Substitute for Onion Soup Mix

[prasantrin]

Last weekend I splurged on 650 gram brisket (for the bargain price of Y1100--about US$10). I wanted to try Pam R's brisket method but it calls for onion soup mix. I cannot find good onion soup mix anywhere--and the one foreign food store I visited that carries Lipton soup mixes carries every flavour of but onion!! So, until I can find a reasonably priced source of onion soup mix, what can I use instead? Here's what I've found...

1. Onion Confit--seems to be little packages of caramelized onions (or something similar). No flavouring from what I can tell, except perhaps a bit of salt.

2. Knorr beef boullion cubes

3. Campbells onion soup (in a can)

4. Fried onions

5. Lots of different types of Good Seasonings salad dressing mixes.

6. Japanese brand of onion consomme (no onion pieces)

7. Japanese brand of onion soup mix with a little bit of onion (have not tried it, so I don't know if the flavour is similar to American onion soup mix)

Would any of these, or some combination, make a good substitute to use for brisket?

[daniellewiley]

Last weekend I splurged on 650 gram brisket (for the bargain price of Y1100--about US$10).  I wanted to try Pam R's brisket method but it calls for onion soup mix.  I cannot find good onion soup mix anywhere--and the one foreign food store I visited that carries Lipton soup mixes carries every flavour of but onion!! 

I'd think you could use another variety of Lipton. The vegetable would likely have that same salty flavor and some onions, with just the addition of a little tomato and other veggies - not a bad addition to a brisket. I think I've done the same substitution in the past. Good luck!

[Pam R]

hmm... I'd stay away from canned - you don't need the extra liquid.

Danielle is right about the other flavours having the salt content - and while it won't be *exactly* the same, I'm sure it would still be good.

I would probably try option #7 - I don't know if I'd cook the brisket with it until I've tried it, but I'm curious about it!

You could also try a combo. of the fried onions/confit and the beef boullion - giving you the onion flavour and all the wonderfil salt and preservatives of the soup... yummy

Just remember to add about 1 head of crushed garlic, and it should be good.

And let us know what worked!

[jayt90]

Although I'm no expert on brisket (I like it tender, a bit chunky, and not stringy, and I really like Pam's photo, with the meat covered in sauce), I would be tempted to use onion confit, chopped, and mixed into a paste with garlic and seasonings.

Since the onion confit thread started, I usually have some in the fridge, and I think this would be another good use for it.

[Country Cook]

IMHO there is no substitute for Liptons onion soup mix .

[hwilson41]

Be very careful if you decide on Knorr's beef bouillon cubes. There is A TON of salt in it (check the label). That's one of the reasons I now make all my own stock .

[Toliver]

Here's a recipe for a make-your-own onion soup mix:

"Scratch Recipe for Lipton Onion Soup Mix"

It has pretty much what everyone else has suggested.

The dry minced onion is also known as those dehydrated onion flakes you can buy in the grocery stores. I usually get the large canister from Costco since I use them alot in marinades.

[scott123]

Here's a recipe for a make-your-own onion soup mix:

"Scratch Recipe for Lipton Onion Soup Mix"

It has pretty much what everyone else has suggested.

The dry minced onion is also known as those dehydrated onion flakes you can buy in the grocery stores.  I usually get the large canister from Costco since I use them alot in marinades.

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Here's the ingredients for lipton's onion soup:

ONIONS*, SALT, CORNSTARCH, ONION POWDER, SUGAR, CARAMEL COLOR, CORN SYRUP SOLIDS, YEAST EXTRACT, NATURAL FLAVORS. *DEHYDRATED.

With this in mind, I'd definitely nix the celery salt (unless you're a big celery salt fan :) )

Secondly, onion soup uses toasted dehydrated onions. This changes the flavor profile considerably.

Rona, if your 'fried onions' are 'deep fried onions' (i.e. dry/crunchy), than those will get you closer, I think, than the dehydrated minced onions will.

