Make a Blooming Onion
Blooming Onion is an appetizer served at some restaurants. It consists of one large fried Vidalia onion which is cut to resemble a flower. The name of the dish comes from its menu name at the Outback Steakhouse ("Blooming' Onion"), which claims to be the dish's inventor, although there are competing claims. Whoever invented it, it tastes delicious and makes a fantastic party centerpiece. In this article, you'll learn how to make it at home.
Contents
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable oil
- 1 giant onion, the larger, the better
- 1-2 eggs, depending on the size of the onion, cracked and mixed
- 1 cup flour – put some hot water into it, season it with pepper, paprika, oregano, thyme and cumin, chili, and any spices you prefer; stir everything thoroughly
Steps
- Cut off the top of the onion and remove the skin. Cut an "X" pattern into the the onion, being careful not to cut all the way through the onion. Leave 1/2" of the base of the onion in tact. Continue cutting "X" patterns into the onion by turning the onion 90 degrees, then cut another "X" shape. Keep doing this until you cut at least 10-14 times across the onion. Remember to leave the bottom of the onion intact, otherwise the flower will be destroyed. After cutting the "X" patterns into the top of the onion cut out or pull out the center of the onion.
- Put the onion into an Fill Ice in a Water Bottle bath for 2 minutes, carefully spread the onion petals apart and away from the center.
- Pour oil into a cooking pot. There should be enough oil to cover the whole onion. Preheat the oil at medium-to-high level heat.
- Dip the onion into the egg (or baste the onion with the egg if preferred). Once coated with egg, dip the whole onion into the flour mixture. Make sure every petal is fully coated – you may need to pat some flour on hard to cover areas.
- Keep the egg and flour mixtures separate. It helps to put them into separate bowls large enough for you to dip the onion in.
- In using dry flour, this may prove difficult to ensure the onion is fully coated. If so, try adding some hot water into cornflour until the flour becomes semi-liquid, and then pour your onion into it. A small brush for basting can help.
- Deep fry the onion. At the beginning, the oil must be hot enough to set the onion coating, but within 20 seconds, turn the heat down to the lowest level, or the onion will be burnt. Fry onion for 8-10 minutes.
- When the onion turns a deep brown, take it up, and turn the heat back to the highest heat. When the oil is hot enough, put the onion back for no more than 20 seconds. The higher heat can help to extrude excess oil from the onion and its coating.
- Remove the onion from the oil. Let the fried onion rest on several pieces of paper towel to allow the the excess oil to be absorbed. If desired, shake some Salt and Pepper into the fried onion to season to taste.
- Put the dipping sauce in a small dish. Place this dish at the middle of the blooming onion. Serve immediately.
Tips
- There is special equipment for cutting blooming onion. The keyword for searching is "blooming onion cutter". It's probably only worth purchasing this if you're going to be making blooming onion regularly though.
- IMPORTANT: To produce a beautiful onion flower, you need to use single-heart onions, which most onions are. Outback Steakhouse has a special arrangement with farms that grow a special kind of extremely large single-heart onion just for them. With more than one heart the onion will not open evenly.
- Dipping sauces can be anything you like. You can mix mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, pepper, salt, oregano and even Tabasco sauce together, stir it thoroughly. If you don't have western spices available in your market, try to mix a raw yolk, vinegar, chili and add some oil, stir it thoroughly.
- Blooming onion can be very oily. No matter how you make it, heat the oil with high-level heat, and put the onion back to boiling oil for not more than 20 seconds to try to reduce some of the excess fat. You can also use a kitchen paper to take more oil out.
Warnings
- Whenever working with hot oil, take precautions for safety including handling with care, keeping children and pets out of the kitchen, never leaving hot oil unattended and having a suitable fire extinguisher readily available near the cooking zone in case something does go wrong (and know how to use it).
Things You'll Need
- Cutting board and knife
- Bowls
- Basting brush (optional)
- Frying saucepan or fryer
- Tongs or other item to lower, hold and remove the onion
- Kitchen paper towel
- Plate for serving
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