By Chef Michael for Curtains Up
Asian Onion Soup
We all love that wonderful warm and homey feeling of a comforting rustic onion soup with its sinfully rich and gooey cheese nestled atop a crispy crouton and enjoyed by a fire in the middle of winter. Well winter is supposedly well ensconced in our rear view mirror now, although not entirely as I witnessed yesterday morning optimistically walking my dog dressed only in my t shirt and shorts and coming face to face with a balmy 2 degrees! Anyway, here is my own lighter summery version and may it be offered as a wishful and welcome precursor to Spring. It is ‘bikini’ light, has no cheese or bread and is redolent of all those addictive Asian flavors of ginger and sesame. To bring out its best let the soup simmer for a while and only add the cilantro and sesame oil just as yo are serving it…...Enjoy!
Asian Onion Soup
Ingredients
3 vidalia (vi-dall-ya) onions sliced thin
3 red onions sliced thin
3 leeks white part only sliced thin
12 shiitake mushrooms stems removed and sliced thin
5 garlic clove finely chopped
1 1/2″ piece of ginger peeled and chopped finely
chillies to taste
4 cups beef broth
4 cups chicken broth
4 tbsp light soy sauce
1 bunch green onions sliced thin
Rice noodles (optional)
fish sauce to taste
drizzle of sesame oil
cilantro very roughly chopped for garnish
Preparation
Combine onions and leeks in vegetable oil and saute until softened and just starting to brown. add garlic, ginger, shiitake mushrooms and chillies and cook a few more minutes. Stir in beef and chicken broths. Bring to a boil then simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir in Soy sauce and fish sauce to taste (be careful fish sauce is very salty!). Add in the green onions and drizzle some sesame oil on top when serving and garnish with some roughly chopped cilantro. You can add in some rice noodles if you want to make it a bit more hearty. Don’t throw out leftovers as it tastes even better the day after! .
