What’s great about this Chinese original is that all liquid is absorbed into the onions as the cook and sit. The longer it sits on your picnic table, the better it gets. With this New England version, use whatever hot, spicy or flavored mustard you desire to serve this alongside roasted chicken, sausages, on top of burgers or hot dogs or with all barbecue side dishes you have laid out this summer.

2 tablespoons butter or
margarine
1 large onion, peeled and
sliced ½-inch thick
1 Granny Smith apple,
peeled, cored and diced
½ cup apple juice
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup Dijon or other
spiced or flavored mustard
3 tablespoons brown

sugar
½ teaspoon each caraway
seeds, black pepper and salt

½ teaspoon red pepper
flakes

Melt butter over medium high heat in a large skillet. When melted, add onion and apple. Toss to combine and cook until starting to soften and brown, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour into skillet. Let boil, stirring often, until onions are soft and the liquid has reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Remove from heat, transfer to a service dish and serve.

— Chef Jim Bailey is The Yankee Chef and an authority on New England food and its history. He is a respected food columnist from Maine and is married with four children. You can email questions or comments to [email protected] and visit theyankeechef. blogspot.com.