Beer-Battered Onion Rings

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS We wanted sweet, tender onions for our Beer-Battered Onion Rings. We found that sweet onions worked best, and after testing many different batters, we settled on a beer, flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, and cornstarch batter. The beer gave the coating flavor, and the carbonation also provided lift to the batter. Baking powder yielded a coating that was thick and substantial, yet light, while cornstarch added crunch to the coating. Before frying our onion rings, we soaked the onions in a mixture of beer, malt vinegar, and salt to soften them and build flavor. See the sidebar that follows the recipe.

SERVES 4 TO 6

In step 1, do not soak the onion rounds longer than two hours or they will turn soft and become too saturated to crisp properly. Ordinary yellow onions will produce acceptable rings here. Cider vinegar can be used in place of malt vinegar. You will need at least a 6-quart Dutch oven for this recipe.

2

sweet onions, peeled and sliced into½-inch-thick rounds

3

cups beer

2

teaspoons malt vinegar

Salt and pepper

2

quarts peanut or vegetable oil

¾

cup all-purpose flour

¾

cup cornstarch

1

teaspoon baking powder

1. Place onion rounds, 2 cups beer, vinegar, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in 1-gallon zipper-lock bag; refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

2. Line rimmed baking sheet with triple layer of paper towels. Add oil to large Dutch oven until it measures about 1½ inches deep and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees. While oil is heating, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Slowly whisk in ¾ cup beer until just combined (some lumps will remain). Whisk in remaining beer as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until batter falls from whisk in steady stream and leaves faint trail across surface of batter.

3. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Remove onions from refrigerator and pour off liquid. Pat onion rounds dry with paper towels and separate into rings. Transfer one-third of rings to batter. One at a time, carefully transfer battered rings to oil. Fry until rings are golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through frying. Drain rings on prepared baking sheet, season with salt and pepper to taste, and transfer to oven. Return oil to 350 degrees and repeat 2 more times with remaining onion rings and batter. Serve.