The ingredients are easy. You'll only need:

1-2 onions

a can of beer

1 1/2 cup flour

vegetable oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, blend the flour with about a 1 1/2 cups of beer, or one 12-ounce can. Whisk them until the batter thickens and you see plenty of bubbles in the bowl.

Now cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for a few hours.

If you're having trouble parting with a can of the good stuff for this recipe, consider this: A New Zealand study found that adding beer to batter helps reduce the oily fat content of fried food by as much as 40 percent. Yep, that's less fattening and tastes great.

Next, peel then chop the onion. Simply pop the onion's natural rings apart with your fingers. I like large pieces, about a 1/2-inch thick. There's no right or wrong here. Keep in mind that the thinner they are, the more work you'll have to do in the frying pan.

Once the batter has thickened, pour an inch or so of vegetable oil into a frying pan and warm to 370 degrees. On my stove, that's medium-high heat.

I now make an assembly line near the cooktop-- left to right: onion, batter, oil. With a pair of metal tongs, I carefully dunk each ring into the beer batter, coat it evenly, shake off the excess, and ease it into the hot oil.

Each onion ring should cook about two minutes on each side. Of course, if they're thin, you won't necessarily need to turn them.

When they're done, use the tongs to transfer each ring from the pan to a paper towel-lined plate where the extra oil will be absorbed.

Now, don't be alarmed if your first few onion rings are lighter than you're used to in restaurants and look a little like Japanese tempura. The dirtier the oil gets, the darker the batches become.

Once your completed product is on a serving dish, add salt or pepper for flavor, and in the case of my family, add a side of ketchup.