English Pub-style Pickled Onions

Total Time: 840 hrs Preparation Time: 840 hrs

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pickling salt
• 2 quarts water
• 1 1/2 lbs very small onion or 1 1/2 lbs pearl onions or 1 1/2 lbs shallots
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 cups malt vinegar
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
• 1 bay leaf, crumbled

Recipe

• 1 in a bowl, dissolve â¼ cup salt in 1 quart water; add the onions and weight them gently with a plate that fits inside the bowl.
• 2 let them stand 8 to 12 hours.
• 3 drain the onions, and peel them; return them to the bowl.
• 4 make a brine with the remaining salt and water, pour it over the onions, and weight them gently again.
• 5 let them stand 2 days.
• 6 in a nonreactive saucepan, bring the sugar and vinegar to a boil; let the liquid cool.
• 7 drain and rinse the onions, and drain them well again.
• 8 in a 1-quart jar, layer the onions, peppercorns, allspice, pepper flakes, and bay leaf.
• 9 cover them with the cooled, sweetened vinegar.
• 10 cover the jar with a nonreactive cap, preferably all plastic.
• 11 refrigerate the jar for at least 1 month before eating the onions.
• 12 they will keep for at least 6 months.