This is the start of my onion chopping post otherwise known as How to Chop an Onion. I know. This is scintillating text so far.
Chopping an onion is one of those things that everyone has their own way of doing.
Some are hackers, some are whackers and some are very meticulous about it.
For dicing I used to just slice my onion and then kind of dance my knife around the slice until it was sufficiently diced. Sometimes I'd stack 2 or 3 together onion slices together to save on time. This rarely saved on time. Onion slices have a tendency to fall apart and slide off each other.
So several years ago I learned how to properly dice an onion. I saw it on some random cooking show.
And if you've seen a random cooking show in the last decade I assume you also know how to properly dice an onion. But in case you haven't or you'd like a refresher, I have for your viewing enjoyment today:
How to pluck a chicken.
Just joking.
How to dice an onion.
Sorry if the Blair Witch Boob Cam made you nauseous but I couldn't figure out another way to shoot the video. And yes. Those were my onion goggles. Get a pair. They'll change your life. Never cry a tear while chopping onions again. Just strap on your goggles and start cutting.
To recap for those of you with a slow Internet connection:
And that is the end of my onion chopping post. Need to know how to chop a mango? Take a look at this tutorial.
Thank you! I happened to be making a recipe that called for onions last night, and after seeing this entry yesterday, it made chopping that much easier!
No one's mentioned this so far, but I have a habit of throwing whatever onions I'm going to be cooking with into the freezer to help lessen the water works. Everything seems to be stiffer and easier to cut.
My mother-in-law JUST showed me this a few weeks ago -- life changing! (And I'm dead set on getting some onion goggles. Such a crier, I am.)
I loved this - the goggles are genius!
What I'd like is a tutorial in sharpening knives,please.
I usually chop too much onion and keep the rest for later in a lidded tub in the fridge, to minimise the grief.
You never fail to crack me up uncontrollably in my little cubicle! Just love that last second shot of you in your goggles! When you cut onions you do it with gusto!!! And I think the boob cam is genius!
I didn't know that either! Hahah onion goggles! They are very flattering :)
This video made me smile. I needed that this morning :)
I used to start crying (and like, full on, I can't see anymore, this is kinda dangerous cuz I'm wielding a knife tears) the moment I made the first slice into any onion. Then I started keeping them in the fridge. I don't know how it works, but since I started chopping them when they're cold, I haven't shed a single tear. I'll start to smell that oniony smell a bit more as they come up to room temperature, but by then, the slicing's all done.
Another suggestion to add to the criss cross cuts and before the slicing and cubing begins is to briefly run the onion under cold water; for those whose fashion repertoire does not include onion goggles.
Thanks for the tutorial! I always seem to forget this trick and end up making a total mess out of my onion chopping.
I was hoping you would show your goggles on this video. I saw them on facebook and giggled!
Jacques Cousteau could not have done it better... Not, at least, without his onion snorkel.
I have been wanting to learn how to do this for ages now, but too lazy to search the internet to learn. Thanks! Now I must incorporate onions into tonights supper to try my new party trick!
karen i need the goggles, onions kill my eyes! i am super sensitive to them and cry for hours after cutting them, my eyes still hurt the next day. i have tried different things but nothing works, i usually just let the better half do it. are they swim goggles?
Marilyn! Yup. They're just cheap swimming goggles I got at Dollarama a couple of summers ago. If you're really sensitive they're the only thing that'll work. ~ karen!
That's how I do it also. Learned it on the Food Network--where I've learned SO much about cooking.
@Lindsey, breathe through your mouth, and not your nose. As the fumes are released from cutting into the onion, and you breathe them in through your nose, the water works are turned on. I also rinse my knife a few times as well. More Food Network knowledge. :)
Hmm, interesting - I leave the onion whole and do basically the rest of the process exactly the same, but I can definitely see the value in chopping it in half with the root end holding the thing together - much more control and less risk of losing a digit! Thanks for the visual!
My husband swears that leaving the root intact (like you do), keeps you from crying.
The thing that keeps ME from crying is letting my husband cut the onions.
Oh, p.s.! Thanks for the remedial still photos. :)
I stand by my fb post! and that seemed so much easier than what i did with several onions today. Next time I'm postponing all cooking until you make your post :) Supper is served at midnight!!
All this time I thought I knew how to chop an onion. It appears I do not. You've opened my eyes, but not too wide because onion junk will get in there and I'll cry and stuff.
Brilliant! I always wondered what that root was there for!