Chop Chop! a Guide to Cutting Onions

The first step before cutting an onion is to take into consideration the knife being used to cut. One would never use a butter knife, steak knife, bread knife, or cheese knife. This is an important detail, as cutting with the wrong knife can lead to serious injury. Ideally, the knife for cutting onion is a large, very sharp, heavy blade. The large size of the allows for better control, the sharpness for more precise cuts and less slippage (for safety), and the heavy weight for ease of cutting (the heavier the blade, the less physical effort goes into the cutting action). One might take into account the specificity of the cutting board, but for this particular instructional set, it does not matter. This set includes instructions for the following types of cuts:

1) Chopping

Large, cubic pieces of onions ideal for large batch cooking of stews, soups, and sauce- based dishes.

2) Slicing

Onion rings and strips for salads

3) Dicing

Ideal cuts for most protein-based and onion-inclusive foods.

4) Mincing

Very finely diced onion ideal for foods where the onion is there for taste and aromatics rather than for texture.

1. One or as many onions as desired for your final product
2. The proper knife for the desired cut
3. Cutting board

1) Peel the onion

2) Find the vertical lines of the onion that trail from the top (leafy part) to the stem

3) Turn the onion so the lines face left and right, leaving the leafy part and the stem facing to your right and left

4) Cut the onion in half to the best of your judgement, the bigger the slice, the bigger the cubes

5) Take either half, place it flat side down onto the cutting surface, and cut the onion in a grid like fashion starting with vertical lines (furthest point away down towards you) and then horizontal lines (left to right or vice versa)

6) Cut as close to the leafy part or stem as possible to reduce waste and maximize the amount of onion used

1) For salad strips, repeat steps 1 through 4 from the Chopping instructions

2) For rings, a half onion is ideal, for strips, cut into quarters by cutting into the stem or leafy part (this holds the onion together naturally)

3) For rings, balance the half onion on its side by holding either the stem or the leafy part. For strips, place the quarter onion so that the vertical lines face your left and right. 4) Cut thin, even slices against the vertical lines

5) With your hands, break apart the cuts to get thin onion strips

1) Repeat steps 1 through 4 from the Chopping instructions

2) Cut the halves into even quarters, ideally cutting into the stem/leafy part so that the onion pieces are still naturally held together

3) Place a flat side of the quarter-piece down onto the cutting surface

4) Cut towards the stem/leafy part of the onion without cutting through the stem/leafy part – this will create gridlines suitable for the small pieces desired for dicing

5) Cut against the vertical lines of the onion to create the small grid cuts required for dicing

6) If pieces appear too large, they can be separated by hand

Repeat all the steps for Dicing, then do as follows:

1) Collect the diced pieces into a small pile on your cutting surface

2) Place the tip of the blade into a corner of the cutting surface, then place your palm onto the backside of the blade with your opposite hand firmly on the handle

3) Without moving your palm, use repetitive cutting motions to finely chop the diced onion into minced onion.

Thank you for reading, hope this helps!