Coconut Onion Crisps with Sweet Chili Dip
Dried onion, panko, and coconut crisped in a skillet, with a honey-sriracha dip stirred cold.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- 120 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried sweet onion rings or thick onion slices | 1 cup | dehydrated at home from one extra-large sweet onion |
|---|---|---|
| Panko breadcrumbs | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Unsweetened shredded coconut | 3/4 cup | finely shredded, not flaked |
| All-purpose flour | 1/2 cup | |
| Powdered whole milk | 2 tbsp | stands in for the 1/2 cup fresh milk |
| Powdered egg | 2 tbsp | one egg's worth |
| Paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Kosher salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Cooking oil | 3 tbsp | grapeseed or any neutral oil |
| Honey | 1/2 cup | in a squeeze tube |
| Sriracha | 1-2 tbsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | replaces two fresh cloves |
| Rice vinegar | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Pour 120 ml of just-boiled water over the dried onion in a bag or cup. Ten minutes, until the rings bend without snapping. Squeeze them out and blot on a bandana.
- Stir the honey, sriracha, garlic powder, and vinegar together in a mug. No heat needed. Set it aside.
- Shake the flour and paprika in one bag. Shake the milk powder and egg powder with 1/3 cup water in a second bag until smooth. Combine panko, coconut, and salt in a third.
- Toss the onion in the flour bag, drag each ring through the egg mix, then press it into the panko and coconut so all sides take a coat.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over a low flame. Lay in the rings in one layer and turn them once, about three minutes a side, until the coconut goes brown. Coconut burns before breadcrumbs do, so keep the flame low.
- Drain on the bandana and dip.
The original is an oven recipe with a fresh onion, fresh milk, and a fresh egg, which is three things a camp kitchen does not have. Dehydrating the onion rings at home solves the biggest one: they rehydrate in ten minutes and hold their shape better than raw onion does in a pan. Powdered milk and egg rebuild the wash at camp with a third of a cup of water.
Baking becomes shallow frying because that is what a stove can do. The coconut is the part that needs watching. It has sugar and oil in it and browns well ahead of the panko, so a low flame and a single turn matter more than time on the clock. The honey dip is stirred cold and keeps for days, so make it first and leave it alone.
Packing
Three labeled bags: flour and paprika, milk and egg powder, panko and coconut. The dried onion rides in its own bag or it steals moisture from the breading. Honey, sriracha, and vinegar go in small squeeze bottles.
Variations
- Skip the breading entirely and eat the dried onion straight with the dip. Same flavor, no oil, no pan.
- Swap the milk powder for coconut milk powder to make it dairy-free.
- A cast iron skillet on a grill grate over coals runs cooler and more evenly than a canister stove.
https://ohmyveggies.com/crispy-baked-coconut-onion-rings-with-sweet-chili-sauce