By Request Betty Shimabukuro

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Pickled onions easy
to make and fun to give

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Pickled onions can be done up with all manner of spices, from cumin to cloves. Make them sweet or salty, or heat them up with chile peppers. Pair them up with other vegetables for color and extra crunch. Cucumbers and bell peppers are favorites, but beets are another possibility.

Naomi Shigenaga e-mailed a request for a Portuguese-style pickled onion recipe. That search yielded some great variety.

Any one of these would be a refreshing side dish for the Thanksgiving table, or if you're into gifts from the kitchen, consider making up a few jars for Christmas.

Need more choices? Check out this great Web site -- www.picklenet.com -- that carries not just pickle recipes, but pickle-making and pickle-shopping advice. There's even a recipe for pickled walnuts.

Portuguese Pickled Onions

"The Second Plantation Village Cookbook" (Friends of Waipahu Cultural Garden Park, 1987)

2 cloves garlic, sliced
3 pounds Maui onions, cut in wedges
2 large bell peppers, cut in wedges
1-1/2 cups water
1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Hawaiian salt
2 or 3 Hawaiian chile peppers, or to taste

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Cover and let stand 24 hours, then refrigerate.

Cucumber and Onion Pickles

"Favorite Island Cookery, Book I" (Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin, 1973)

7 to 8 pounds cucumbers, sliced

4 medium onions, sliced

3/4 cup Hawaiian salt

5 cups sugar, or less, to taste

1 quart cider vinegar

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves

2 bay leaves

Mix cucumbers and onions with salt. Cover with ice and let stand 3 hours. Drain.

Combine remaining ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Pour immediately over cucumbers and onions. Place in glass jar and refrigerate.

Pickled Red Onions with Beets

"Mesa Mexicana," by Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, with Helena Siegel (William Morrow, 1994)

1 pound red onions, thinly sliced
1 beet, trimmed, peeled and cut in 8 wedges
1 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon roughly chopped cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt

Place onions in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Strain; set aside.

Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Transfer to a glass jar and add onions. Cover and refrigerate at least a day before serving. Pickled onions will keep in the refrigerator up to a month.

Nutritional information unavailable.

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Send queries along with name and phone number to:
"By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813.
Or send e-mail to bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.