The Easiest Way to Peel Shallots
Shallots are premium onions. Sweeter and less harsh than yellow or red onions, but no less aromatic, they are one of those magical ingredients that make everything tastier. But they also make you work on it: peeling shallots is a task everyone despises, and for good reason.
If you’re familiar with the butt pain associated with peeling shallots, or new to the experience, you know what I’m talking about. The skin of the shallots is thin, delicate and fundamentally resists being peeled off in one nice chunk, preferring instead to be torn into smaller and smaller pieces the more you try to prevent just that . It’s a maddening and mind-numbing job, the worst combination ever.
The only way to win this terrible game is to give it up altogether. Instead of scratching the skin with my short nails or trying to whiten them , I just sacrifice the outermost layer. After cutting off the root and top end, I run the tip of my knife along the entire length of the shallots, cutting through the entire first layer. Then I take off the skin and all that. This not only saves the hassle of fiddling with those annoying skins, but it also makes it easy to separate the bulbs and continue with my recipe.
If that sounds wasteful, I promise it’s not all that bad: the outer layer of the shallots is often a little shriveled and rough; even if you manage to remove every last scale, you can still throw it away. If you can’t bear to throw them away, you can save waste for the broth – shallot trimmings provide all the bulbous good you can dream of and are soft enough to be thrown in a handful. Now you know how to clean them in no time, and it is really very good.