Onion rings

Not often, but about once a year I have a yearning for an onion ring. However, I’m constantly disappointed by shop-bought versions, whether frozen, chilled, battered or breadcrumbed. The arrival of one of my nephews, a trusted taster who doesn’t baulk at a bit of deep-fried food, spurred me on to try and make the perfect crispy ring. I rejected a battered version as the batter almost always slips off the onion and an all-breadcrumbed onion ring was a bit heavy. Flour mixed with a few panko crumbs won hands down in the perfect crunch stakes. I have tried both white and red onions and both work well and I reckon little petals of shallot, fried until crisp, would be worth trying. I have an electric deep-fryer which takes all the stress out of frying but you can fry without one. Just make sure not to fill the saucepan with too much oil-not even half-full- and don’t fry too much at once.