Spicy Caramelized Onions

Sweetly smoky caramelized onions with a bit of heat.

Caramelized onions - I don't make them often since it takes quite a while to make only a relatively small amount of final product. Not the most efficient process, but it sure does make some tasty eats! I've made plain caramelized onions many times, but this time, I wanted something a bit different, so I decided to add some spice - a few chili peppers.

Like the Maillard reaction, caramelization is a form of non-enzymatic browning. However, instead of an amino acid reaction (like the Maillard reaction), caramelization occurs by pyrolysis (geek speak for BURNING! ok - so I might be a little pyro. sometimes, maybe). In addition, you can accelerate caramelization by adding a bit of acid. In this case, I used some balsamic vinegar to help speed up the process while adding an extra bitto flavor.

What's your favorite version of caramelized onions?

Spicy Caramelized Onions

by CJ Huang

Sweetly smoky caramelized onions with a bit of heat.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 55 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes
Yield: 2 cups

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
		1 teaspoon		oil
			3	onions, thinly sliced
		1 tablespoon		balsamic vinegar
				chili peppers, chopped	I used 2 or 3 dried serrano peppers, but you can easily adjust type and amount to suit your preferences.

Methods:

1. Gather all materials.
2. Heat the oil, and cook the peppers briefly.
3. Add in remaining materials, cooking until caramelized. Stir occasionally.
4. You can add a bit of moisture/water if needed, but it will slow down the caramelization process. On the other hand, slow is better than burnt. :P