We were making tacos and were in need of some pickled onion. With recent spates of panic-buying, the supermarkets had run dry, so we decided to pickle our own.

Pickling is a wonderful way of passing the time whilst making use of some of those spices and aromatics that all too often get forgotten about, languishing at the back of the store cupboard.

Pickling food in vinegar is a great way to augment its taste. It was surprisingly easier than we thought, in fact it was quite therapeutic!

While we initially wanted to use them for tacos, pickled red onions add a tangy crunch and bright pink note to salads, sandwiches, burritos, burgers and more.

What’s more, they’ll only take a few minutes to put together, and will be ready to utilise in 2 hours. That said, the flavour will develop more over time, the longer the onions sit in the brine.

Ingredients:

3 Red Onions (small) – sliced

2 Bay Leaves

1 Star Anise

300ml Cider Vinegar

1 Tsp – Pickling Spice

1 Tbsp – Himalayan Pink Rock Salt

3 Tbsp – Sugar

Method:

1) Add the cider vinegar to a pan, with the sugar, salt, pickling spice and bay leaves, and bring to a simmer.

2) After a minute or so, check that the sugar and salt have dissolved, then remove from the heat.

3) Boil the kettle. Put the onion slices in a sieve or colander. Pour over the hot water from the kettle and drain.

4) When cool enough to handle, pack the onion rings into a 500g sterilised jar. Pour over the warm vinegar and seal.

5) Cool, then chill to pickle for 2 hours. The onions will keep for 6 months unopened, or 2 weeks in the fridge once opened.