[revised and updated] Fried Shallot Oil - Microwave Version

Fried Shallot Oil is a common fragrance oil use in cooking or as an condiments to impart particular flavor to a sweet or savoury dish and gives it a special touch to perfect the taste. Likewise you can either make this on your own or get the pre-packed dried version crispy shallot flakes (without the oil) from any local supermarkets or grocery stalls in the wet markets.

The main ingredients which shown above is known as Shallot or Eshallots which has golden brown skin that are generally no larger than 5cm in diameter. And to make this condiment in a quick and easy way without getting your kitchen/whole area being "perfumed" by the oil aroma, you may want to consider "frying" this in the microwave instead of the traditional stove method.

FRIED SHALLOT OIL
(Microwave version)

The timing required to "fry" these sliced shallots depends on the voltage of your microwave as well as the number of shallots used. For example it took me about 6 minutes on HIGH powder for my microwave oven to fry 10 shallots (sliced) on a 900W microwave oven.

(Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 6 - 8 minutes)

Ingredients:
10 Red Shallots (小红葱头)
100ml of cooking oil
Pinch of Salt

Method:
1. Removed the outer skin of the shallots and sliced it thinly.

2. Place the shallot and oil in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on HIGH heat for 6 minutes, pause every 2 minute and give it a quick stir till the mixture starts to appear slightly golden brown in colour. (during the last 2 minutes, try to zap between 1 minute interval in order to prevent shallot from getting burnt)

3. Carefully remove the bowl from microwave, add in pinch of salt and stir well.

4. Remove the fried shallot (without oil) to a glass container. Cool oil in the bowl before adding it back to the shallot container. In this way, it will helps to keep the fried shallot crispy. 


STOVE METHOD:-

1. Removed the outer skin of the shallots and sliced it thinly.

2. Preheat a small saucepan or frying pan with cooking oil, add in sliced shallot and saute them on medium low heat (stirring on and off to prevent burning) till slightly golden in colour.

3. Remove the pan from heat, add in pinch of salt (this will make the flakes more crispy) and give it a quick stir.

4. Remove the fried shallot (without oil) to a glass container. Set oil aside to cool before transferring back to the container.