on pickled onions.....

I learned this technique in 2008 while on vacation in Peru. The mom of my girlfriend at the time would make  "salsa criolla" which is a peruvian style relish that accompanies a lot of their local dishes. They take thinly sliced red onions and mix it with cilantro, aji amarillo, lime juice and a small amount of vinegar. They let all these ingredients marinate for half an hour and and then serve it with ceviche, chicharron, or papa a la huancaina amongst many other things. The onions soak in the lime and vinegar mixture while maintaing a good amount of their texture. I apply the same concept when making pickled onions. I'll take red wine vinegar and mix it with a bit of sugar and star anise. I then slice the onions into a semi thick julienne and let them soak in the vinegar sugar mixture for about a half an hour. This technique is fast, very simple, and it yields great results. At the restaurant I serve the pickled onions on a fried local egg that sits on top of roasted cauliflower and chili aioli. The thing that I love the most about this method of preparing the onions is the crunch that the onions retain from not having to boil them as you would regular pickled items.