Fried Onion Rings

I'm glad I held off on this post, because I made these again recently and they came out even better the second time, thanks to some help from my brother.  The first time I had made them, I only used Panko bread crumbs to coat my onion rings.  I love Panko because it's so thick and crunchy, therefore you end up with a nice breading.  However, because it is so thick, I sometimes have trouble getting it to stick to things.  So the first time I made these onion rings, they came out tasty, but did not have as much breading as I would have liked.

When I made them the second time, my brother suggested that I mix the large, crunchy Panko bread crumbs with regular Italian breadcrumbs.  Italian breadcrumbs are much smaller and therefore help the Panko stick to the onion ring.  Plus, you can get them flavored to add some zest to your breading or even make them yourself from stale bread!  It was a great idea and the breading came out nice and thick and crispy the second time around.

Another tip for making nice, thick breading takes some extra work, but is very much worth it.  You take your onion rings, dredge them in flour, coat them in egg wash, dredge them in flour again, and then coat them in egg wash a second time.  This makes for a nice, thick base underneath your breading.  Follow this technique and you'll have delicious, crispy onion rings of your own!

One more suggestion: the more I fry things, the better my technique has become (don't know if that's a good thing or not...).  I now like to fry things in medium-sized pots rather than in frying pans because you can fit more items into your frying oil.  Plus, if you don't let the oil get too hot and strain it after each use, you could reuse your oil about 2 or 3 times.  Another thing that made frying go much smoother is I used my new cooking/candy thermometer.  If you have one, you want to keep your oil between 119 and 390 degrees F.  I know that's a large range, so I usually kept mine around the 250 degree mark.  If you do not have a cooking thermometer, it's a great investment and you can use them for melting chocolate, making puddings, and, of course, frying!  It's a very handy thing to have, and will take a lot of the guesswork out of frying.

I know these certainly are not the most healthy things you can eat, but it's a nice treat to have alongside steak or on top of a hamburger.  Plus 1 medium yellow onion makes enough onion rings for 6 - 8 people, so you can always practice moderation by reserving this recipe for a special event!

On another note, my student teaching is coming to a close.  I'm on spring break this week so I will be spending my time applying to jobs and catching up on work.  I have some posts lined about about my new garden (I'm literally starting from scratch!), so be sure to stayed tuned!

Fried Onion Rings

Yield: enough for 6 – 8 people

Prep time: 10 min

Bake time: 5 min for ea. batch

Ingredients

-     1 large onion, sliced and rings pulled apart

-          1 c flour

-          3 eggs, scrambled

-          1 c Panko bread crumbs

-          1 c Italian bread crumbs

-          Salt and pepper, to taste

-          2 c oil

Directions

Dredge the onion rings in flour and then coat them in the egg wash.  Repeat.  Then dredge the onion rings in the mixture of Panko and Italian bread crumbs and pepper.

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat.  Once the oil reaches 250F, place the onion rings in the oil in batches.  Allow them to fry until golden brown.  Remove and let dry on a paper towel.  Coat in salt and pepper to taste. 

Posted by Ali B at 11:57 AM