lo mein onions
girl idk sometimes you just want to eat a lot of onions
Hello! It’s been too long! I’m sorry! But I’m back now, and everything is going to be ok.
I wish I had a better excuse for why I’ve been absent from your inboxes for so long, but alas, I do not. I was sick for a little bit, but mostly it’s been too sunny and too nice for me to focus on much else.
Also, pickle bucket really popped off. I’ve never had a recipe go ~viral~ and I don’t really know if the internet at large would consider it ~viral~ but I sure do. It’s been very cute and fun to see y’all packing your little (big) buckets and throwing your own twists into them (someone pickled baby potatoes, which sounds WILD, but I’m gonna give it a try.)
In other news, I wrote this little article about a new pop-up in San Francisco, and if you live here, I really think you should go to it. Also, I’m doing the food for this truly ridiculous party at The Stud—life has been nothing if not incredibly interesting as of late. I feel particularly lucky right now, and I’m really doing my best to chase that feeling.
Because I haven’t been cooking much recently, I’ve found myself ordering a lot of takeout—Chinese takeout in particular. In high school, my best friend Alexis and I used to dream about moving to New York City and finding an apartment on top of a Chinese food restaurant. I don’t know why other than that it seemed very romantic at the time. Something about it still kind of does to me. Lo mein is sexy!! Whatever!
Anyway, there’s a place by my house that makes very good lo mein. They do this thing where they essentially don’t cook the onions, like, basically at all. I have to imagine they barely kiss the wok before being tossed with the noodles and sauce. They are perfect. They still have crunch and oniony sharpness but are also sweet and very saucy. As I was eating my lo mein the other night, I was like, damn, I wish I could just have a whole side of these onions, and then I realized… I literally can.
So, the next day I went to the farmers market (which is currently overflowing with gorgeous onions!!!!) and decided to make my dreams come true. Below is a recipe I am tentatively calling lo mein onions—mostly because barely-cooked-lightly-charred-onions-in-a-lo-mein-style sauce doesn’t roll off the tongue in the same way. And here’s a sexy-sad-sweet-spring playlist to listen to while you make them if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Enjoy <3
lo mein onions: ingredients
Developing this recipe felt a lot like this, and honestly, I have no complaints.
2 large white onions, sliced: you can use other options, but I find white onions to be a bit milder and sweeter, which is nice here!
1 large bunch of spring onions, trimmed and halved: you could also use two bunches of scallions or another white onion, but there are so many great onions popping up right now, and using a variety is nice!!
2 large garlic cloves, grated: I know there are three in the picture!
2 inches fresh ginger, grated: that is more than two inches in the picture!
3 tablespoons soy sauce: preferably dark, but whatever works!
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper: black pepper works fine!
1/4 teaspoon MSG: optional but highly encouraged!
kosher salt
neutral oil
Toasted sesame seeds: optional!
lo mein onions: method
Here’s a little video tutorial if that’s your thing!
Start by prepping your onions. Peel the white onions and then slice them into rings a little over half an inch thick. Keep them intact for easy searing—you’ll separate them into individual rings later. Trim the roots off the spring onions and remove most, but not all, of the green stalks. Slice them in half and set aside.
Make the sauce. Combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, pepper, and MSG. Grate in the ginger and garlic and whisk together. Set aside.
Place a large, flat skillet over medium-high heat (I use a cast iron). While your pan preheats, brush one side of the onions (white and spring) with a little bit of neutral oil and season with kosher salt. Once your pan is hot, working in batches, sear the white onion salted side down for about two minutes. While it cooks, brush the top with more oil and season with salt. Once the first side starts to char, flip and sear the opposite side for another minute or two. Remove and continue with the rest of the white onions. Once the white onions are done, sear the spring onions, cut side down for two minutes or until they start to brown.
At this point, turn your heat down to medium-low and add in the white onions. Toss vigorously to separate the rings. Once most are separated, add in your sauce and continue to toss vigorously just long enough to coat all the onions and allow the heat to mellow the garlic and ginger, about one minute. At this point the onions should be just cooked, still crunch and white. I think they are perfect! You are welcome to cook them for a bit longer, but I think you will also find them perfect by now. Trust me!
Now remove from the heat, plate, and serve. Garnish with green onion tops or toasted sesame seeds—whatever you like! It should serve 4-6 and is the perfect side dish for literally anytime and always, but especially for watching movies about yearning, dreaming, reminiscing, and the sweet little things that make life worth living.
I’ll do my best to make sure the next newsletter is sooner rather than later!
xo,
Garrett
🤤🤤🤤