MENU DESCRIPTION: “It takes half a day to make this perfect combination of onion, celery, carrot and garlic.”
Before a skilled chef appears tableside to perform his culinary prestidigitation on the hot hibachi grill at Benihana,
you’re treated to a tasty bowl of chicken broth-based soup with fried onions, sliced mushrooms and green onions
floating cheerfully on top. The restaurant menu claims this soup takes a half a day to make, but we can clone it in a
fraction of that time using canned chicken broth (I use Swanson brand). This soup works great as a prelude to your favorite Asian dishes or other Benihana clones since it’s so light and won’t fill up anyone before the main course. I’ve included a simple technique here for making the breaded fried onions from scratch (for the most accurate clone), but you can skip that step by substituting French’s canned French Fried Onions that are sold in most markets.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups canned chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 white onion (see Tidbits)
• ½ carrot, coarsely chopped (about ¼ cup)
• ½ celery stalk, coarsely chopped (about ¼ cup)
• 1 small clove garlic, sliced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 medium mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 4 green onions, diced (green part only)

INSTRUCTIONS

MAKE THE BROTH:

1. Combine chicken broth and water in a large saucepan over high heat.
2. Slice the white onion in half, and then coarsely chop one half (save the other half for later).
3. Add coarsely chopped onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the onion starts to become translucent.

FRY THE ONIONS:

1. As the broth simmers, heat up 1 cup of vegetable oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Slice the remaining white onion into very thin slices.
3. Separate the slices, dip the slices into the milk, then into the flour.
4. Fry the breaded onion, a handful at a time in the oil until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel.

STRAIN THE VEGETABLES AND KEEP THE BROTH HOT:

1. When the soup has simmered for 10 minutes, strain the vegetables out of the broth and discard them.
2. Pour the broth back into the pan and keep it hot over low heat.

SERVE THE SOUP:

1. To serve soup, ladle about 1 cup of broth into a bowl.
2. Drop a few pieces of fried onion into the soup, followed by 6 to 8 mushroom slices (about 1 mushroom each) and a couple pinches of diced green onion.
3. When the fried onion sinks to the bottom of the bowl (a couple of minutes), serve the soup.

TIDBITS:

• You will only need ½ of a white onion if you opt to use the canned French’s French Fried Onions for this recipe—the small can will be enough—rather than frying your own.
• You also won’t need the vegetable oil, milk or flour listed in the ingredients.