[Sca-cooks] OOP: Query on Steak Smothered In Onions...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Aug 25, 2006, at 11:25 AM, Michael Gunter wrote:

> My memories of something similar are both from down
> Oklahoma way and a restaurant my mother worked at
> in Montana.
>
> Basically there are grills here, which I'm sure you folk in
> New Yawk are familiar with, where they have a large griddle
> that has an eternal pile of onions constantly turning golden.
> My memory of an "onion steak" or "onion burger" is the meat,
> unbreaded, fried in the grease over by the onion pile so the
> essence of sautee'd onion permeates the meat and then
> the steak or burger is served with a topping of onions cooked
> to how you wished them, from nearly raw to blackened.
>
> Good stuff.

Most diners will do a burger that way, but for some reason what I  
most associate with that type of onion cookery (maybe because it is  
in that area and also visible, which, in most diner kitchens around  
here, it isn't) are the burgers at the Papaya King and the Gray's  
Papaya chains. These are little storefronts that are practically  
stalls, scattered mostly around Manhattan, that sell various  
blenderized tropical fruit drinks (mostly mango or papapaya based),  
hot dogs and burgers. The burgers are thin and one step up from  
McDonald's, but the onions are as described and make all the difference.

To all the people who responded, I just want you all to know you're  
killing me ;-). The only steaks I have in the freezer are boneless  
rib eyes and shell steaks... hmmm... one little piece of skirt steak...

Adamantius