Q: Red onions served in a salad in restaurants taste sweet while the ones I buy in the supermarket taste strong. What can I do to make store bought onions sweeter?

Lynne: You can get rid of the strong taste by soaking sliced onions in ice water for 20 to 30 minutes or by sprinkling them with an acid such as vinegar. Onions soaked in ice water will get very crisp while those sprinkled with vinegar will soften a bit, but they will lose the strong taste and become sweeter.

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