Thai onion substitute?

MrAoD said:

Haven't been able to find this locally and I'm not willing
to order online.

This is a Thai spice. From what I've been able to
determine it's a small red onion native to Thailand which
is processed by slicing, frying, and drying. It's used as
both reconstituted by cooking to flavor a dish and crushed
or chopped as a topping or condiment.

How pungent are these onions?

Thanks,

Marc

I've never heard of a "hot" Thai onion. I lived in Bangkok
35 years ago and they used spring onions for onions in most
of the recipes I am familiar with. They aren't "hot" nor are
they "red". You may be confusing the onion with red Thai
chillies, which are often dried, chopped and extremely hot.
Rona could probably tell you more about this than I can.

Jill

(MrAoD) said:

Haven't been able to find this locally and I'm not willing
to order online.

This is a Thai spice. From what I've been able to
determine it's a small red onion native to Thailand which
is processed by slicing, frying, and drying. It's used as
both reconstituted by cooking to flavor a dish and crushed
or chopped as a topping or condiment.

How pungent are these onions?

Thanks,

Marc

Fairly pungent. They're actually a shallot and any Asian
grocery will have them.

In article <[email hidden]>,

jmcquown said:

MrAoD said:

Haven't been able to find this locally and I'm not
willing to order online.

This is a Thai spice. From what I've been able to
determine it's a small red onion native to Thailand
which is processed by slicing, frying, and drying. It's
used as both reconstituted by cooking to flavor a dish
and crushed or chopped as a topping or condiment.

How pungent are these onions?

Thanks,

Marc

I've never heard of a "hot" Thai onion. I lived in Bangkok
35 years ago and they used spring onions for onions in
most of the recipes I am familiar with. They aren't "hot"
nor are they "red". You may be confusing the onion with
red Thai chillies, which are often dried, chopped and
extremely hot. Rona could probably tell you more about
this than I can.

I don't know for sure about Thailand, but further south in
Malaysia the most common onions are intermediate in size and
pungency between shallots and the large red/purple onions in
American markets. They are, as the OP notes, often sliced
thin and fried to a crisp, caramel brown and used a lot that
way as a garnish (garlic is also treated in this way). Large
shallots are a reasonable substitute.

Michael Siemon <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I don't know for sure about Thailand, but further south in
Malaysia the most common onions are intermediate in size
and pungency between shallots and the large red/purple
onions in American markets. They are, as the OP notes,
often sliced thin and fried to a crisp, caramel brown and
used a lot that way as a garnish (garlic is also treated
in this way). Large shallots are a reasonable substitute.

Ditto with the vote for shallots. My dad used them
whenever possible. If you can't get shallots, you can buy
fried onions at many Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese grocery
stores that will do for garnishes. I never really cared
for the ready made ones, but when you've got no other
choice, they're fine.

Rona

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