For some reason, this soup season I really wanted to relish in the classic soups people know and love, straying away from my traditional-ish Vietnamese palette. An inexpensive, rich, comforting soup I’ve always wanted to try was French onion soup.

The only expense you’d really have to make is time. Lots of time. I put my laundry in the washing machine before I started, and was on the phone with my mom for two hours and the onions still weren’t completely done, so allocate lots of time if you do decide to make this.

Nevertheless, the soup was still delicious and definitely very comforting, especially as the weather gets colder and all you want is some soup.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

6 large yellow onions

¼ cup (58g) of butter 

2.5 cups of beef stock

½ cup (118ml) of dry red wine

1 ½ cup (355ml) water

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of rosemary

3 sprigs of thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tsps of worcestershire sauce 

Baguette

Gruyere cheese

STEP BY STEP:

1. Cut off the two ends of the onion. Peel your onions and thinly slice them following the natural lines of the onion.

2. In a large pot, add the butter and allow it to melt completely. Add your onions and stir.

3. Cook the onions on a low heat, stirring occasionally.

4. Continue to cook the onions on a low heat, making sure the onions don’t burn.

5. Caramelize the onions until they reach a deep, brown color. Any lighter than this, the onions aren’t ready. This can take upwards to two hours. The key is to be patient.

6. Once the onions are caramelized, deglaze with the wine to scrape up the fond (the brown stuff at the bottom of the pot) until it turns jammy.

7. Add the beef stock and water to the pot and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil.

8. Add the bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and worcestershire sauce to the pot and allow it to simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes to let the flavors fuse together.

9. Salt and pepper to season, and if it’s too rich, add a little bit more of worcestershire as needed.

10. To an oven safe ramekin, put baguette slices on top with some gruyere cheese. Put it in a preheated oven at 220C for 5 minutes until the cheese is broiled.

11. If you don’t have an oven safe ramekin, simply make cheesy bread on the side to dip into the soup.

12. Serve! 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

I mistakenly bought only 1 can of beef stock, which is why I supplemented the missing stock with water. Ideally, you’d want it to be all beef stock to add richness.

Picture credit: Lin Vu