Cucumbers With Fried and Pickled Shallots
We discovered something brilliant about shallots: if you cook them in a bit of oil, they taste almost exactly like onion rings. If you only cook this recipe once (which trust us, won’t happen—you’ll be making it all summer) your takeaway should be that fried shallots are like gold. They’re super easy to make, just be sure to keep your eye on them because they turn from golden brown to burned and black super quickly. Be sure to slice your cucumbers as thin as possible so the pickling liquid can do its thing.
Ingredients
½ cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3 medium shallots, thinly sliced into rings (about 1 cup), divided
1 pound Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
Small handful of fresh dill sprigs, torn
¾ cup vegetable oil
Nutrition
Calories 129.31
Fat 8.98g
Sat Fat 1.30g
Protein 1.17g
Carbohydrate 13.26g
Fiber 1.25g
Sugar 9.36g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 738.25mg
Directions
Combine vinegar, sugar, 1½ teaspoons salt, and several grinds of pepper in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; add half of the shallots and stir to coat them in the liquid. Remove from heat and set aside until softened, about 10 minutes.
Toss cucumbers, dill, and pickled shallots with the pickling liquid in a large bowl. Season to taste and set aside.
Combine oil and remaining half of shallots in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally, until shallots are golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer fried shallots to a paper towel–lined plate; season with a pinch of salt. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the frying oil.
Toss cucumber mixture with reserved oil and top with fried shallots.
Yields: 4 to 6
