Use Extra Onions With This Three Ingredient Sauce
Many months, moons, and news cycles ago, one of my (and many others) major problems was the “shortage” of food before the pandemic was “over.” Honestly, have we ever been so young? The idea that one ambitious trip to Costco will be enough to survive the pandemic seems ludicrous right now, but it helped me learn how to shop more efficiently and reduce waste.
For many of us, part of “waste reduction” meant using green onion stubs to grow more green onions . Some of us took it better than others. I grew a couple of bunches, but I do not take good care of the plants, so my green onions on the windowsill dried out over time from carelessness. But A.A. Newton is a better plant parent than I am, and her scallions grew fruitfully, all healthy and strong, to the point that she had to shift some of it onto me.
By “some,” I mean “butt-laden” – so many that categorizing them as “decoration only” would cause them to wither and wither before I worked them all out. Luckily, plenty of shallots are just what you need to make a delicious 3-ingredient sauce. (The other two ingredients are oil and salt.)
The shallot sauce (which can be used to make a ginger onion or garlic shallot sauce) is so quick and simple that it’s hard to argue that there is a “recipe” involved. All you have to do is chop a bunch of green onions, mix it with a little salt, then pour hot oil on top to cook it briefly and season with oil. If you want shallot ginger sauce, add a spoonful of finely chopped ginger before adding the oil; if you want garlic onion sauce, add some garlic . Once the butter has cooled, flavor the sauce and add a little salt (or whatever) if necessary. Add some soy sauce and rice vinegar (and maybe some pickled ginger brine) for a really great dipping sauce. You can also use it as a base for spring onions .
I know I said there was no “recipe,” but there is a ratio and some instructions, which I believe is the recipe. (Where are the lines?) To make a very simple shallot sauce you will need:
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped scallions (at least 5 bunches if your scallions are small, maybe more. I used 3 bunches of A. A. Newton’s monster scallions).
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup neutral oil (grape seeds, vegetables, and rapeseed work well)
Slice the onion very thinly, then run your knife over it to cut the rings into pieces. Don’t worry about it being super uniform. Place the green onions in a heatproof bowl, season with salt, then heat the oil in a skillet until hot. (It should sizzle and sizzle when you put a green onion slice in it.)
Pour very hot oil over the onion, stirring constantly. You may not need to add all the oil; 1/2 cup full of butter in the sauce, which is fine, but reduce to seven tablespoons if you want a drier sauce. Give it a try. Adjust the seasoning if desired, then drizzle over anything that calls for the savory, onion-flavored green onions.