Wow, I found this homemade fried blooming onion flower recipe, and I thought "Awesome!" .... sadly mine turned out.... disappointing. And of course, it has to do with my equipment, and also likely I was not following the direction totally.... as I lost the instruction part of the recipe and tring to do it through memory and my own frying experience of know how. Anyways, ...
A few years ago, I tried to make one and flooded the mini-size electric fryer for the French fries. I didn't 'think' that the oil would overflow out of the deep fryer as you drop down the battered onion flower.
This particular post is about my flopped fried blooming onion flower and what not to do and how I aim to do it better the next time. Of course, follow the instruction will be a good advice fro myself.
I won't list the ingredients, as this is a flop and rather a troubleshooting blog.
1. The instruction says to slice the onions open without cutting through the bottom.
2. Coat/dust the onion flower in a bag filled with seasoning.
3. Dip it in beaten egg mixture with seasonings in it.
4. Dust with flour mixture again
Open up the slices a bit and make sure the seasoned flours are in each layer. Now I know, the original recipe says to put in a bag with flour and shake it.
5. Dip in egg mixture again, then, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. I placed it in a basket to ready to lower it into hot frying oil
So far so good. I added enough EVOO up to the marked MAX oil point in my fryer pot I use for Tempura frying.
But looks loke it could use a bit more oil, but that's okay, as I would turn the onion over in a few minutes.
7. Turn it over after 7 minutes (...after thought... obviously this is not long enough or the heat is not high enough 'Dry' or cook the onion through in the center. The oiriginal instruction says medium high heat ... about 400'F.)
6. Fry for another 7 minutes (... after thought... obviously this is not long enough also)
7. Transfer to a serving plate with 'tempura oil extracting sheet' that you can purchase or paper towel to catch excess oil.
7. Pry open and serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
So, why is this a flop? I didn't like the taste of the onion. They were still quite moist or 'wet'. I was looking for a dryer crisper texture, I guess.
My method for next time would be - oven method? and I don't know the measurement, yet, until I test it.
1. Slice the onion without cutting through at the bottom.
2. Place the onion in a large bowl of ice to flower it.
3. Once the onion flower it, remove and turn it upside down in a strainer to strain the excess water.
4. Beat the egg with milk or buttermilk plus some cornstarch. Plus EVOO. Add seasonings and spices.
5. Coat/dust the onion layers lightly with flour using a shifter. Because onion layer is slippery, the dusted flour will help egg mixtures to cling on. Place the onion in a large plate with rim like a large soup bowl.
Preheat the oven to 425'F
6. Pour egg mixtures evenly over the top of onion in a circular motion.
7. Transfer the readied onion onto a baking sheet.
8. Bake till brown.
Will it work? I have no idea. I am sure other bloggers have already mastered it, but may be this is another one of the snacks that should be enjoyed at the restaurant..... but it is such a low cost snack to make at home.... will see, how it will turn out, and I will report back on its result.
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