• makyo@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I always say if you want to seem like a genius in the kitchen just sauté some onions

    • GorGor@startrek.website
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      2 months ago

      I saw somewhere there exists a saying along the lines of ‘start sauteing onion, add some garlic, then you figure out what you are going to cook.’ When my wife and I have time to actually cook, this is basically what we do. everything is better with garlic and onions, from German to Korean. The rest is just details.

          • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            Absolutely universal because garlic and onion are amazing for any tongue.

            And people who dislike garlic or onions are always super sus, because no the fuck you don’t. You just think you don’t like it.

            I knew someone who said she was “allergic to onions if she could see them”… that is not how allergies work dumbfuck, you are just a super basic bitch with no taste.

              • AA5B@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                Hi, it’s me 😜. Seriously, I have a minor tomato allergy where I’ll get a bit of a rash if I have tomatoes 2-3 days in a row. It’s annoying. I also don’t like the taste or texture of tomatoes.

                However the taste and texture of so many things with tomatoes are so good, that I’m fine if I develop a rash. Adding onions, cilantro, and jalapeños to chunks of tomato turns it into something entirely different. Cooking it down with oregano, thyme, etc is also completely different in taste and texture.I’ll avoid the tomatoes themselves and I’ll still probably try to avoid the rash by not eating tomato meals too many days in a row though

              • candybrie@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                That’s actually a thing. Raw tomatoes vs cooked. I think it’s called oral allergy syndrome.

              • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                2 months ago

                That guy was also a super basic bitch with no taste ;)

                I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t really like tomatoes either. But I’m not a giant tool about it, and just say “I’m not really a fan of fresh tomatoes, but I’ll try it”

                What a weiner. People are so weird.

              • HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                So there’s a salt in a lot of canned diced tomatoes (not all) that’s used as a preservative that some people can be sensitive to. It helps keep the tomatoes firm while canned. (I worked briefly in a tomato cannery). IIRC it’s one of the sodium citrates, but I can’t remember which right now.

                • AA5B@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  Really? I never knew that. I wonder if that’s what I’m actually allergic to

    • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I usually start my meals by sauteing onions and without fail whoever is in the house will say “Ooo, that smells good what is it?”

      Literally just onions

        • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          Garlic makes your meal taste thicc. Trying to force myself into a lite and airy phase. Not sure why… think I’m just wanting to lose weight, not as if that’s how foods work though. Garlic isn’t fattening haha

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Garlic makes your meal taste thicc. Trying to force myself into a lite and airy phase.

            Try making toum.

      • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Saute carrots, onions, and celery. Everyone will think you’re making something incredible. And, fortunately, you’ll have the base to follow through, if you so desire.

        • RinseDrizzle@midwest.social
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          2 months ago

          I do need more dishes in the back of my pocket that start with mirepoix. If y’all got favs, pop a holler.

          Got me thinking it’s time for chicken pot pie again…

          • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I use it for a lot of stuff. I roast pork on top of mirepoix, I make soups with it, pasta dishes, I make it alone with lots of butter and herbs and then blend it and use it as a rich sauce, I don’t blend it and then serve it as a side with chicken and fish (adding rice is an option here), add bell peppers and make gumbo, use it as a base for braising basically anything… I do truly just start a mirepoix when I don’t know what to make, then, once it’s started, I dig around for other ingredients. It’s so forgiving and really just makes almost anything more savory and flavorful.

            The last time I made it (Saturday), I ended up transferring it to a roasting pan, then roasted pork. I took off the pork when it was done, then while it rested, I deglaced the pan with white wine, put a portion into a pot, added ketchup, vinegar, etc. and used an immersion blender to make a bbq-style mirepoix sauce. Shredded the pork and made pulled pork. It was a huge hit with the family. I know mirepoix-bbq sauce sounds a little weird, but it was incredibly good.

            It’s an very versatile base, which, I think, is why different food cultures all have a version of it. And you can do a lot of different things with the same base just by changing the technique. Smaller or larger chop, longer or shorter sautee, add ingredients to change the character (classically, tomato paste to make a pinçage, but you can also swap it to a Holy Trinity or sofrito very easily), and so on. It’s a great thing to play around with.

