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Crispy Panko Onion Rings

Recipe by The Cozy Bowl Kitchen

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  • Total Time30 minutes
  • YieldAbout 16 rings, serving 4 as a side 1x

Onion rings that stay crisp: dusted in seasoned flour, dipped in an ice-cold sparkling water batter, coated in panko and fried. Serve them plain with salt or tossed in fiery Demon sauce.

Ingredients

Scale

For the rings

  • 2 large Spanish or brown onions

For the dusting flour

  • 60g plain flour
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

For the batter

  • 100g plain flour
  • 50g cornflour
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 200ml ice-cold sparkling water, or cold lager

To coat and fry

  • 150g panko breadcrumbs
  • 1.5 litres sunflower oil, for deep frying
  • Flaky sea salt, to finish

Instructions

Prepare the onions

  1. Slice the onions across into 1.5cm thick rounds, then push the rings apart with your fingers. Keep the outer two or three rings from each slice and set the small inner rings aside for another dish.
  2. Mix the dusting flour ingredients in a wide bowl. Toss the rings in it until evenly coated, then shake off the excess properly — you want a thin dry film, not clumps.

Make the batter

  1. Whisk the plain flour, cornflour, salt and paprika together in a bowl. Pour in the ice-cold sparkling water and mix only until it just comes together. A few small lumps are fine. It should be the consistency of single cream.
  2. Sit the bowl inside a larger bowl of iced water to keep it cold while you work.

Fry

  1. Heat the oil to 180°C in a deep pan no more than a third full. Spread the panko on a tray.
  2. Dip a floured ring into the batter, lift it out and let the excess run off for a second, then press it into the panko on both sides.
  3. Lower four or five rings into the oil away from you and fry for 2 minutes 30 seconds to 3 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
  4. Drain on a wire rack and season immediately with flaky salt. Let the oil come back to 180°C before the next batch.
  5. Serve within five minutes, plain or tossed in a warm bowl with Demon sauce.

Notes

Dust before you batter. Batter will not stick to a wet, slippery onion. A thin layer of seasoned flour is the single most important step, and the one most home recipes leave out.

Ice-cold and barely mixed. Cold sparkling water and minimal mixing keep the batter light. Over-mixing develops gluten and gives you a chewy coating.

Use the outer rings only. The small inner rings cook faster and burn. Chop them and use them in a gravy or curry instead.

Demon Rings. Toss the hot rings in the Demon sauce from our Demon and Angel wings recipe, in a warm bowl, quickly, and serve immediately. Sauced rings soften fast.

Air fryer version. Dust, batter and panko as normal, then spray very generously with oil and air fry at 200°C for 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway. Less crisp than fried but a reasonable weeknight option.

Freeze the cooked rings, not the raw batter. Fry, cool completely, open-freeze on a lined tray and bag. Reheat from frozen at 200°C for 8 to 10 minutes.

Equipment. A deep heavy pan or wok, a cooking thermometer, three wide bowls or trays for the flour, batter and panko, a larger bowl of iced water, a wire cooling rack, tongs or a spider.

Deep frying safely. Never fill the pan more than a third full, never leave it unattended and never add wet food to hot oil. Keep a well-fitting lid within reach. Cool the oil completely before straining and storing, and take used oil to a household recycling centre rather than pouring it away.

Allergens. This recipe contains wheat (gluten). Panko breadcrumbs may also contain soya, and lager contains barley (gluten) and sometimes sulphites. Always check the label of every ingredient you use, as recipes and allergen information can change. People with food allergies or intolerances must also consider cross-contamination.

This is a home recipe inspired by the onion rings and Demon Rings at The Cozy Bowl. It is not the restaurant’s exact commercial recipe.

Find it online: https://thecozybowl.co.uk/crispy-onion-rings-recipe/