Chef Matthew Ryle has shared his top tips for making the perfect French onion soup, including the one ingredient he adds to make the flavours ‘sing’.
Soup season is officially here, and one culinary expert is encouraging home cooks to try their hand at a classic French dish. French onion soup is a staple for many during the chilly winter months.
In the latest issue of Good Food magazine, Chef Matthew Ryle shared his top tips for mastering some traditional French dishes, demonstrating just how simple they can be to whip up in your own kitchen. He labelled French onion soup as the “ultimate comfort food”, packed with the rich flavours of caramelised onions, beef stock, and topped off with generous helpings of grated cheese.
However, to elevate it even further, the chef disclosed that he adds an unexpected ingredient to make the onion flavours truly “sing”.
He explained: “A staple in restaurants across France, the recipe actually originated as a humble peasant soup made with just onions, stale bread and water. Today’s version might be a bit fancier, but this is still simple to make at home.”
Matthew’s secret ingredient, reports the Express, is soy sauce.
He revealed to Good Food: “The secret ingredient to this soup is time, as the onions need to be cooked very low and slow. The more caramelised, the more flavour they’ll have.
“Making your own stock will result in the most authentic-tasting soup, but shop-bought stock will do the trick as long as your onions have received enough love. It’s not traditional, but my other secret is a splash of soy sauce, which adds richness and makes those caramelised onion flavours sing.”
If you’re on the hunt for a comforting, hearty soup to savour during the chilly winter months, here’s how you can whip up Matthew’s French classic in your own kitchen.
French Onion Soup
Ingredients:
1.5kg onions, finely sliced
100g butter
Three garlic cloves, crushed
Three bay leaves
Few thyme sprigs, leaves only
300ml white wine
1.3 litres good-quality beef stock
50ml soy sauce
½ day-old baguette
250g gruyere
Method:
Begin by cooking the onions in the butter over a low heat in a wide, heavy-based pan. After 10 minutes, sprinkle in a pinch of salt, the garlic and bay leaves.
Continue to cook, stirring regularly, until the onions have caramelised and turned a rich brown colour, which should take about 45 minutes. Then add the thyme and pour in the wine.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and keep it cooking until the wine has reduced by half.
Next, add the beef stock and soy sauce and let it gently simmer for around 10 minutes. In the meantime, slice the baguette into 2cm-thick pieces and grate the gruyere.
Turn on the grill. Check the seasoning of the soup, adding salt and pepper if needed, then ladle it into ovenproof bowls that can go under the grill.
Top each bowl with the baguette slices and heap high with grated gruyere, dividing it evenly between the bowls. Place them under the hot grill until they turn golden brown and start bubbling, then serve.