            • RinseDrizzle@midwest.social
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              2 months ago

              This is inspiring! I’ll have to give some of these a go.

              Thanks for the thoughtful write up. 😊 Already excited to get a bit more adventurous with it!

      • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        Haha, I can cook but I don’t really know what I am doing. It usually starts with some oil and garlic or onions in a pan, then I figure out what to actually cook. But if someone walks in at just that step they think you’re some culinary genious.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Haha, I can cook but I don’t really know what I am doing.

          Bruh, don’t sell yourself short. If you know how to just throw shit into a pan and have it come out both edible and tasty (or even only the first one), you have a decent idea of what you’re doing.

          Being able to do that is a skill that takes work, and is something my wife has worked hard to develop. He k, just knowing what spices go well together or with what meats is a skill in and of itself.

      • Denjin@lemmings.world
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        2 months ago

        There’s a reason why cooked onions are common across almost every international cuisine on earth.

    • NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Best way to stop a small argument? Saute onions in olive oil then add some garlic. Guarantee a head will poke around a door frame and all arguments melt away.

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      So how do you do it?

      I’m asking because I learned not a long time ago to somewhat heavily salt the onions beforehand (in olive oil ofc) and it’s great. Burst for some minute or three, keep hot while stirring til done (hard, melted, …).

      I don’t put garlic in it though, I’d put that in the rest of the food if I do.

      • HessiaNerd@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I made a big batch yesterday (4 large onions).

        Butter and olive oil. Add onions. I add water at the beginning so I don’t have to pay as much attention as the beginning. Once the onions are soft, turn it low and take your time. Only stir occasionally.

        I used the instant pot yesterday and it was super easy.

              • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                Also high-sugar varieties like Vidalia and Candy onions. Don’t knock us for our onions - at least our onion farmers aren’t dropping bombs on brown people.

                • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
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                  2 months ago

                  Yeah it wasn’t meant to be a knock, just an observation about onion size really. I haven’t tried them enough times to judge if I think they’re good or bad. But they’re definitely big!

              • Valmond@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                The larger the onion, the more water is in it and the less it tastes, from my experience.

                • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  I never realized Americans had particularly big onions, but a lot of them are bigger than my fist and definitely full of flavor. Now something like a shallot is small and delicious but it’s a different flavor.

                • AA5B@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  Maybe: it does seem like the larger onions tend to be the sweeter varieties. That’s great though, when one slice covers your entire burger, and you get the satisfying crunch of a nice thick slice of onion without all the bitterness.

                  That being said, Ive tried caramelizing red onions instead off the more standard yellow, and I’m not sure the final result is any different

        • DrDystopia@lemy.lol
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          2 months ago

          What do you do you with a big batch? Saving some for later or just gorge on sautéed unions?

          • HessiaNerd@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I needed some for käsespätzle, and it’s one of those things where if you make it a little little might just as well make a lot. It will get used. Caramelized onions go well with just about everything.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago
            • on top of meat, like a steak or a burger
            • incorporated into mashed potatoes
            • I’ve been seeing various recipes for “French onion soup style” g occhi
      • makyo@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Really I just lightly spray some canola oil in the pan and add sliced onions and heat.

        • moody@lemmings.world
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          2 months ago

          When you think they’re ready, stir them up and let them cook for another half hour.

  • moakley@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Remember, it takes at least 45 minutes to caramelize an onion. If you’re doing it for less than 45 minutes, then you’re just cooking it.

    • Wogi@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      45 minus to fully caramelize.

      If you don’t want them that dark you don’t have to cook them that long.

      • moakley@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Sure, you can use non-caramelized onions. You just won’t get that sweetness.

            • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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              2 months ago

              Saves times and gives the sweet taste. If someone doesn’t want to do it for 45 minutes then yeah

                • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                  2 months ago

                  Sour and bitter can be good though. I love fresh onion as is. I ghetto caramelize it a bit to make it more palatable to my girlfriend though. For that you don’t need to do a proper caramelization, getting the process going and adding a bit of sugar is enough.

