Chopping an Onion in 4 Simple Steps
Whether you’re making a sandwich or cooking dinner, there’s a good chance that you may be chopping up onions for added flavor. Here’s how to chop an onion (without crying!) from expert cook Ken Haedrich.
These wrapped wonders are not only good for cooking, but also provide natural health benefits!
How to Cut an Onion
Here are tips on how to chop an onion in four easy steps.
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- Select a sharp chef’s knife. Before you begin, peel off as many layers of papery skin as you can, the better to make your first cut without your knife glancing off the surface. Pull off any hairy roots, too. They have an unappetizing way of ending up where they shouldn’t. Place the onion on its side on a chopping board. Hold your knife comfortably, with your forefinger running down one side of the blade and your thumb pressed against the opposite side. With one fell swoop, slide the knife down and away from you, slicing off the top half inch of the onion. (If your knife isn’t particularly sharp, first pierce the surface of the onion with the tip of your knife so the blade has a starting notch.)
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- Turn the onion so it rests on the newly cut flat surface. Starting at the center of the root end, slice the onion in half. Peel off any remaining skin.
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- Rest half the onion on its largest flat surface, root end pointing away from you. Working from the far edge of the onion toward your body, slice down through the onion, leaving about 1/2 inch between each cut. Do not, however, slice through the onion at the root end. (An intact root end keeps the onion from falling apart.)
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- Rotate the onion so the end cut faces your knife blade. Then, make 1/2-inch cuts perpendicular to the first set of cuts. The onion will fall apart into neat, 1/2-inch dice. Discard root. Repeat with the other half.
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Video: How to Cut an Onion
Watch this short video, and we’ll demonstrate!
Ken Haedrich
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Dipping your knife under the faucet with the cold water running. Every cut, dip your knife. Or else rinse your onion under cold water. Both of these methods work for me every time.
I keep a glass of water nearby, and when my eyes start to water, I take a drink of the water and it goes away. Also, if you rub your hands on your stainless steel faucet the onion smell on your hands goes away.
I have found out / discovered that when I cut the skin after removing the ends, and start to peel off the outer layer exposing the flimsy skin membrane then the onion fumes are released from the onion causing the eyes being affected.
After the skin is removed and handling just the bare onion, no more fumes. But getting to that point people looking at me would say I was hurting from being hit with a hammer, no dry eyes.
I still do the same thing and cry.
I agree - trim the root and neck end first. I cut a simply upside-down funnel-shape cutout.
Then when slicing: When slicing in step #3 - Make your final few cuts at the end in a manner that angles toward the center of the onion. This results in more evenly sized chopped pieced.
My Aunt insisted that when you chopped the root end of the onion it caused the tearing up. She advised to always start with the other end and to go quickly when cutting near the root end. She also advised disposing of the root end as soon as they were cut off to prevent fumes. I used to have problems with tearing before her advice and not since. That was close to 40 years ago. If you cut it like the video posted here and ensure the root is the last attached part and then throwing away the root right away, it works perfectly.
If you're very susceptible to tearing while chopping onions, try this. . .
Hold a piece of slightly stale bread between your lips and chop-away, no-more-tears !
I bought a pair of swim goggles to wear just for cutting onions. Works great and embarrasses my kids as an added bonus!
It certainly works! I've done this for years, why not? 😁
I also remember a chemistry professor saying that if you used a stainless steel knife or touched a stainless steel surface when cutting an onion that would keep you from tearing up. I cannot say for sure that this works as he would toss out some really wild things regarding the chemistry of food. I will say I do have a stainless steel knife that I use for cutting onions and I do not shed any tears.
You will want to leave the root section on the onion as it will allow the "leftovers" to last longer in the fridge. Just for fun when my kid was little, when we got down to the root section, we put it in water to root it, then planted it. My kid loved that he "cloned" onions. He was really into gardening. We put the first "clone" into a glass jar so he could see the onion grow better.
My friend in Belgium would boil veggie "leftovers" that were not used in dishes to make a veggie broth.
