Ingredients:
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cupsneutral oil, for frying
1/2 teaspoonground turmeric
1/2 cupunsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
3 tablespoonschickpea (or gram) flour
2 tablespoonsbalachaung (or, 1/4 cup dried shrimp + 2 teaspoons chile flakes)
14 ouncescoleslaw mix
1/2 cupfresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/4 cupfreshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoonsfish sauce
2 teaspoonskosher salt, and more to taste, if desired
Directions:
Cook the onions and make the onion oil: Heat the oil in a large wok or heavy, high-sided pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering but not smoking (approximately 220°F), add a piece of onion to test the temperature—it should sizzle, but not splatter. Add the rest of the onions and sprinkle with turmeric. Cook the onions on medium heat, stirring frequently, 30 to 40 minutes, until they reach a deep golden brown and look shrunken and “frizzled”—or caramelized with slight crispy bits throughout. Once the onions start to brown, they can burn quickly, so be careful not to overcook. Remove onions from the pot with a slotted spoon or fish spatula and transfer onto a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Reserve oil and let cool to room temperature.
In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the chopped peanuts until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set the peanuts aside, wipe out the skillet.
Using the same dry skillet, lightly toast the chickpea flour over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching until fragrant and golden in color, 5 to 7 minutes.
If you don’t have access to balachaung, make the spicy dried shrimp mixture: In a food processor, pulse the dried shrimp and chile flakes to finely chop. The mixture should look dry and almost powdery—similar in texture to coarsely-ground coffee. Feel free to adjust the amount of chile flakes depending on how spicy you’d like the final dish.
Assemble the salad: Add the cilantro and coleslaw mix to a large bowl. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of toasted chickpea flour, lemon juice, balachaung (or 2 tablespoons of the dried shrimp-chile mixture), fish sauce, and 1/4 cup of the reserved room temperature onion oil, and mix thoroughly. Once combined, gently mix in about 1/2 of the onions (reserve the rest for topping). Taste and adjust the seasoning. It should be at once salty, sour, funky, spicy, and refreshing. You can serve immediately, but the slaw also tastes great after resting in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
To serve, top with the remaining fried onions, peanuts, and more cilantro.