                  I love to add vinegar too though. Vinegar, a bit of sugar, a bit of salt, some time on the pan, delish.

          • Lifecoach5000@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            I honestly add a touch of brown sugar and I guess I’ve been doing it wrong according to these comments.

    • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I know you’re joking, but the only way I can see it taking that long is if you put whole onions into an oven set to 180° to 200° F.

      In a frying pan, one can easily caramelize an entire large frying pan of onions in about 30 minutes, or even faster if you decide to use physics to your advantage, and add a small amount of water to your pan and caramelize your pan of onions within 14 minutes. This is an advanced technique that requires some experience to try to use. Much like making a Dark Roux in 15 minutes.

      • moakley@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I’m absolutely not joking. If you’re cooking it for less than 45 minutes, you’re not caramelizing the onions. Frequent stirring, adding water, whatever, you can get the color and texture of caramelization, but not the flavor.

        I spent a couple of years making slightly disappointing meals because I was focused on the color and texture of my onions instead of the flavor. When I finally took the time to fully caramelize them again, I remembered what I had been missing.

        Try it and taste the difference if you don’t believe me.

    • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I know it’s not exactly the same as a low temp for a while. But you can get pretty good results with a high temp, just need to deglaze more frequently, usually with water until they’re almost done. Then wine and/or balsamic is good.

  • GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk
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    2 months ago

    I had someone arrive at a BBQ, saw me frying some onions, and ask “Are you going to caramelise those onions?”

    Yes mate. The onions I’m frying for a few minutes while the burgers cook, gonna be nice and caramelised in seconds, just you watch.

    • DillyDaily@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Every time I do a Bunnings BBQ for the community centre, it’s women run, we get the onions on ASAP because they need time to cook, and we’ll have people buying a plain onion sandwich in addition to a snag, because caramelised onions are so good!

      Every time I volunteer to help my partners football club run a sausage sizzle, I’m saying “put the onions on, they take longer” and I’m told by the guys “I’m a man, I know how to BBQ, go away little girl, go hold the sign and be pretty”

      Then everyone buying a snag is complaining about crunchy raw onions, and the guys are saying “why did we buy so many onions?” (because you were supposed to cook them down so they shrink!)

      These same men will unironically say “women belong in the kitchen” then won’t take cooking advice from a woman.

      (also, the footy guys always giving me flak for deglazing the BBQ plate with water to help the onions cook down faster. They’ll just keep adding oil, once saw a Rotary Club use 1L of canola oil to half cook 5kg of onions, when we’ve never needed more than 200ml to fully cook onions, because onions need water to cook down!)

      • hihellobyeoh@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Ngl, you just taught me some thing, I thought I was cooking them down quick, frying them in my bacon fat, before adding eggs to them, I’ll have to try adding some water, maybe that will make them come out better.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          And cook it slow. Time is your friend here. Actually, I didn’t know water was sufficient either: I thought your choices were lower temp or more oil

    • edgemaster72@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I have a 3 year old nephew and if you gave him a caramel onion like that I think he’d either eat it happily or ask for a plain onion instead. That kid loves himself some onions.

    • M137@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The only thing I get from that story is that adults and peer pressure sucks. Eat that candied onion and enjoy it as much as you want, fuck those those stupid “grown-ups”.

  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    30 minutes

    https://youtu.be/Ovqhzil3wJw?feature=shared

    We start our caramelized onions in a covered nonstick skillet over high heat with ¾ of cup water. The water and steam help the onions quickly soften. Then we remove the lid, lower the heat to medium-high, and press the softened onions into the bottom and sides of the skillet to allow for maximum contact with the hot pan. Instead of finishing with sugar or honey as many recipes call for, we add baking soda, which speeds up the reaction that converts flavorless inulin (a polysaccharide present in onions) to fructose.

    • humblebun@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      My face smells like onions for 3 days straight after cooking something with onions for more than 20 minutes. It should be much more terrible to have just onions in the pan

      • chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        Only way I’ve done em. I am basically incapable of standing in front of the same pot for 45 mins. Don’t get me wrong, I love cooking, but some of the really tedious styles, especially if also monotonous, I can’t do. I’d get distracted by something eventually.

