RESTAURANT: Whataburger
LOCATION: El Paso, TX
SIZE: Medium
NUMBER AND SIZE OF RINGS: Various sizes, some very small and puffy
COST:$1.69
I was prompted to photograph and try these again after getting the following comment from Meeky: Alright Becky, I checked out the Onion Ring Documentary, and I have to say, I'm still disappointed that you have yet to mention one of the greatest fast food onion ring providers of them all. We're talking thickly sliced, sweet, juicy onions surrounded by a marvelously thin, crispy/crusty shell. This is the kind of onion ring you would expect to find in a bar...where can you find these amazing delectibles? WHATABURGER . . . If you haven't tried them, you won't be dissappointed. If you need to try them again, you'll enjoy them, but most importantly, if others truly share your keen awareness of all things fried and delicious, they might like to hear your take on what I consider a fast food delight.
Okay, mister Meeky. I ate them on my recent road trip through El Paso, and I don't think they really hit the spot. I agree that they are very sweet, without a hint of the bitterness that similar beer-batter-type onion rings have. They were also very crispy and delicate. But the insides were super slimey. My three year-old, Paul, is a pro at eating onion rings and he just could not bite these big honking slippery onions as much as he tried. I would say that they are fine specimens, regardless, but not exactly in the cravable category for me. I do think they photograph quite well- look at that indescribable golden hue!
2 comments:
I appreciate the professional opinion. I actually ate some of these today, and for once I wasn't terribly impressed. It did make me think of Carl's Jr and their burgers, and LO! and behold! you had another entry about them.
Honestly, foreigners...
I always eat onion rings at Whataburger, because 1) it's my all-time favorite fast food joint, and has been for the past 35 years, and 2) I can't eat potatoes at all.
I eat there a few times a month, and, funny, my onion rings are never slimy if I eat them before they get cold. Every now and then one is hard to bite through (maybe one order out of 10 or 20), but even homemade ones will do that.
My guess is that you got a bad Whataburger that doesn't know how to cook their rings right, or has a temp/timer problem with their fryer.
BTW: Here's the secret to eating Whataburger onion rings to get the most out of them:
1) Your onion rings should be pleasantly hot to the touch, but not scorching before you eat them, to get the best flavor/texture from them. I'm not sure why this is; because they're tossed into the fryer frozen, I think they may need a minute or two to rest so that the internal temperature can rise to a good temp for the onion to turn out right.
2) Conversely, don't wait too long to eat them. They get very mushy if you do. As soon as they are room temp through and through, you might as well throw them away. They'll taste fine, but the texture is rather awful.
Give them a try again withe these tips in mind.
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