!

If you guys could get a co-operative together the Brits in places like Pattaya would take all you could produce.

Think I'll grab a jar of Haywoods on the way back from work today (in UK ).

[onionluke]

I will have ago at pickled onions , thanks for the recipe . Try sun drying tomatoes , it is easy .

In the dry season ;

cut the tomatoes in half

lay them on a tray skin down

sprinkle with rock salt

sprinkle with some dried oregano or thyme

put them out in the sun

they should be ready in a week or so and can be dry stored in bags or in a jar with some olive oil .

[Jezz]

Stop it! You're making me hungry!

If you guys could get a co-operative together the Brits in places like Pattaya would take all you could produce.

Think I'll grab a jar of Haywoods on the way back from work today (in UK ).

Cracked it! The missus insists she can peel 'em better than me. So I'll just attend to the technical bit like soaking overnight and popping into the jar with vinegar and spices tomorrow.

[grimleybob]

Yeah, I've checked out a few online recipes and just thought I'd post one which is dead simple and flexible in what sort of ingredients can be found easily in Isaan. I hate recipes that tell you precisely how many milligrams or ounces of this and that must be adhered to. Bring back dear old Keith Floyd who drank and cooked himself to death as one of the greatest TV chefs ever!

Wouldn't it be more correct to say: "cooked and drank himself to death."

Anyway thanks for the recipe.

Maybe we should have a "my favorite recipes" topic?

If the 3rd meeting of the Farmers Club is in February, and the venue has an oven, I will give a demo on making hand-raised (Melton Mowbray) Pork Pies for everyone to try.

[grimleybob]

Yeah, I've checked out a few online recipes and just thought I'd post one which is dead simple and flexible in what sort of ingredients can be found easily in Isaan. I hate recipes that tell you precisely how many milligrams or ounces of this and that must be adhered to. Bring back dear old Keith Floyd who drank and cooked himself to death as one of the greatest TV chefs ever!

Wouldn't it be more correct to say: "cooked and drank himself to death."

Anyway thanks for the recipe.

Maybe we should have a "my favorite recipes" topic?

If the 3rd meeting of the Farmers Club is in February, and the venue has an oven, I will give a demo on making hand-raised (Melton Mowbray) Pork Pies for everyone to try.

Here's one I made earlier

Be great with Jezz's pickled onions

Edited November 28, 2011 by grimleybob

[MrRed]

Bob?

Did you have to post a picture.............pls pls can you give us all the recipe and also the method for "a hand raised pork pie"

[grimleybob]

Bob?

Did you have to post a picture.............pls pls can you give us all the recipe and also the method for "a hand raised pork pie"

OK seeing as it's nearly Christmas I will give you the recipe

To make 6 small Pork Pies.

Filling

400g minced or chopped Pork ( For best results you want about 20% fat content ---- this will disapear in cooking)

100g chopped or minced Bacon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

half teaspoon mixed spice

half teaspoon msg (optional)

half cup water

Mix together and form into 6 round balls. Place on tray and put in freezer for about 3 hours to set the meat.

Hot water crust

350g Plain Flour

125g Lard

Quarter pint of water

Half teaspoon salt

Place water and lard in a pan and bring to boil

mix salt into flour pour the boiling water and mix together

tip onto floured board and knead pastry for 3-4 minutes as soon as cool enough to handle.

Using plenty of flour , roll out pastry to about 3-4mm thick. Cut 6 round disks 5" and 6 disks 3" (CD's are 5")

Take one 5" disk place ball of meat in center put lid on top

lift the base up to meet the lid at back of the pie, cup the pie with your right hand and pinch the lid and base together with your left, workig round the pie until it's sealed

You can the spin the pie between your cupped hands to get an even shape.

Complete the rest, place on a tray an refridgerate for an hour or so.

Glaze the tops with beaten egg and bake in a medium oven for 40 mins (If the pies start to brown too quickly turn the oven down a little)

Please post pictures of your results.

Edited November 29, 2011 by grimleybob

[MrRed]

Thanks Bob i didn'y mean to hijack the onion thread but dem der pies look the business,it was your method for the hot water paste i was looking for as that is the makeit or break it for me when i have been making pies before here in Thailand it is important to work quickly with the pastry and be careful when cooking as you say the pastry can brown quickly if not sure of the temperature on your ovens.

Hopefully have some made for xmas,many thanks!

[grimleybob]

Thanks Bob i didn'y mean to hijack the onion thread but dem der pies look the business,it was your method for the hot water paste i was looking for as that is the makeit or break it for me when i have been making pies before here in Thailand it is important to work quickly with the pastry and be careful when cooking as you say the pastry can brown quickly if not sure of the temperature on your ovens.

Hopefully have some made for xmas,many thanks!

TIP

Don't forget to knead the pastry for a few minutes before rolling out. This works the gluten and makes the pastry easier to work

Bob

[grimleybob]

Thanks Bob i didn'y mean to hijack the onion thread but dem der pies look the business,it was your method for the hot water paste i was looking for as that is the makeit or break it for me when i have been making pies before here in Thailand it is important to work quickly with the pastry and be careful when cooking as you say the pastry can brown quickly if not sure of the temperature on your ovens.

Hopefully have some made for xmas,many thanks!

TIP

Don't forget to knead the pastry for a few minutes before rolling out. This works the gluten and makes the pastry easier to work

Bob

Jezz have you got any pickles to go with these

Made this morning to the recipe above

[Jezz]

Thanks Bob i didn'y mean to hijack the onion thread but dem der pies look the business,it was your method for the hot water paste i was looking for as that is the makeit or break it for me when i have been making pies before here in Thailand it is important to work quickly with the pastry and be careful when cooking as you say the pastry can brown quickly if not sure of the temperature on your ovens.

Hopefully have some made for xmas,many thanks!

TIP

Don't forget to knead the pastry for a few minutes before rolling out. This works the gluten and makes the pastry easier to work

Bob

Jezz have you got any pickles to go with these

Made this morning to the recipe above

Wow! Wonderful. Regarding my first attempt to make pickled onions, they've been in the big jar for three days now. When they seem ready I'll post a success or otherwise story. Fingers crossed.

[Theboy]

Yeah, I've checked out a few online recipes and just thought I'd post one which is dead simple and flexible in what sort of ingredients can be found easily in Isaan. I hate recipes that tell you precisely how many milligrams or ounces of this and that must be adhered to. Bring back dear old Keith Floyd who drank and cooked himself to death as one of the greatest TV chefs ever!

Wouldn't it be more correct to say: "cooked and drank himself to death."

Anyway thanks for the recipe.

Maybe we should have a "my favorite recipes" topic?

If the 3rd meeting of the Farmers Club is in February, and the venue has an oven, I will give a demo on making hand-raised (Melton Mowbray) Pork Pies for everyone to try.

Do we know where the meeting will be yet ?

[bergen]

The 2. farmers meet is near Sangkha on next Saturday (10/12)

The location for the 3. meet, will most likely be decided then.

See topic in Farming forum.

[Jezz]

Well, at lunchtime today, Christmas Eve, I cracked open my big jar of pickled onions. Result? Delicious! Enjoyed with a chunk of vintage Cheddar and crusty French stick. The recipe was: Thai white vinegar (sugarcane) crushed black peppercorns, dried chillies, cinnamon and coriander. Plus one-and-a half teaspoons of sugar to activate the pickling process. The red shallots turned out white and crunchy. I think soaking in salty water overnight, then drying in the sun before putting in the jar did a great job. So, a merry Christmas to all you pickle-munching fans. Have a good one.