Beer-Battered Onion Rings

June 22: National Onion Rings Day

We always like to eat “local” to get a taste of a place we visit. Maui is no exception, so whenever we visit this Hawaiian island, we must indulge in one of its most popular produce: onions! Maui’s sweet onions add a touch of the tropics to any recipe, whether tossed in a salad, served in salsas or soups, cooked as crispy chips, baked into bread or deep-fried as rings. When we make the latter at home, we add a Big Island beer to the batter for a “Hawaiian-ized” version of onion rings (on the mainland, we make them with a Texas sweet onion and a Lone Star lager). Make beer-battered onion rings for a savory-sweet snack or side dish and for National Onion Rings Day!

Recipe

(Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen on Food.com)

For the marinade

• 2 onions (we recommend Maui or a sweet onion)
• 2 cups beer (we used Kona Brewing Company brand Longboard Island Lager)
• 2 teaspoons malt or cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Directions

Slice the onions in ½-inch thick rounds but do not separate yet into rings. In a zipper top bag, combine the beer, vinegar, salt and pepper. Place the onion rounds in the bag to marinate in the liquid mixture. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but no more than two hours. Remove the onion rounds from the bag of marinade. Discard the liquid and separate the onion rounds into rings. Dry the rings on paper towels. Set aside to make the batter.

For the batter

• ¾ cup flour
• ¾ cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ – ¾ cup beer (we used Kona Brewing Company brand Longboard Island Lager)

Other ingredient

• 2 quarts vegetable or canola oil (for deep frying)

Directions

In a bowl, mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and pepper. Gradually whisk in the beer, a little at a time, to make a batter of medium consistency (if it is too thick, the onion rings will be too doughy; if it is too thin, the batter will be too thin to stick to the onion rings).  Heat the oil in the deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Coat the onion rings in the batter. Fry a few at a time to avoid overcrowding. Drain well on paper towels. Continue coating, frying and draining the remaining onion rings. Serve hot while still crispy.

Notes

• We halved the above recipe to feed just the two of us. One large onion was enough to use up the batter, so double the recipe if using two onions.
• Do not marinate the onions for more than two hours or they will become too soft and limp. The strong taste of the raw onions is toned down by the beer and vinegar.
• Use a lager or pilsner to get a more distinct beer taste in these onion rings.
• Also try our tempura-style onion rings recipe from our blog post on January 7 (National Tempura Day).