Ok, so not really a recipe, but vegan hotdogs with onions is another of those “how to” type posts. Making good fried onions – although you might think it’s very straighforward – there’s a few tricks to getting them succullent & tasty. After lots of trial & error – here’s how I do it – taste tested and approved by my youngest Danniel. The trick is in the slow cooking with a lid on, plus a few extras that are essential to get the caramellised flavour.
First cut the onions in half top to toe, cut off the root & shoot, & remove outer layers. Then cut them along the diameter in half, finally into slices from top to bottom. This will give nice sized pieces, & not too long so easier to cook & use. Next use a flat bottomed thick stainless steel pan with a well fitting lid. Preheat the olive oil on a medium heat. Tip the sliced onions in & stir after a few seconds to coat them evenly with the oil. Add the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and stir well, then cover with the lid. I reccomend setting the oven or another timer for 2 minutes each time and stir well. After about the 2nd stirring, add in the palm sugar. Use muscovado brown sugar if you don’t have palm sugar available and stir well once added.
Now turn the gas or heat down to nice & low – so they’re just sizzling. Keep this 2 minute stirring routine up – setting the timer each time – or I guarantee you will burn them. You may need to add the odd tablespoon of water to keep them moist and stop them sticking. However the lid keeps a lot of the moisture in so only as and when it’s needed – make sure you turn the onions over thoroughly every time.
It takes about 25 minutes in all, and towards the end, you will need to stir every minute – again use the timer or they will burn. I recommend doing a reasonably large batch – see recipe – as it’s a time consuming effort. Then just keep them in the fridge – they’ll soon get used up. For the hot dogs themselves, it’s really hard to find decent wholemeal hotdog rolls, so I suggest using a large bap style wholemeal roll and cutting it in half. You can then place the vegan sausage or hot dog – tofu weiner, richmond, linda McCartney or other hot dog on one half.
An alternative is to use a slice of wholemeal bread – but sourdough will not work. Add the onions first, then the hotdog, and add some sliced avocado, american mustard, vegan mayo, gherkin slices or tomato ketchup! It goes lovely with herby potato salad or mayo potato salad. So, get those “vegan hotdogs with onions” on the go!
vegan hotdogs with onions
Equipment
- 1 stainless flat bottomed pan
Ingredients
- 500 g peeled sliced white or red onions so 600g of whole onions
- 2 fl teasps palm or muscovado sugar brown is ok, but lacks flavour
- 2 teasps soy sauce
- 2 teasps balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Cut onions top to bottom (shoot to root)
- Cut root and shoot off
- peel and cut once across the middle
- put pan on to a medium heat with a good amount of olive oil
- cut in slices from top to bottom
- tip sliced onions in the pre-heated oil and stir well to coat evenly with the oil. Set timer for 2 minutes.
- after the second 2 minute timer add in the palm/muscovado/brown sugar - stir well
- after the fourth 2 minute timer - add in the balsamic vinegar & soy sauce - and stir well.
- Keep going adding a little water if necessary, until they are translucent and nice and soft, but still "fleshy".
- Use as necessary and keep in the fridge. Just reheat the necessary quantity each time you use them - don't heat the whole bowl. They will keep at least 7 days in a refrigerator at 3 to 5°C.
