french onion soup with kimchi and cheesy ramen "croutons"

a slight remake of the comforting classic

a few months ago, chef hanz gueco of paris’ le cheval d’or had a pop-up at café frieda, one of my go-to special occasion restaurants here in berlin. i didn’t get the chance to go; fomo ensued. looking at the menu only made it worse, but i couldn’t help myself—dry aged beef with hong kong and paris-style pepper sauce and tofu “frites”, cockles with xo sauce à la provençal, tortellini à la mapo tofu, tuna noodles with dan dan sauce and french onion soup with ramen noodles and kimchi. these are the kinds of dishes that excite me. dishes that showcase how the fusion of ingredients, flavors and techniques can be magical and fun.

after holding space (lol) with my fear of knowing i already missed out and browsing through chef gueco’s instagram, i saw that he posted his recipe for the french onion soup a while back, so i decided to adapt it here and, as you will soon find out, the results were no less than *chef’s kiss.*

what did i do differently? french onion soup is already a rich and very fragrant soup, so i wanted to double down on that savoriness and highlight the velvety texture of the soup by swapping out white wine, cognac and shiro dashi in chef gueco’s rendition with garlic, gochujang, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce. i also added thyme and a bay leaf, which are two of my favorite flavors in a classic french onion soup and pair really well with the subtle spice and funk of this soup. to give the final bowl one more hit of onion flavor and vibrant finish, i topped them off with minced chives.

i’m sure many of us remember the joy of crunching up a bag of ramen in its packet, sprinkling with the seasoning and eating as a crispy snack, right? these crispy-edged ramen croutons evoke some of that same joy, but with cheese. if that’s not your vibe for some reason, you can keep the topping more traditional and swap out the ramen noodles for thick slices of baguette, just give them a light toast before topping with cheese and broiling.

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this time last year:

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french onion soup with kimchi and cheesy ramen “croutons”

serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side or appetizer

for the soup

3 large yellow onions (about 600 grams before peeling and slicing)

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tablespoon gochujang (i prefer a subtle gochujang flavor here, but if you want it more pronounced, add up to one tablespoon)

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1.25 liters beef broth (substitute: shiitake mushroom broth)

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped napa cabbage kimchi

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

for the cheesy ramen croutons

2 blocks instant ramen noodles (substitute: 2-4 slices baguette; if you’re planning to serve four you can split the ramen blocks in half and use half per portion)

4 tablespoons shredded gruyere cheese (substitute: comte or swiss)

minced fresh chives (optional)

1. peel and thinly slice onions. add olive oil and butter to a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. add onions and salt and cook, stirring often, until tender and caramelized. they will take around 30 minutes to reach a rich golden color and become completely tender. if you want to take the onions even further, you can caramelize them for up to an hour, just keep an eye on them, adjust the heat and add a splash of water as needed to ensure they don’t burn.

2. once the onions are caramelized to your liking, grate 2 cloves of garlic into the pot and let cook for another minute or until fragrant. add 1/2 tablespoon gochujang and cook, stirring the entire time, until it starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, about 2 minutes more.

3. stir in 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce, 1.25 liters beef broth, 1 bay leaf, 1 sprig of thyme, 2 tablespoons chopped kimchi and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. once boiling, reduce the heat to medium low or low and simmer for at least 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes.

4. in the meantime, preheat the broiler and move an oven rack to the top third of the oven. put the two blocks of instant ramen noodles onto a baking sheet and top evenly with 2 tablespoons of shredded gruyere cheese each. broil until the cheese is completely melted and the ramen has crisp, well browned edges.

5. taste and season the soup as desired with more salt, pepper and/or soy sauce, then ladle into serving bowls and top each with a cheesy ramen crouton and some minced chives. let sit for a few minutes before serving so the ramen can soak up some of the broth, then enjoy immediately.