Zuni Café’s Red Onion Pickles

Make these with white onions and a can of sliced beets. Add sliced cucumbers, if you like, after the onion and beet mixture cools. Follow step 4 after you add cukes; I don't jar it, but keep it in a large covered bowl in the fridge for daily use one way or another.

The non-reactive pan and wooden spoon notes in the recipe are important. If you use an aluminum pan or spoon the onions turn an unattractive blueish color instead of bright pink. Also only use firm flat or round red onions. Torpedo red onions result in mushy pickles.

Does choice of vinegar matter ( cider vs distilled white or other?)

Yes. I used ground cinnamon, allspice and chili powder (all the pod/seed stuff is a little exotic for my kitchen -- as is the star anise pod, which I just omitted). They taste great. My suggestions are thin sliced are better -- I'll err on the side of very thin in the future -- and that you could easily add 1.5 pounds of sliced onions to the brine.

Well I cooked something like this from Rick Bayless's cookbook 1 sliced small/medium red onion - 1/8 inch slices 1/4 t salt 1/4 t cumin seed 1/4 t peppercorns 1/2 t oregano 2 garlic cloves sliced 1/3 C cider vinegar all in a saucepan, then water to cover. boil slowly for 3 minutes save in a jar, keeps long time. recipe says to crush peppercorns and oregano but I forgot. good stuff.

I wish I had put the hard spices into a tea ball or similar to remove them easily after steeping.

I echo the other comments that this recipe is a bit too sweet and that I’d half the sugar next time. Doubled the recipe and easily fit in 3 lbs of red onions. They make great gifts!

So... Since I didn't have cinnamon sticks or whole allspice or a dried chili pepper and couldn't go to the grocery store (thank you, COVID-19), I looked up the ground equivalents for those. Accidentally doubled the amount of cinnamon, but went ahead anyway. YUM! Spicy but not too hot thanks to the cinnamon. Very, very tasty. They're great in salads and (believe it or not) on hot dogs and burgers. So glad I went ahead with substituting some ingredients. Making them again again toda

Made these to go with falafel, absolutely delicious! Surprisingly sweet with a hint of heat. Might go with less sugar + another dried pepper or two next time as I prefer the heat + acididty to sweetness

Yes. Stainless steel or enamel pans both work well. Aluminum is what you want to avoid.

I used apple cider vinegar because I love the aroma and fruitiness. I sed the optional star anise and also substituted Aleppo pepper flakes (for their citrusy heat) for the dried red chili. Delicious.

I make a batch of these almost every month and make them to give out as holiday gifts as they are great on leftovers, sandwiches, and salads. I use round red onions, distilled vinegar, an allclad pot, increase the red chile (using Thai chiles) and omit the bay leaves and about 3/4 or less of the sugar. They are reliably crunchy and delicious. While the rings are pretty, I usually cut the onions so they are more easily useful in a salad.