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Quick Pickled Red Onion

International — see recipes from this place
  • 20 minutes + resting time
  • 1 jar
Looking straight down into an open glass jar of quick pickled red onion, sliced onion curled in a pink brine with coriander seeds, black peppercorns and a bay leaf.

A simple and versatile pickle made with red onion, vinegar and a handful of spices.

Ingredients

  • 1–2 red onions
  • 150 ml of red or white wine vinegar
  • 150 ml of water
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar, optional

Optional spices

  • A small piece of fresh ginger
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 fresh chilli or a pinch of dried chilli
  • A few juniper berries
  • A few red peppercorns
  • 2–3 cardamom seeds

Method

  1. Prepare the onions. Peel the red onions and slice them as thinly as possible — thin slices pickle more quickly and give a nice crunchy texture.

  2. Prepare the pickling liquid. Place the vinegar, water and salt in a saucepan, adding the sugar if you want a slightly sweeter pickle. Add any of the optional spices you like — ginger, bay leaf, chilli, juniper berries, red peppercorns and cardamom all work well, but you don't need to use them all.

  3. Heat the mixture. Bring the pickling liquid to a gentle simmer and stir until the salt has completely dissolved. You don't need to boil it for long — the goal is simply to heat the liquid and release some of the flavour from the spices.

  4. Fill the jar. Place the sliced red onions into a clean glass jar, then pour the warm pickling liquid over them until they are completely covered.

  5. Let them pickle. Close the jar and allow it to cool to room temperature. You can start eating the onions after around 30 minutes, but leaving them for a few hours will give them a deeper flavour and brighter colour. For the best result, leave them in the refrigerator overnight.

  6. Store. Keep the pickles refrigerated and make sure the onions remain covered by the vinegar mixture.

  7. Enjoy. Add your pickled onions to tacos, burgers, sandwiches, salads, ceviche, grilled meat, fish or cheese — their acidity is particularly good at cutting through rich or fatty dishes.

  8. Make it your own. This is a basic pickling method that works for almost any vegetable — carrots, cucumber, fennel, chillies, cabbage, radishes, cauliflower, white or yellow onions, or a mixture of several — simply changing the spices to suit the dish. Pickling is a great way to preserve vegetables, reduce food waste and add a lot of flavour with very inexpensive ingredients.

I cook dishes like this one in people's homes across Cape Town.

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