We love cooking with shallots. Their sweet, mild flavor is a great asset in many dishes, especially uncooked salads and slaws that need some onion. But we really don't enjoy peeling shallots. They're trickier even than garlic; their papery skins are stubborn and sticky, and often wind around multiple cloves deep into the shallot itself.
Here's one way to make peeling shallots a little easier.
This process may be a little bit too much for when you just want one or two shallots; it's probably worth it to just hack them up. But when you want to keep them more intact, or when you need over a dozen (as in a recipe we're sharing later today), this method is helpful.
1. Soak the shallots in boiling water. - Soak for 2-3 minutes, or until the outer skins are softening. It's easiest if you separate the shallots into their individual cloves first.
2. Rinse under cold water. - Stop the shallots from cooking by running them under cold water.
3. Trim. Cut off the top and root ends.
At this point, you can squeeze the shallots and try to slip off their skins, which should be loosened by the soaking. If you're going to cut them in half anyway, though, here's one more shortcut.
4. Make a very shallow cut in the top layer. This should go through no more than one layer of the shallot.
5. Peel away the top layer of the shallot and the skin. Skinless shallot! Proceed with halving or mincing.
Do you have any good tips for peeling or cutting shallots?
Related: How To Dice An Onion: The Video
(Images: Faith Durand)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I usually just trim the pointy end off, and peel with first thin skin layer (which is usually part paper too).
However, I'll remember the bit about the boiling water when I have lots of them to peel!
view mschatelaine's profile
Wow, this is absurd! It isn't hard to peel a shallot.
Mschatelaine beat me to it, but like she said, all you do is cut off the tips and slice through the outer layer end to end. It takes about 6 seconds.
view MQuinnSweeney's profile
I've not had any problems with them but I always buy them in the store so they may not be as fresh or something? Aside from that I made this great Thai style chicken where 5 or so get cut in half as part of the marinade and then go on to be roasted with the chicken and sauce----so awesomely caramelized and good.
view sally599's profile
Hmm. I've never had trouble peeling a shallot.
view graefix's profile
the only time i have trouble peeling shallots (and more often garlic) is when i wash my hands and, rushing, don't dry them before attempting to peel. everything sticks, a mess.
view bebklyn's profile
I guess it isn't hard to peel a shallot but this does look like a quick and easy way to do it. On Scott Common Sense I saw a great tip for peeling potatoes I thought I would share:I nstead of nicking your fingers when you try to peel a potato, screw the potato onto a wine corkscrew. That way you just have to hold on to the corkscrew. It's easy to hold, easy to rotate, and you can reach every part of the potato to peel it.
view Kimmy23's profile
HOw about a cooking tutorial...on how to chop fennel? just like your shallots article: i'd LOVE it.
view marymother's profile