Some people don't have the cooking instinct, and need the black & white directions. I think many cooking problems would be solved, if all measurements were described in weights.
This just highlights the ridiculousness of using 'shallots' or 'onions' as a unit of measurement in recipes. Here in South Africa, a large onion might be 2.5" in diameter, whereas when I'm in the US, I see the supermarket shelves filled with onions the size of softballs. Similarly, the shallots I get here are maybe half the size of the ones I've bought in France.
Actually, the silliness is not the recipes, but rather obsessing over the question of what size onion the author meant. As AntoniaJames once suggested (I think...) you just need to trust your instincts!
XO sauce! yum! But when I get shallot I get single or multiple 'cloves' even handedly. I have bought 'true shallot' the French Grey Shallot at a farmer's market and they are really much smaller. I suppose when a recipe calls for one shallot, I'm thinking 2 - 3Tbsp, minced.
I just went to my shallot bin and pulled out a a single and a double bulb shallot and the double bulb shallot is 1/8 of ounce heavier. When I split the double bulb shallot it was half the wieght of the double ( obviously) and almost half the wieght (1/16th of an oz heavier) of the single bulb shallot. Therefore we are splitting hairs. I have always counted as I posted before a shallot is what is inside the natural paper skin and when pruchasing you are not charged for two shallots for the two bulbs. So, I still come to the conclusion that a shallot is a shalot is a shallot. Especially since in most instances when using a shallot exact measurment is not necessary. Like onions, carrots, cellery and most other vegetables.
The shallot I usually get are single bulbs - they look like tapered red onions. You can find them with multiple shallots growing off the same root base (like it seems you have). Each oniony-thing is a shallot.
As Nutcakes says, size can vary. Your recipe might call for a small or medium shallot. My "small" is about the size of large walnut, my "medium" is more like a ping pong ball.But really, taste is the major guide.
It's one bulb, but depending on how large your shallot is, you might like to use more or less. I prefer a measurement, but with shallot, to taste is fine. What are you making?
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Actually, the silliness is not the recipes, but rather obsessing over the question of what size onion the author meant. As AntoniaJames once suggested (I think...) you just need to trust your instincts!
As Nutcakes says, size can vary. Your recipe might call for a small or medium shallot. My "small" is about the size of large walnut, my "medium" is more like a ping pong ball.But really, taste is the major guide.