place. Most sweet onions are red, but there are yellow ones, too. Dry onions come in red, yellow

and white.

Flavor and pungency vary a great deal depending mainly on where and under what

conditions the onions grow and how long they were in storage. Pungency also depends on their

shapes. In general, the flatter the onion, the less pungent it is. So look for flat onions for salads,

globe-shaped onions for cooking.

Other forms

We can also readily buy both dehydrated and frozen chopped onions. The food industry uses

huge quantities, particularly the dehydrated kind, that comes in flakes or in powder form. It is

inexpensive, stores well and convenient. Commercial dehydration of onion is a large-scale, efficient

and quick process. First they burn off the onion skin. Then they remove the charred skin under a

high-pressure water stream, and the onions are ready for the slicing or chopping operation, then

under the blasts of hot air the onion is dehydrated.

For onion flavor the food processing industry also uses the concentrated essential oils of

both onion and garlic. (See Flavorings chapter for a discussion of essential oils.) Essential oil of

onion has 5,000 times more onion flavor than ordinary onion and garlic has about 2,000 times the

flavor of fresh garlic. These are such powerful concentrates that they first need to be diluted in a

neutral vegetable oil or mixed in some other medium to make them convenient in industrial

operations. The food processing industry also uses oleoresins of onion and garlic to flavor your

processed foods. (see Flavorings chapter for information on oleoresins.)

TASTINGS Onion production

The world's largest producer of onion is China, then comes India and the third is the

U.S. Within the U.S., California is the largest producer, Oregon second with less

than half of California's production, then Colorado, New York and Idaho.

Because of their high sugar content, onions readily ferment to produce alcohol. This is not a

source of alcohol in our culture, but in the Far East onion fermentation is a common practice. When

they built the Great Wall of China, the workers had fermented onion as one of their staple foods. It

is amazing that none of the American micro-breweries introduced onion beer yet.

Glazed onion Thai style

We rarely use onions as side-dish vegetables. Yet they are easily and commonly available

even in the smallest market almost year-round. Many people object to the strong flavor of onion and

some have problems digesting it. But when it is well cooked, the strong flavor evaporates with the

water vapors, leaving a mild, sweet onion with concentrated caramelized flavor behind that goes

well with many entrées except those with the most subtle flavors. It is an ideal accompaniment with

robust meats, sausages, well-spiced omelets, roast chickens.

Glazed onions with a touch of sugar for added caramel is old concept but with Thai spices

we bring them into the contemporary flavor scene. As with any Mexican and Asian dish, the

amount of chili you use determines the pungency. This recipe gives you a medium-hot version. For

a milder version discard the ribs (which contain most of the hot chemical capsaicin) from the chili,

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