I made the mistake of sleeping at 5am this morning — after a night-long binge read of The Path of Daggers (the 8th book in The Wheel of Time series) — even though I knew I’d have a long day of work, including a video shoot and a panel discussion. 

After a 12-hour work day, on very little sleep, I was craving comfort food. So I decided to make one of my uni-day staples — onion soup. 

One of my favourite vegetables, the onion is such a versatile ingredient to have in one’s kitchen. It’s also a vegetable that I happen to love. I’ve eaten it pickled, deep fried, stir-fried, boiled, roasted. 

I get cravings for caramelised onions — hot and freshly made, eaten from the pan while it’s still on the stove. That sweet flavour that finishes with a savoury punch. 

I relish the crunch of onions in roti bawang, in daging masak merah. 

Add red onions to a Maggi mee goreng and you get something that doesn’t taste like it came out of a packet. 

Combine roasted white onions with roast chicken and you have a delicious meal. 

Boil onions in milk to get a creamy onion soup, or in broth with other vegetables to get a warmth-filled ABC soup. 

A world without onions is certainly a less pungent, less flavourful world.