Momofuku Roasted Onions

Ingredients

6 onions, thinly sliced ( about 8 cups)

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or other neutral oil (this grapdeseed oil

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (David Chang dislikes table salt)

Preparation

Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for 1-1 1/2 minutes, until it’s very, very hot but not smoking. This was my first time using the grapeseed oil! It’s kinda pricey but it provides the unexpected smoky flavor.

Add onions to the pan. They will pile up high. Let them cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes. Carefully toss the onions and season them with salt. You will have to cook, flip, and turn the onions for the next 50 minutes or so. Chang gave us guidelines to be able to tell what we’re looking for.

For the next 15 minutes, the onions at the bottom will slowly cook and the weight from the top will help this to happen. Don’t press down on the onions with a spatula. Turn the whole pile every 3-4 minutes. Remember to take advantage of the weight from the onions above.

After the onions have significantly reduced and become soft, time to turn the heat to medium-low. At this stage, you will have to turn the pile every 10 minutes to prevent sticking to the pan and being burnt. It smelled so GOOD. That’s the smell I was talking about: roasted onion smell.

After 50 minutes or so, according to David Chang, they will have a definite sweetness, a deep roasted flavor, and a texture that’s just this side of mushy.