Miso Butter Onions | Ottolenghi Flavor

Test-driving side dishes to go with the Thanksgiving turkey is currently underway in my kitchen. The miso butter onions catch my attention in Ottolenghi’s Flavor for good reasons. The oven will be on high (500°F) for the turkey. So for practicality and energy savings, why not cook another dish at the same time? Furthermore, having a flavor-packed allium dish is always a good thing. I never have enough of caramelized onions, which for the most part, a slow-going process. Therefore, roasting rather than sautéing makes sense to me, saving precious time for something else.

Yotam Ottolenghi describes the miso butter onions as something of a revelation. It’s the very definition of low effort and high impact recipe. You don’t see too often that a few ingredients can produce something truly spectacular. This is exactly what I need on Thanksgiving day when the tasks at hand may seem huge and at times overwhelming.

• First, it’s important to get the right size roasting pan. It should be big enough to fit the halved onions in a single layer, without overlapping. If your pan is not big enough, roast fewer onions and reduce the rest of the ingredients proportionally. Meanwhile, the cooking method and time stays the same. The idea is to create the space in the pan for the sauce to evaporate while the onions shrink as they cook.

• Second, choose small onions, weighing about 5 1/4 oz/ 150g each. (I thought I use large shallots to accomplish that, but not quite happy with the results.) Then cut the onions in halves and trim the base as little as possible — you want the halves to stay held together during cooking. The issue with shallots, which are delicate and in odd shapes, tend to fall apart. They don’t lend themselves to the next crucial step for the success of the dish.

• During the high-temperature (500°F) roasting, it’s necessary to baste the onions while spooning the sauce over them several times so that the cut sides remain moist. At the same time, it’s to ensure that the onions caramelize than burn.

When you get 1) a right-sized pan, 2) small onions, and 3) repeatedly baste the onions, the miso butter onions are likely to emerge golden and sumptuous. With very few ingredients and a relatively simple cooking method, there is very little margin for not adhering to the recipe as written. In the end, you get the perfect and umaini-rich accompaniment to the Thanksgiving turkey.

Print Recipe

Miso Butter Onions

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 8 small onions or 8 large shallots (about 5 1/4 oz/ 150g each, 2 2/3 Ib/ 1.2 kg total), I prefer small onions
• 7 tablespoons/ 100g unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon/ 100g white or other miso paste (I use red miso)
• 1 quart/ 1 L warm water

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

2

Halve the onions lengthwise, discarding the papery skin, as well as the layer beneath if it is tough or dry. Trim the tops and a little off the bottom (not too much — you want to ensure the onion halves stay held together at the base).

3

In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, miso, and warm water until fully incorporated.

4

Place the onion halves, cut-side down and spaced apart, in a 9-by-13-inch high-sided baking dish or pan and pour in the miso water. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and baker for 35 minutes, then remove the foil and turn the onions over so they are cut-side up (take care to ensure they remain intact). Baste the onions very well, then return to the oven, uncovered, for another 45 to 50 minutes, basting every 10 minutes, until the onions are very soft, deeply browned on top, and the sauce has reduced to a gravy consistency.

5

Carefully transfer the onions to a platter, pouring the sauce over and around them, and serve at once.

Notes

Adapted from “Ottolenghi Flavor” by Yotam Ottolenghi