Are You Chopping Onions Properly?

"Show me the life hack that you randomly saw one day that is now an unconscious standard practice in your life." This is the question posed by @chefalmafernanda in a viral TikTok video. Her answer? She proceeds to chop an onion on camera—but she doesn't cut it just any old way. 

She cuts off one end, then slices the onion lengthwise in half so that it's still held together at the other end by the stem. She peels it, places it flat-side down on a cutting board, and then makes thin vertical slices, still held together at one end. She turns her knife and makes several horizontal cuts, and then flips it back and chops up the entire onion into little uniform pieces. Only at the end does she discard the stem that's held it all together the whole time.

The brilliance of this method is that there are no stray slices or pieces flying all over the cutting board, thanks to the stem that's anchoring it. And you end up with tiny pieces that are a consistent size.

Some commenters point out that this is the proper way of cutting an onion and that this is the technique taught in culinary schools. Many express disbelief that anyone would cut an onion differently, saying, "Doesn't everyone do that?" and "Uh... how else would you do it?" 

But there is widespread agreement that a great number of people seem unaware of this method and stand to benefit from learning it. As @chefalmafernanda explains, “Not everyone uses this technique. I teach cooking class and have seen SO MANY people don’t know this.”

Some say the horizontal cuts are unnecessary, but @chefalmafernanda replies that it makes a difference for size. You get a smaller dice this way. So, it depends on what you need the onion for. 

If chopping onions has been your least favorite kitchen chore up until now, that is about to change after you see this video.