By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – May 22, 2010 at 07:00PM
If you’re looking for a way to decrease the eye-stinging power of cut onions without resorting to wearing a dive mask, a simple soak will do the trick.
The sting of onions is so powerful that people are always on the lookout for new ways to banish it without suiting up like a bio-hazard team. At the cooking-centered blog The Kitchn they highlight a trick shared by Rick Bayless of the show Mexico: One Plate at a Time:
His sous-chefs were busy prepping onions and he quickly stopped the camera operator to make sure he got a shot of their large buckets filled with water and drowning onions. (Onions can’t swim without water wings – didn’t you know?) He said that all the onions in his restaurants get a quick dip in the “pool” before being used in any dish: fresh or cooked. They don’t need to soak long, just enough to get them washed off after being peeled and having their ends cut off. Not only does it eliminate tears, it also brings out their true flavor without being so harsh.
This is definitely an interesting twist on cutting onions under the water and certainly easier. Have a clever kitchen trick to share? Let’s hear about it in the comments.