Crispy Onion Gravy

Texture is the thing most gravies never bother with. Here half the onions are cooked down until they melt into the sauce and the other half are fried into crisp golden shreds that go on top just before it hits the table. They soften after a couple of minutes, which is fine, because by then the gravy is already on the plate.

Ingredients

Makes about 500ml plus a bowl of crisp onions

• 3 medium (about 450g / 1lb) brown onions two sliced 4mm for the gravy, one sliced paper thin for frying
• 30g (1oz) butter
• 200ml (7fl oz) sunflower or vegetable oil for shallow frying
• 3 tbsp plain flour 2 tbsp for the gravy, 1 tbsp for coating
• 550ml (1 pint) hot beef stock
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt and black pepper

Kit

• Frying pan
• Small deep pan
• Slotted spoon
• Kitchen paper

Method

1. Slice one onion as thinly as you possibly can, ideally on a mandoline. Toss the slices with 1 tablespoon of flour and a good pinch of salt until every strand is dusted, then shake off the excess in a sieve.

2. Heat the oil in a small deep pan to about 160C. Test it with one slice, which should bubble steadily rather than violently. Fry the floured onions in three small batches for 3 to 4 minutes each, stirring with a fork, until pale gold. Lift them out onto kitchen paper the moment they turn, because they keep browning off the heat and go bitter if you wait for dark gold in the pan.

3. Pour off all but a tablespoon of the frying oil, add the butter and the remaining two sliced onions with a pinch of salt, and cook over a medium low heat for 30 minutes until soft and deep brown.

4. Stir in the 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for 2 minutes, scraping the base.

5. Add the hot stock in three goes, whisking each until smooth, then add the Worcestershire sauce and simmer for 10 minutes until thick and glossy.

6. Season, pour into a warm jug, and pile the crisp onions on top at the very last moment. Put any spare in a small bowl on the table so people can add more.

Tips worth knowing

• The frying oil is not wasted. Cooking the gravy onions in a spoonful of it gives them a head start in flavour.
• Fry the crisp onions before you make the gravy, not after. They hold their crunch for a good hour on kitchen paper but a gravy waiting in a pan goes claggy.
• 160C is the right temperature. Hotter and the outsides go brown before the insides dry out, which gives you onions that are dark and still limp.
• Shop bought crispy fried onions from a tub are a perfectly respectable shortcut and nobody at the table will mind.

Keeping and reheating

The gravy keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes for 3 months. The crisp onions do not keep well once made, though they will hold overnight in an airtight tin at room temperature and can be crisped up for 3 minutes in a hot oven.

Questions people ask