CORE BASE · ~10 DINNERS
‹ONION
Caramelised onion
ONION
WHY IT LIVES IN OUR FREEZER
Caramelised onion
Deep mahogany jammy onion for French onion soup, Japanese curry, biryani, mujaddara, gravy and korma branches.
~10 dinner directions2 linked mids
WHAT IT OPENS
From one base
French onion soupJapanese curryBiryaniMujaddaraOnion gravyKorma
What goes in
- 2 kg yellow onions, sliced pole-to-pole
- 60 ml neutral oil + 40 g butter (or all oil)
- 1 tsp salt
- Splash of water as needed
Cook to the cue
- 01
Start onion, fat, salt and a splash of water covered 5–10 minutes to wilt evenly.
- 02
Uncover; reduce to medium. Press into pan, let fond form briefly, scrape and stir.
- 03
Continue ~35–45 minutes, deglazing with small splashes of water whenever fond threatens to burn.
- 04
Stop at deep even mahogany, jammy and sweet.
DONENESS
the pan, not just the clockLook for this
Store it
Freeze ~30 ml cubes for gravies/curries and ~200 ml pucks for soup. Fridge ~1 week; freezer ~3 months.
JB / Singapore
Buy large yellow onions in bulk; the process reduces 2 kg dramatically, so this is worth doing as true batch prep.
Reference
Serious Eats / America's Test Kitchen caramelised onion technique
Open source ↗Search: caramelized onions America's Test Kitchen / KenjiRECIPES USING ONION
All recipes ›