I will never understand why an order of onion rings will run up your bill by a significant amount at a burger joint. It's not a ton of work, and is akin to making pancakes on a Saturday morning, it's just saltier.
|
There's a nonzero amount of science behind this batter, so buckle up - we're driving to Unsaturated Fat-ville, also known as 'any town in South Georgia' (look mom, jokes about the South). Be sure to put extra emphasis on the first syllable in Vidalia (yes it's a town, and yes it's famous for what you'd expect).
Onion rings have many pitfalls, the chief among them being a high degree of 'slippage' of the batter after frying. This is generally due to a very cohesive batter being formed by a traditional gluten network (think how easy it is to scrape bread dough off a hook or side of your mixing bowl) rather than an adhesive batter. Sure, it lends great texture, but if you wanted a bread sandwich, you can easily do that with onions and bread. Don't do that though, it sounds disgusting. Rice flour fixes this issue almost single-handedly; when it becomes hydrated and hot, rice flour is extremely sticky (but also gummy), perfect for a good textured yet structural batter that will both stick to itself and to the onion. Rice flour will also not burn as easily as AP Flour. Breadsmiths do this all the time to make Instagrammable scoring patterns on their loaves (I mean, I'm guilty of it, sue me) without the signature over-browning that would occur in a hot oven. So we're using an admixture of rice and AP flour for these onion rings as you wouldn't want to go all-in on a single type. Shopping List:
|
Hardware:
|
Prep (for the batter):
You know the look of disappointment when you are served an onion ring that has been battered and dredged with bread crumbs and feels like you're eating un-hydrated [INSERT PIRATE THEMED CEREAL BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHTS]? Let's avoid that.
This one is simple in both incantations. You can either A) Whisk together the ingredients, minus the onion and leave it sit on the counter to hydrate the flours or B) treat this like a delicate tempura batter and only mix the batter as you fry, ensuring the coconut milk stays ice cold. Okay, maybe Method B is a little more intense because you need the ratios to be similar, but I'm sure with some math and a calculator you'd figure it out. Either way, you want to ensure the batter stays cold so the rice flour doesn't start to gum up on you too quickly. Keep the bowl of batter suspended over a bowl of ice, especially if you're doing this outside in the [global warming] heat.
Whatever you do, don't rinse the onions or try to remove their moisture. You want the water to act with the baking powder (remember it's double-action, once when it gets wet and another when it gets hot) for maximum puffage and bubblage. Plus, onions tend to get slimy if you do that. If you get an onion that starts weeping (you might, too btw), wick away some of the surface moisture with a paper towel, but you shouldn't have to do this.
You can also deep fry these however you see fit - I did a batch out on the grill in a cast iron skillet whilst making the burgers shown above. It's your call.
Preheat the oil in your cast iron vessel to 350 deg F. Use the thermometer.
Thoroughly dunk the onions in the batter - it should stick quite well to the onions (thanks rice flour), but also be gentle with it. Don't handle it too quickly and make sure your rings are well covered. Work in batches if you have to (you'll most likely be frying in batches so you've got time).
The Business:
Remember, onions are high in sugar and water content, especially Vidalias (yes I'm still capitalizing it). They will burn easily due to rapid caramelization from a lower concentration of water being expelled by hot oil. Keep an eye on these, although you should know better than to trust a recipe that involves frying times. Your mileage will vary.
Carefully place a few onion rings into the oil. You will notice the temperature drop rapidly, don't panic, it'll come back. Adjust the heat if your stove is fast, otherwise let it do its thing. As always with frying, don't crowd the pan/Dutch oven, as they will stick to each other and you'll wind up with the onion ring that ate Cleveland. You also don't want to jostle these around too much until the batter has set up in the hot oil.
Your oil temperature probably dropped to 325 deg F or lower. Fry with the constant heat being applied to the oil for 3-4 minutes and flip with the spider or your tongs. The onion rings should also be mostly floating, like small live preservers ready to rescue you from the monotony of bagged tater tots. Continue cooking the onion rings for another 2.5-3 minutes. As you might imagine this is like cooking anything on multiple sides, the second side ALWAYS takes less time to cook.
Evacuate to your draining rack(s), dust with some optional cayenne pepper and fine sea salt, and repeat until you've exhausted your supply of onions.
Serve with mustard. Please don't @ me if you eat these with ketchup.
You know the look of disappointment when you are served an onion ring that has been battered and dredged with bread crumbs and feels like you're eating un-hydrated [INSERT PIRATE THEMED CEREAL BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHTS]? Let's avoid that.
This one is simple in both incantations. You can either A) Whisk together the ingredients, minus the onion and leave it sit on the counter to hydrate the flours or B) treat this like a delicate tempura batter and only mix the batter as you fry, ensuring the coconut milk stays ice cold. Okay, maybe Method B is a little more intense because you need the ratios to be similar, but I'm sure with some math and a calculator you'd figure it out. Either way, you want to ensure the batter stays cold so the rice flour doesn't start to gum up on you too quickly. Keep the bowl of batter suspended over a bowl of ice, especially if you're doing this outside in the [global warming] heat.
Whatever you do, don't rinse the onions or try to remove their moisture. You want the water to act with the baking powder (remember it's double-action, once when it gets wet and another when it gets hot) for maximum puffage and bubblage. Plus, onions tend to get slimy if you do that. If you get an onion that starts weeping (you might, too btw), wick away some of the surface moisture with a paper towel, but you shouldn't have to do this.
You can also deep fry these however you see fit - I did a batch out on the grill in a cast iron skillet whilst making the burgers shown above. It's your call.
Preheat the oil in your cast iron vessel to 350 deg F. Use the thermometer.
Thoroughly dunk the onions in the batter - it should stick quite well to the onions (thanks rice flour), but also be gentle with it. Don't handle it too quickly and make sure your rings are well covered. Work in batches if you have to (you'll most likely be frying in batches so you've got time).
The Business:
Remember, onions are high in sugar and water content, especially Vidalias (yes I'm still capitalizing it). They will burn easily due to rapid caramelization from a lower concentration of water being expelled by hot oil. Keep an eye on these, although you should know better than to trust a recipe that involves frying times. Your mileage will vary.
Carefully place a few onion rings into the oil. You will notice the temperature drop rapidly, don't panic, it'll come back. Adjust the heat if your stove is fast, otherwise let it do its thing. As always with frying, don't crowd the pan/Dutch oven, as they will stick to each other and you'll wind up with the onion ring that ate Cleveland. You also don't want to jostle these around too much until the batter has set up in the hot oil.
Your oil temperature probably dropped to 325 deg F or lower. Fry with the constant heat being applied to the oil for 3-4 minutes and flip with the spider or your tongs. The onion rings should also be mostly floating, like small live preservers ready to rescue you from the monotony of bagged tater tots. Continue cooking the onion rings for another 2.5-3 minutes. As you might imagine this is like cooking anything on multiple sides, the second side ALWAYS takes less time to cook.
Evacuate to your draining rack(s), dust with some optional cayenne pepper and fine sea salt, and repeat until you've exhausted your supply of onions.
Serve with mustard. Please don't @ me if you eat these with ketchup.