How much is a large onoin?

Answer 1

There are very few recipes in which the actual quantity of onion used will make any difference to the end dish; it depends on personal taste and, personally, my taste is to simply chop onions until I get tired of it and then simmer them in olive oil, with a little sugar, while deciding what else is going into the pan. Provided you keep the temperature low, you can only improve an onion by simmering it in oil or butter. If you burn it, throw it all out, otherwise it will ruin every other part of the dish. I do prefer large onions because it's simpler to chop one big onion than three small ones, and I weighed the biggest onion in my fridge just for you (never store onions out of the fridge; keep them in a plastic bag in the crisper). This perfect and aromatic cousin of the lily weighed in at 250g - a bit over eight ounces if you live in a place which still uses the ancient English measurements - and it isn't a huge onion, it's a comfortable palm-fit and easy to chop with my favourite short-bladed onion knife. This was a brown onion. White onions and red Spanish onions will differ in weight-for-size and the weight of all onions will differ according to freshness and storage conditions. Unfortunately I have no other onion varieties here to test for you. Most of my onions will end up simmered for a long time with various meats and vegetables, while the other varieties - at between two and three times the price of the humble brown - are wasted in that kind of cooking. Save the pricey ones for salads, or better still, keep a few shallots handy (they're the little golden-brown onions with partly purple insides) when you want to eat onion raw. They keep for ages in the fridge, and are wasted in cooking because you can't taste them, any more than most people can taste the difference between brown onions and the more expensive varieties after an hour or so on the cooktop. Spring onions - sometimes called green onions, shallots or scallions - come in unweighed bunches and are generally used for garnish or in salads. Don't be confused by their self-effacing manner: they are every bit as peppery as most other onions; if you want mild, buy real shallots.