        • RinseDrizzle@midwest.social
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          2 months ago

          Standing? Naw, low & slow simmers fine with just occasional wang’jangling. Although it helps being close enough to catch a wiff for the reminder.

      • RBWells@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Slow cooker, on the back porch, if making a batch of them. Otherwise just low & slow in the skillet. A comment farther up says ‘many recipes call for sugar’ but I have never seen that. The onions that make your eyes water when you cut them, and a little salt & olive oil.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Adding sugar is “caramelize your onions in only 15 minutes with this one genius hack!”… the more clickbait headlines should help indicate which streamers are not worth watching/reading

    • Routhinator@startrek.website
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      2 months ago

      Trained chefs who know how to get rich colour from onion soup for one. As well as anyone who knows how to make good sauteed onions.

  • Johanno@feddit.org
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    2 months ago

    Hey guys. I am no cook and I don’t speak English natively. What the heck is caramelising onions?

    I thought caramelising is when the sugar liquifies and you get caramel. So caramelising onions would be to cover them in lots of sugar and cooking them until they are covered in caramel.

    But it sounds like you are just deep roasting them.

    • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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      2 months ago

      It’s just a process of slowly cooking them on a low heat, they’ll naturally go quite sweet after a while without having to add sugar.

    • MagicPterodactyl@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      It’s just slowly cooking chopped onions in a pan until they are a deep brown and very soft and sweet. If you’ve ever had french onion soup, that’s basically just caramelized onions in broth.

    • general_kitten@sopuli.xyz
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      2 months ago

      Caramelization is the process of sugars browning due to high heat. The actual reactions that are happening is a combination of sugars and their chains breaking down into smaller compounds and those smaller compounds recombining into other compounds, all these new compounds gives caramelized foods their distinctive colour and taste.

      When making caramel the sugar liquification happens often in high enough temperatures for caramelization to occur. The process of sauteeing/high temperature cooking onions long enough involves the same exact reactions. In onions the bit longer chain sugars that dont taste sweet are broken down into simple sugars thus producing the sweet taste of caramelized onions and the further reactions produce the caramel colour and taste.

      Tldr: caramelization is a group of chemical reactions and ‘caramel’ is basically a taste and colour that results from it

      • Johanno@feddit.org
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        2 months ago

        Thanks. So I thought correctly, but didn’t think of the longer chain sugar in onions, since they usually don’t taste sweet.

        • Routhinator@startrek.website
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          2 months ago

          Many things can taste sweet if you caramelize them. Carrots will caramelize in butter if you sautee them on low heat in a cast iron and you can make them taste candied with no added sugar

          • Crankenstein@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Caramelized carrots are bomb. Add as a topping on a sweet potato casserole if you wanna level up your game.

        • lunarul@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Eating onion raw is the only way to mask its sweetness. Or maybe boiling the crap out of it until it tastes like nothing at all. Otherwise, onion is very sweet.

        • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          The Maillard reaction is different from caramelization

          Caramelization may sometimes cause browning in the same foods in which the Maillard reaction occurs, but the two processes are distinct. They are both promoted by heating, but the Maillard reaction involves amino acids, whereas caramelization is the pyrolysis of certain sugars.

  • socsa@piefed.social
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    2 months ago

    You can caramelize onions in five minutes, but the onions won’t be very satisfied afterwards

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I tried “velveting” some beef the other day (basically marinating the meat in baking soda) and the result was absolutely disgusting, both in terms of texture and flavor. I wonder if maybe I didn’t wash off the baking soda sufficiently and got soap, although that wouldn’t explain the texture issue. The texture was similar to Chinese takeout beef but somehow not as palatable.

        • RBWells@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Use cornstarch for velveting, and not much, and don’t rinse. I wouldn’t use baking soda to tenderize either, acids are the way to go, or just cooking it for the time it needs.

          What were you making that called for baking soda?

      • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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        2 months ago

        I’ve never had it break them down too much, nor create anything remotely soapy in flavor. Perhaps it chemically does create soap, I don’t know. But the end result is delicious and I’m a fifth the time.

