Diner-Style Onion Rings
Published: June 18, 2020 by Ivan
Onion Rings! This is my answer to the A or B question at burger joints. I always answered onion rings because restaurants were the only place that I could get them. My favorite onion rings are made from scratch. The onion ring crust is light, fluffy, and crispy.
I like all different kinds of homemade onion rings. Onion rings that you can almost see through to onion rings with thick crusts. It’s just a matter of what you are in the mood for. But now we make them at home without buying the frozen kind. So get out some cold beer. Let’s make some onion rings.
INGREDIENTS
1 White Onion
1 Tbsp Salt
2/3 cup Self Rising Flour
1/4 cup Corn Starch
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup Beer or Water
1 Tbsp Scrambled Egg
Salt and Pepper to taste
How to make Diner Style Onion Rings
1. Cut the white onion in half, then cut each half in half. The rings are under an inch in height. Cut off the dry end-pieces and discard. Separate the individual rings into a bowl. Discard the skin and the first thin layer of the onion. Save the smaller rings for another recipe. They are too small for onion rings. Mix in 1 Tbsp of salt to the onion rings. We are using salt to sweat the onion rings to remove moisture. For this recipe, I am also slicing a carrot diagonally, 1/4″ thick, and 2″ long. I love tempura style carrots, but I will use the onion ring batter instead of tempura batter. Add the sliced carrots to the onion rings. We will sweat the carrots as well.
Sweat the onions and carrots for 5-8 minutes. Mix the onions and carrots with your hand. You will feel a lot of moisture coming off the vegetables. Sweating the onions and carrots will make them very tender so the onion won’t pull out of the onion ring once they are cooked. Rinse the onions and carrots three or four times in cold water to remove the salt. Add cold water to the onions and carrots. Keep the vegetables cold in the refrigerator or add ice cubes to the bowl.
2. Heat a frying pan to 1/3 power on your electric stove. Add 1″ depth of cooking oil to the frying pan. We are heating the oil to 325°F. Prepare a tray with a wire rack to drain the fried onion rings and carrots.
3. Onion Ring Batter: To a bowl, mix 2/3 cup self-rising flour, 1/4 cup corn starch, and 1 tsp baking powder. I add baking powder to self-rising flour. Sometimes you get a batch of self-rising flour with no baking powder in it. Place 2 Tbsp of the flour mixture into a sandwich bag for dusting the vegetables. Mix less than 1/4 cup of beer to bowl with the flour mixture to make the batter. The batter will be thick and clumpy like play-do. Continue to mix the very dry batter until it is consistent in texture. We are mixing the dry batter like this to avoid the add more beer, then add more flour scenario. The unfortunate scenario continues until you have a gallon of batter for one onion. So we are mixing the batter until it is consistent, then add a teaspoon of beer. We will repeat this slow process until the batter has the thickness of toothpaste.
4. Scramble one egg with a dash of salt and pepper. Mix in 1 Tbsp of the scrambled egg into the batter. The batter should be the consistency of wet paint. You may need to add 1/2 tsp of beer.
5. Take individual pieces of vegetables from the onion-water bowl and dust each piece thoroughly with the dry flour mixture. Set each floured onion ring and carrot on a wire rack to rest until you are ready to fry. Your hands will be moist or wet, so use a spoon handle to move the onion rings once they are floured. This keeps the flour on the onion rings and not on your fingers.
6. Frying: We will perform a test fry with the smallest onion ring. Dip the onion ring into the batter and coat thoroughly. Allow excess batter to drip off, then place into the hot oil. Fry the onion ring for 2 minutes, then flip the onion ring to cook for another 2 minutes. Repeat this process until the bubbling has reduced to 1/4 or the onion ring is golden brown. Allow the onion ring to cool, then taste the onion ring. The onion ring should have the texture that you want. If the crust is too hard, then add 1/2 tsp of beer to thin out the batter. Start frying your first batch. Do not over-crowd the batter. The batter will thicken with each vegetable that you add to the batter because of the dusting flour. I recommend starting each batch with only one onion ring so you can add 1/2 tsp of beer if the batter tastes too thick. Avoid playing with the temperature setting by not overcrowding the fryer. Salt the onion rings and carrots on the draining rack immediately after frying. Serve hot, or keep warm in a warm oven.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your own Diner-Style Onion Rings. Remember to share your recipes.
Until next time. Adios…Beef
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