I did some caramalised apple to go with our roast pork last night and i just put around 4 oz caster sugar in a frying pan and turn the heat on. The sugar melts and turns to caramel.....then add the onions and fry in the caramel until soft. I also added a few drops of vanilla essence to the sugar.
I also stir fried some chicken in teriyaki sauce the other day and added a few pinches of sugar to that and it seemed to caramelise the chicken really nicely, although the sauce didn't go sticky like caramel does.