Awaji Onion Ohitashi
This onion ohitashi recipe is called Awaji Onion Ohitashi for two reasons. First, it’s made with the kind of “New” Onions that Awaji Island is famous for. New onions are yellow onions harvested in spring when the onions are juicier, sweeter, and milder in flavor than those harvested in late summer and fall. (Note: You can make this dish with any variety of sweet onion.) The second reason is that the final flourish of umami people living on the island use to finish the dish is a pat of butter instead of the more traditional flurry of katsuo-bushi dried skipjack tuna flakes or sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. The melted butter mixes with the usukuchi soy sauce and umami-rich onion juices that pool at the bottom of the dish when steaming the onion to create a delicious onion broth. In fact, this dish can be enjoyed as a kind of instant onion soup. But it’s meant to be a warm side dish shared at the table. However way you serve it, make sure to sop up the flavorful broth with pieces of onion and anything else you happen to be eating.
Awaji Onion Ohitashi
Awaji Tamanegi No Ohitashi : 淡路玉ねぎのお浸し
Serves 3-4
Main Foods
New Onion or Any Variety of Sweet Onion, 1 large (about 250 g)
Seasonings
Butter, 1 teaspoon, to taste
Usukuchi Soy Sauce, 1/2 teaspoon, to taste
Directions
Rinse the onion under cold water and take off any outer layer of skin. Cut off the top end and shave and level the bottom, if needed, but don’t entirely cut off the stem. Make 8 slices in the onion, starting at the top and going down about 1/2 way. Don’t go farther than that or the onion will collapse too much during cooking.
Place the onion, stem side down, in a microwave-proof bowl, one that you will serve the dish in as you want to keep the juice that pools at the bottom. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave at 600W for 7 minutes or 500W for 9 minutes.
Dress with the butter and usukuchi soy sauce while still hot.
Serve
Serve as a warm side dish, perhaps making more than one for your guests to enjoy and use as a kind of dipping sauce for the other foods served.
Variations
New onions grown on Awaji Island are famous throughout Japan for their juiciness, sweetness, and mild flavor.
You can top the onion with a flurry of katsuo-bushi dried skipjack tuna flakes or small handful of toasted sesame seeds for a vegan/vegetarian option instead of butter for the final layer of umami. These are more traditional ways of making the recipe.
Substituion
You can use a mature yellow onion to make this dish. First soak it in a large bowl of cold water. This will rehydrate it and help ensure that a natural onion stock is created when you cook it, which usually takes 2 minutes longer in the microwave. It will taste different, less sweet and more pungent, but this can easily be balanced by using regular soy sauce instead of usukuchi soy sauce. You can also make the most of its stronger flavor by sprinkling on some Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper, instead of butter, to finish the dish.