Japanese Onion Soup

When I grew up, one of my favorite dinner spots was our local Japanese Steakhouse.  You know, the place where they cook in front of you, throw knives around and you try to catch shrimp in your mouth.  One of my favorite courses was the very first one, the Japanese Onion Soup.  It was always so clean, clear but flavorful. I finally found a recipe from Meemo's Kitchen for a re-creation of this famous recipe.  I've never really fried anything but these little onion slice were easy as pie.  I imagine you could use the canned fried onions, such as French's.

Ingredients:


-4 cups chicken broth
-2 cups water
-1 white onion
-1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
-1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
-1/2 tsp salt
-6 white button mushrooms, thinly sliced
-4 green onion, chopped
-1 cup vegetable oil (for frying)
-1 cup milk
-1 cup flour




First, coarsely chop half of the white onion.  Also, roughly chop the carrot and celery.

In a large pot combine the broth, water, chopped onion, carrots, celery and salt.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for at least 10 minutes.

While the broth is simmering, you can fry up your onions.  Using the remaining half of the onion, thinly slice until you have about 1/4 cup of onions.   Heat 1 cup of vegetable oil over medium heat until hot (flick water in the oil, when it pops, it is hot enough for frying).  Pour the milk in a shallow bowl and spread flour on a plate.

Working in small batches (small handful) at a time, dip the onion in the milk, coat with flour and throw into the hot oil.  A "spider spoon" is the best for frying.  I use it for everything!  Watch the onions closely and once they are golden brown (about 1 minute) remove with the spider spoon.  Lay them on a paper towel to dry.  Repeat with the remaining onions.  Tip: if you have a splatter screen this is a great time to use it.  It will keep your stove top much cleaner!

Once you're done with the fried onions, chop your green onions and thinly slice your mushrooms.

Now, using a strainer to catch the solids, strain the broth.  Just make sure to put another put under the strainer to catch the soup!! Put the soup back on the stove and turn the heat back to medium.

Ladle the soup into small bowls and sprinkle your three topping on each soup: green onions, fried onions, and mushrooms.

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