Balsamic Red Onion Jam
Sweet-sour onion jam cooked down at camp and spooned onto whatever is dry and dull.
- calories
- 180
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 51
- protein
- 2 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 45 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Red onions | 2 lb | about four medium, sliced thin at home |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 3/4 cup | white or brown, either works |
| Balsamic vinegar | 1/3 cup | a thick balsamic glaze reduces the cooking time |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Black peppercorns | 1/2 tsp | cracked |
| Bay leaf | 1 |
Method
- Warm the oil in the pot over low flame. Add the onions and salt and stir to coat.
- Cook uncovered on the lowest heat you can hold, stirring every few minutes. The onions should collapse and go soft without browning. Twenty minutes.
- Add the sugar, bay leaf, and pepper. The onions will release liquid again. Keep going until that liquid turns syrupy.
- Pour in the balsamic. Cook another ten to fifteen minutes until a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a track that closes slowly.
- Pull the bay leaf. Let it cool in the pot; it thickens more as it drops in temperature.
This is a car-camping project, not a trail recipe. Two pounds of raw onion is heavy and wet, and there is no way to shortcut the forty-five minutes it takes to drive the water out. What you get in return is a condiment that turns crackers, hard cheese, and cheap sausage into something worth sitting down for.
The order matters. Sugar added too early sets a crust on the pan before the onions have given up their water, and burnt sugar is bitter all the way through. Cook the onions soft first, then sweeten, then acidify. The balsamic goes in last because long heat cooks off the sharpness that makes the jam read as sour rather than just sweet. Keep the flame low; a canister stove on full throttle scorches the bottom of a thin pot in under a minute.
Packing
Slice the onions at home and pack them in a zip bag in the cooler. Premeasure sugar, salt, and pepper into one small bag, and carry the vinegar and oil in leakproof bottles. Leftover jam goes into a screw-top jar and keeps a week cold.
Variations
- A split dried chile added with the sugar gives it heat that builds.
- Swap half the balsamic for red wine if you have an open bottle in camp.
- Thin a spoonful with hot water to make a glaze for grilled sausage.
https://savoriurbane.com/dulceata-de-ceapa-cu-crema-de-otet-balsamic