How To Chop An Onion

Who doesn’t love onions? No matter how bad a breath they give rise to and water your eyes, but it is these pungent qualities that give you a delicious and flavorful dish. Onions undoubtedly are a major ingredient in almost all recipes, be it sauces, soups, stews, stuffing, salads, or sandwiches. You name it and the dish has some amount of onion. But the only problem arises when you pick up an onion to slice it only to land up in tears. And when you are done with chopping, you find uneven pieces of onions and bleeding finger, all thanks to the tears that blurred your vision. “So, do you have a solution to this problem?” would be the obvious question that most of you would be willing to find an answer to. Worry not. Follow the simple and easy steps listed herein and make chopping onions a fun-filled activity.

Chopping Onions

Spread a damp kitchen towel on the working counter and place the chopping board over it to prevent the board from slipping.
Place the onion on its side with the tip (the curled, papery tip on the top of the onion) facing the knife.
Grip the knife in your hand and hold the onion steady with the opposite hand curling the fingers over it. Your hand should look like a claw gripping over the onion. This will protect your fingers in case the knife slips.
Pierce the onion with the tip of the onion and slice it off. The onion top will fall apart.
Place the onion straight such that it sits on its root.
While keeping the fingers curled over the onion, slice the onion into two halves from the top to the root.
Using your fingertips, peel off the papery layer around the onion.
Place one half of the onion on the cutting board with the cut side down, such that the root end is facing away from you.
Leaving a half inch from the root, make fine slits lengthwise. Repeat with the other half of the onion.
Turn one half of the onion such that the root is away from the knife and the top of the onion (the chopped off tip) is parallel to the knife.
Rest the tip of the knife on the cutting board and start slicing the onion using the full length of the knife’s blade. Make sure that the slices are perpendicular to the previously sliced sections.
The diced onion will start falling off on the chopping board. Be careful not to chop your fingers or thumb along with the onion.
Repeat with the second half of the onion.

Useful Tips

Chop onions near an open flame, such as a gas burner or candle to avoid tears. The fire is known to consume the gases released by onions, thereby preventing them from entering into your eyes.
If you are boiling vegetables, chop onions near the vapors arousing from the water. The fumes exhaled by the onions will be trapped by the steam.
Hold 5-7 unlit matches in your mouth while chopping onions. The matches will absorb the gases from onions.
Chop more onions to avoid tears. Frequent chopping will increase your immunity to the vapors released by the onion.

By learning how to chop onions, you’ll love to cut, dice, and chop onions the way you want. Grab an onion and a knife, and enjoy a tear-free chopping!

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