      • RubberElectrons@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yep, it’s jump starting a process key to flavors we all like called the Maillard Reaction

        E: guess I’m technically correct about baking soda speeding up caramelization, but not in regards to what the Maillard reaction has to do with caramelizing. Whoops.

        • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Maillard browning is not caramelization. Maillard is an insanely complex mess of different chemical reactions involving proteins, while caramelization is just sugar and heat.

          • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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            2 months ago

            Alkalinity speeds up the Maillard reaction significantly. Baking soda. Magic.

            • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              I agree, but the comment above recommends using it to caramelize onions. Maillard reactions can happen to onions for sure but the result of that is not caramelized onions.

              Not to say baking soda couldn’t help, I don’t know the exact chemistry behind this stuff, but I do know that onion + maillard reaction does not yield caramelized onions

              • deo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                2 months ago

                Huh, I guess I’d never really looked into the chemistry behind the distinction (which is strange because i am a chemist that loves food), but Maillard reactions involve the proteins, while caramelization involves the sugars. Though both are examples of nonenzymatic browning.

                The good news is that the wiki page for caramelization says that either acidic or basic conditions speed up the caramelization processes, so i think we’re good to go in either front!

                • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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                  2 months ago

                  Yeah, that’s interesting. It’s right in the name, too. You are caramelizing the sugars, not the proteins.

                  So the baking soda does speed up what little maillard is going on, so it browns faster, but it doesn’t caramelize faster.

                  TIL!

                  I usually do overnight large batch caramelizing so it hasn’t mattered. Big bag of onion cubes in the freezer so I never do it in a pan.

                • Dabundis@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  On that note, try adding a little splash of balsamic vinegar to caramelized onions 👌👌

        • deo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          Oh shit. That is so cool! I knew lye was used in making pretzels, but i didn’t know it was to get the Maillard browning to happen faster. The wiki page says that one way to reduce the formation of acrylamide, a carcinogen, is by adding carbon dioxide, which is actually released when baking soda is dissolved in water will be released during cooking (edit: see reply chain below for discussion on this point)… IDK for sure if it’s enough to really help, but I’m gonna just roll with it and say it is because delicious food is delicious.

          • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Baking powder releases carbon dioxide. Baking soda just creates aqueous bicarb ions and a more basic solution (which is the key to a faster reaction).

            • deo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              2 months ago

              Heating a solution of aqueous bicarbonate will release carbon dioxide, too. But since we have delicious onions and stuff in there too, let’s walk through my thought process: Baking powder is baking soda + weak acid + cornstarch (to prevent premature reaction). Since the speed-up for the Maillard reaction works by deprotonating amino groups to make them more nucleophilic, the acid-base reaction that releases CO2 when using baking powder will still occur with just baking soda + food (ie: the protiens in the food are acting as the acid). You’re probably right that using baking powder would produce more CO2, or at least produce it faster, but reducing carcinogenic side products for Maillard reactions via CO2 is a low-priority concern for me anyway. Just a fun curiousity that occured to me when reading the wiki page!

              Sorry if my carbon dioxide subscripts don’t work. I don’t think my client supports all the fancy markdown, but i tried my best.

  • whome@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 months ago

    Unless your cooking Italian. I had an Italian tell me once, it’s either garlic or onions but not both together

    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It’s weird, I watch a lot of Youtube videos about street food vendors in India and sometimes they brag about not using garlic or onions in their offerings. I don’t get how that could possibly be a selling point.

      • Apothenon1@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Indian food without garlic and onions is trying to be religiously inclusive. Jainism is a popular religion in India, which teaches nonviolence. Included in that belief is the idea that nothing should be harmed, even plants. As such, they seek to avoid eating any vegetables that are harvested by killing the plant. Onions and garlic both require that their plants be killed, so Jains try to avoid those. Instead, their food often contains hing, a smelly spice that hasn’t really caught on in the west. I haven’t tried it, but hose that have say that once cooked, hing somewhat resembles the taste of onions and garlic.

        • Seleni@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Interesting. So chives and Society Garlic would be okay for them then?

          Also, I’m curious what their take would be on digging up a garlic bulb and taking most of the pieces for cooking, but then planting the rest back out as individual plants.