Mellow Out The Overpowering Taste Of Raw Onions With A Simple Trick

The savory, almost sweet flavor of cooked onions is a welcome addition to many dishes, from spicy curries to warm French onion soups. However, the same cannot be said of raw onions. When raw, onions have a pungent flavor and a sharp aftertaste which may not be desirable to everyone. While the spicy crunch of raw onions may provide a textural boost to sandwiches, burgers, and salads, sometimes their sharpness can be too overbearing, masking the subtle flavor of other ingredients and dominating the overall flavor profile of the dish.

But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy onions raw. All you have to do is tame down their pungent taste a bit so that their sweet notes can shine more instead. To do so, immerse raw onions in cold water for about 15 minutes as soon as you chop them up. This simple trick helps draw out the sulphuric compounds that are responsible for that sharp and stinging bite, leaving you with raw onions that are crunchy and crisp while also not being too overbearing. Alternatively, if you're short on time, you can also rinse raw sliced onions for a quicker way to temper their bitter bite. Just wash them under cold running water for a minute or two instead of soaking. However, make sure to swirl and shake them around with your hands so that the water washes off each slice properly.

If for any reason soaking raw onions in cold water is not an option, there are a few more ways to soften their bite. One method is to give raw onions a couple of minutes in the freezer. You don't even have to chop or peel them for this trick to work — they can go in the freezer whole and unpeeled. Another option is to soak onions in vinegar to help reduce their pungent bite, but the catch is they might loose some of their crunchiness too. If you do not want to compromise on their crisp texture, soaking in cold water is the way to go. This will soften the allium's bite while keeping its structure intact.

The pungency of raw onions shouldn't stop you from using them in dishes as they have much to offer in terms of flavor and texture. All you need to do is temper them down with these tricks. Wether it's a citrusy arugula salad or a topping for wraps and burgers, adding a few slivers of raw onions to a dish gives it a crisper bite and a softer onion flavor with hints of sweetness.