How To Cut An Onion
Learning how to cut an onion like a pro is the best way to enjoy using onions in your cooking. You may be thinking, “I already know how to cut an onion; just get out the knife and start chopping.” Sounds easy enough, but there is a right and wrong way to cut an onion, and we are here to teach you how to cut an onion the correct way.
The first step to cutting an onion – or any other vegetable for that matter – involves the knife. For any cutting job, your most important tool is your knife. If doesn’t have to be the most expensive knife on the market, but it does have to be sharp. So get yourself one good knife, keep it sharp and take good care of it.
You will also need a cutting board. Many people use a plastic board for cutting onions because the strong smell has a tendency to linger in wooden cutting boards. Just as you should take good care of your knife, it is important to keep your cutting board clean and sanitized at all times to prevent the spread of germs.
So, finally we get to the actually cutting of the onion. There are different things you can do with your onion – slice it in rounds for burgers and sandwiches, cut it into chunks for soups, dice it into small bits for cooking – and the way you cut it depends on what you are planning to use it for. We’ll cover these three for starters.
No matter how you are cutting your onion, the first thing you do is cut off the stem end of the onion. This lets you set the onion flat on the cutting board while you cut. Next cut the onion in half through the root. Once the onion is halved, it is easier to peel off the skin. Always remember to grip the onion with your fingers bent inward and not toward the knife. We don’t want any accidents!
For slicing, simply set the cut side of the onion on the cutting board and trim off your slices in whatever width you desire. For sandwiches, you may want to keep it thinner, but thicken it up for burgers. If you are going to cook up your sliced onions, you want an average thickness.
Cutting an onion into chunks is simple. Once you get it halved and peeled, just chop it into whatever size you need. Onion chunks are excellent for soups and stews.
To chop or dice the onion, lay the halved onion flat and make several horizontal cuts almost all the way through the onion. Then with the stem side down make a bunch of vertical cuts. Now set the onion back flat and chop away. The result is evenly sized pieces of onion that are perfect for flavoring just about any dish!