Not-so-French Onion Soup

Tasdfs

HELLO and welcome to the very first edition of Soup Season, a weekly ode to all things soup and soup-adjacent. If you think the name suggests that there is a season for soup, and a season not for soup, you’re mistaken. The truth is, soup is a mindset - if not a lifestyle - and if you aren’t sold yet, I will (hopefully) convert you.

This newsletter will also be a fun new way for me to illustrate my recipes step by step, available exclusively for you wonderful soup-scribers 💛

Onion Soup Origin Story

First things first: there is nothing wrong with a classic French Onion Soup (it’s an elite soup as it is). However, if you ask me, there’s always room for more umami, and my rendition of an onion soup definitely delivers on that front (miso, mushrooms, onions, tamari = 💣)

You’ll find the full recipe at the very bottom, but in the meantime enjoy my photos and narration.

Step by Step

Step 1: Secure the onions, then peel and thinly slice (please use a mandoline). You can use a combination of onions.

Step 2: Heat up a pan on medium heat and add a splash of olive oil (or butter if not vegan), then add in all of the sliced onions and sauté on a low flame for 45-90 minutes, stirring every 20 or so minutes.

Getting there, slowly but surely…

Step 3: De-glase the pan with a splash of Shaoxing cooking wine (pictured below) and a splash of brown rice vinegar (not pictured below)

Step 4: Mix about a quarter cup of brown miso paste with ca 2 cups of water

Step 5: Let it simmer away until a it reduces by a bit, and then set the soup aside (it’s not looking too pretty at this point but don’t give up!!)

Step 6: Grab your mushrooms, slice them into 3mm slices, and use a small knife to make criss-cross incisions on each side.

Step 7: pan-fry the mushroom slices in oil on a very high heat, splashing a bit of soy sauce (or tamari) at the end for some extra umami.

Step 8: Assemble! This soup goes well with a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and some sesame seeds

Full Recipe

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 tb olive oil

3 large or 6 small onions, peeled and finely sliced

2 tb brown rice vinegar

⅓ cup brown miso paste

Water

A splash of tamari

Freshly ground black pepper

2 medium trumpet mushrooms, surfaces cut with criss-cross lines

White sesame seeds & toasted sesame oil

Instructions

Heat up the olive oil in a pot and saute the sliced onions for 45-90 minutes, stirring often, and deglasing the pan with a splash of brown rice vinegar every now and then, until caramelised. 

Mix the miso paste with 2 cups of water, then add into the pot and stir well. Simmer until it reduces by about one quarter. Season with tamari and fresh black pepper. 

Meanwhile, sear the trumpet mushrooms in some oil in a hot pan. 

Serve the soup hot with a few mushroom slices, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a sprinkling of white sesame on top. 

Any thoughts, comments, hate mail, concerns, questions, love declarations/proposals… hit me up!

xoxo