Also, I think knorr beef bouillon contains MSG in some form (yeast extract, hydrolyzed protein), but you might want to check the label to be sure. If I had to pick the one key ingredient in onion soup mix, it definitely wouldn't be onions, it would be MSG.

[prasantrin]

Thanks, everyone, for the help! I've decided to try finding the Japanese onion soup (not consomme) and tasting it. Now if only I could remember what store it was at (most stores only carry onion consomme, not onion soup). If I should decide it passes the taste test, I'll use that. If it doesn't, then I'll make my own using the recipe Toliver linked to--but use fried onions (deep fried kind) that Scott suggested. And I'll skip the celery salt--I hate celery salt! If that still doesn't taste right, then I'll go with the vegetable soup mix.

Whew! So much work for a teeny tiny brisket! I just hope my brisket doesn't come out too dry--they really trim the fat off here!

[Pam R]

Whew!  So much work for a teeny tiny brisket!  I just hope my brisket doesn't come out too dry--they really trim the fat off here!

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Wrap really well in foil and cook at 300 until fork tender - shouldn't be dry, wrapping it keeps all the moisture in.

Good luck.

[prasantrin]

I found the box of onion soup mix, only it turned out to be concentrated liquid onion soup. Oops. But luckily, my mother sent me one (single) packet of onion soup mix so my brisket is in the oven as I type!

However...I'm not so sure about how it's going to turn out. I slathered it with the paste, wrapped it in two layers of foil, and put it in at 140C. The internal temperature at the thickest end is already 190F after only 90 minutes, and it's not fork-tender. In fact, it's not tender at all. This brisket is only 600-ish grams, and it's quite thin--at it's thickest end, it's 2-inches thick at the most. It's not very fatty, either (I chose the one with the most fat running through it, but it was still pretty lean and the covering fat had already been heavily trimmed. Anyway, I decided to lower the oven temp (to 120C) and try cooking it a little longer--to 210F. Hopefully it'll help with the tenderness...If not, well, I'm sure it'll be tasty, anyway! There appears to be a lot of sauce, so perhaps I can use that to help offset the potential toughness...

[fifi]

I may be too late for your little brisket. Your temperatures may be a bit high. I do brisket in the oven at 225F (110C). It needs to rock along at a low slow temperature to convert all of the collagen in the thing to gelatin. Having fat to moisten it helps but when I can only get a small flat it will not have much internal fat. But it will come out nicely if done low and slow. It isn't just the final internal temperature, it is the amount of time spent at temperature. When BBQing (smoking) you look for an internal temperature "stall" at about 170F (77C) while the conversion is going on. Then the temperature will accelerate to about 200F and it is ready. Smoking looks for a smoker temperature of about 225F.

[Pam R]

I agree with fifi (Linda) that the internal temp isn't the real issue - it's cooking it for a good long while. Cooking it longer after your post should have and hopefully did help. But the temp you were using should be ok... we cook ours at 300 F for 3-4 hours (they are 10-20 lbs. though). It will probably be more tender if it has some fat marbling, but when we cook those huge ones, they still consist of both parts - so a good section of it isn't marbled.

Because your brisket was so much smaller, a lower temp. wouldn't have hurt, but 300 (or around 300) should still have been ok. I hope it became more tender for you... I'm scared to ask how it tasted... how did it taste?

[prasantrin]

I like it! It's not fork-tender, but I sliced it very thinly so it's tender enough. My only problem is that it's too garlicky. I know many of you are probably thinking, "How can anything be too garlicky?" but let me assure you, using 1 1/2 heads of garlic for a 600g brisket is too much. The biggest problem is that I cannot use the very garlicky yet delicious sauce produced since I'm afraid of reeking of garlic the next day. I'm a teacher, you see, and I don't want my poor students to suffer from garlic odor oozing from my pores (they're very vocal about these things--they told another teacher that she smelled like curry!)! Now I know better...I'll wait till summer holidays to make this one again...or use less garlic (and a lower temperature--I want that fork-tenderness!).