White onion, chive and sweet vinegar salad

This is a deceptively delicate salad despite the fact that it looks like a bowl of potentially acrid raw onion. Based on a Japanese recipe, the onion is washed, removing its astringency, leaving a crisp sweet flavour.

White onion, chive and sweet vinegar salad.

• serves

  4–6

• prep

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 small white onions (total weight about 400 g)
• 100 ml apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 50 ml mild extra virgin olive oil
• 20 ml light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp chives, finely chopped

Resting/chilling time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Instructions

The cutting of the onion is the most vital step of this recipe and ideally should be done on a mandolin. Leave the onions whole, cut the base and peel, leaving the root intact. Using the root as a grip, use a mandolin to slice the onions into even 1 mm–thick rings.

If you don’t have a mandolin, cut the base off the onion before cutting in half and peeling, again leaving the root intact. Use a sharp knife to cut across the onion forming 1 mm–thick half rings. Be careful to keep it as thin and even as possible.

Once your onions are all nicely sliced, place them in a large mixing bowl and fill it with cold water. Give them a jiggle, drain and repeat.

At this stage you will need to wash your onions under cold running water for 20 minutes. The best way to do this is to place the bowl into a sink with a colander sitting over the top and then turn the tap on to a nice trickle. The colander should prevent too many onion slices from falling out of the bowl into the sink.

After 20 minutes, strain the water out, add fresh water and place the bowl, filled with water, into the fridge. Leave the onion in there for at least an hour. Any longer is fine too.

While your onions are chilling out in the fridge, make your dressing.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar and the sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add in the olive oil and soy and combine.

Once you are ready to make the salad, remove the onion from the fridge and strain off the water. Use your hands to transfer the onion into another mixing bowl, squeezing out any excess water. Don’t be too brutal and completely crush the onion, a little bit of water left is okay.

Once all the onion is ready, give your dressing another mix and pour it all over the salad. Give it a good mix. Add in the chives and then transfer to a serving bowl, being sure to pour over all the dressing.

Serve immediately.

Note

• If you want to prepare the onions the day before, they will happily sit in the water overnight and still be good to use the next day.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Lee Blaylock. Food preparation by Tiffany Page.

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This recipe is part of The seasonal cook: Onion column.

View previousThe seasonal cook columns and recipes.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.