Simmered and baked Vidalia spring onion 春物バイデリアオニオンのスープ煮

Vidalia onion is named after a place in Georgia called Vidalia. These onions are known for their mild flavor (for onions) and sweetness. It appears that there is a strict definition of what constitutes a vidalia onion based on the growing region and varietal used--if not from the specific counties in Georgia specified by law, it may be a sweet onion but it is not a Vidalia. In addition the vidalia onion is the state vegetable in Georgia (I didn't know states had official state veggies). It seems that  Vidalia onion is sweet because of the soil which is said to be low in sulfur and the characteristic of the particular onion varietal. Further digression: One of the our favorite restaurants in DC is called "Vidalia". The restaurant is known for new Southern cuisine which includes baked Vidalia onion.  In any case, I got spring Vidalia onion* and made this simple dish to enjoy its wonderful sweetness.

(* Spring onions are, as I understand it, young onion in spring; the bulb is still small and the flavor is mild and sweet. As seen the image on the left. This image was borrowed from this website.

I bought 4 onions. I just cut the root end and green parts and removed some of the blemished outer skins. I cooked this in chicken broth with bay leaves (3) and black pepper corns (5-6) for 20 minutes or so. I then put the cooked onion in a small ramekin in which the oinons fit snugly. I cut one in half to make them fit snugly). I added a small amount of the cooking broth on the bottom (2 tbs). I added soy sauce (1 tsp or salt), pats of butter (1 tsp), grated parmesan cheese and baked it in a 400F toaster oven for 10-15 minutes. I garnished with chopped parsley.

This is very simple preparation but brought out the sweetness of the spring Vidalia onion.