Yucatan pickled onions are one of those great condiments. They can be used all over the place. Tacos – obviously. In sandwiches. On burgers. With grilled meats, poultry or fish. Pretty much anything that isn’t dessert.
And they’re super easy to make. Foolproof really. They keep well in the fridge. For weeks. Ready to brighten whatever you’re eating. I like to keep some on hand all summer long.
Yucatan pickles onions are a snap to make
Super easy to make might even be an understatement. Slice some onions. Combine all the ingredients except the onions in a little sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Toss the onions into the pan. Simmer for one minute. Cool. Eat. That easy. Nothing to it at all.
But they are so good. Once you have them in your fridge you’ll understand. Need a bit of extra flavour to make sandwich great. Check. Some zing to absolutely any kind of burger. Check. Need a snack staight out of the jar. Big check.
You can add some zing to Yucatan pickled onions if you want. Pickle a seeded jalapeño into them and it’s a whole different experience. A bit of habanero works too but make sure you devein it.
Unless you like screaming hot. But that would make them less of a condiment and more of a test. How tough are you? Can you handle these incendiary pickled onions. Kind of odd but whatever works for you…
You can also add some fresh lime juice. They’re pickles, not a chocolate souffle. You can mess with the recipe and it will turn out just fine.
This particular recipe yields pretty tender onions. If you want more crunch, bring all the ingredients except the onions to a boil. Put the onions in a bowl and pour the boiling liquid and seasonings over the onions. Let them stand at room temperature until cool.
Use them everywhere. Use them often. They will become a staple.
yucatan pickles onions
Ingredients
- 2 large red onions sliced about 1/8 inch thick
- 2 cloves garlic cut in half
- 1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 clove
- 5 allspice berries whole
- 1/4 tsp black peppercorns whole
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Bring all ingredients except the onions to a boil in a saucepan large enough to hold the onions.
- Add the onions and cook for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
- Store in a sealed jar in the fridge.
- Let the onions stand for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving
Nutrition
Crispy pork carnitas make some of the best tacos around. Little bits of pork wrapped in a soft corn tortilla. That is just good living.
I’m so obsessed with pork carnitas. Tacos in general I suppose. I can’t do it like they do in Mexico. Giant pots of carnitas simmering pork lard is a bit over the top for my kitchen. Sad but true.
Oven baked pork carnitas
This is a scaled down version. No giant pots. No cooking tons of pork a week. But a little bit of pure pork goodness nonetheless. And there’s pork lard. Tasty, tasty pork lard.
These are taqueria style carnitas. Probably how they make them in restaurants outside of Mexico. Not quite the same but really close.
You get a mix of meltingly tender pork and little crispy bits. Serve that up with a little salsa and a squeeze of lime and you could probably fool yourself into thinking you are in Mexico.
Get the recipe here .
Sous vide style
Sous-vide is a more upscale approach. This is seriously tender pork. Think of slow cooker done right. The more sophisticated carnitas. Upscale even.
If oven baked is what they serve at that little taqueria downtown, this is definitely uptown. Posh Mexican restaurant tacos.
I came up with these by accident. Rick Bayless was taking about these crazy pork paves he serves at Topolombambo. So I tried to make them.
I failed. They totally self-destructed when I tried to fry them. But that epic fail gave me this sous vide approach. So I’m not too broken up about it.
Get the sous-vide recipe here .
I like both versions. A lot. Just depends what you are going for. If you want downtown – oven style is best. If you want uptown it’s sous vide all the way. Try them both. You can’t go wrong.
