French onion soup
My mother was born as a lady and was the youngest of the six siblings of X’s scholarly family. However, the tortuous life has trained my mother to be almost omnipotent, and under her elegant and refined temperament, she has a strong independence and kindness. She is the perfect woman in my sister and me. If she were by my side, French onion soup would be a dish I chose to make for her. My mother has loved Western food since she was a child, and she is more selective, but she didn’t have many opportunities to enjoy it later. I think French onion soup is a bit like her: the essence slowly boiled over a warm fire, warm and subtle, seemingly simple but actually exquisite, unpretentious but always classic. I hope that this bowl of soup, which took 1.5 hours to make, will satisfy her and allow her to relive the taste of her childhood. This recipe is for two people.
How to make onion soup
Step 1
Shred two onions. Don’t be too fine, as shown in the picture
Step 2
Over medium heat, add butter and olive or corn oil. The reason for using two oils is that butter is delicious and fragrant, but the burning point is low and easy to burn, add corn oil to increase the burning point, and the oil will not burn black.
Step 3
Add the shredded onion over medium-low heat and stir-fry constantly until the onion is soft and transparent, at least 15 minutes. Be careful not to burn or golden the onion.
Step 4
Add wine, red and white wine will do. If you don’t have wine, you can add 3 tablespoons of cooking wine, just take the acidity in the wine. Add beef stock, if there is no beef stock, chicken broth is also fine, if chicken broth, add a small spoonful of dark soy sauce, there is a wonderful effect of imitating beef broth. Finally, add thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaf and stir well.
Step 5
Cook over high heat until boiling
Step 6
Turn to low heat, cover the pot, leave a very small slit and simmer for 1 hour. Check every 20 minutes in between, don’t stick to the pan. Be careful, be sure to reduce the heat. If the fire has 10 gears, set it to 3 or 2.5 gears
Step 7
Boom! The soup is ready. Don’t be busy, it’s not over yet. Remove the boiled bay leaf and thyme sprigs from the soup.
Step 8
Place in a bowl that can be placed in the oven.
Step 9
Toast two slices of bread, a baguette or any euro bread. Not too soft. I used Italian chibatta bread, which was my favorite. The bread is topped with Parmesan cheese crumbs and a layer of poroflo cheese. I spread two slices of porofolo cheese, because I like cheese more, so one piece is usually enough. You can use only one type of cheese, you can choose any one.
Step 10
Send to the oven and bake for 2-4 minutes. Do not leave the oven during these few minutes. Be sure to check it in 2 minutes, and then check it 1 minute at a time. Otherwise, it is easy to accidentally burn.
Step 11
Grill until the cheese is a little golden, as shown in the picture.
Step 12
Serve with a slice of bread. It’s ready to eat.
Cooking tips for onion soup