OnTheTable: Tips for Onion Slicing, Dicing

Many savory dishes begin with the humble onion—perhaps making the onion not so humble after-all. Thus it behooves the home chef to master the skill of preparing this aromatic vegetable. If improperly approached, this task can be tedious and even dangerous. If, instead, you imbibe a bit of knife-knowledge and put in a little practice, the task of onion slicing and dicing can become, if not enjoyable, at least safe and simple.

The Cuts
For onions there exist two, basic cuts. Slicing results in strands of onions (think onion rings cut in halves or thirds). Dicing results in onion cubes/chunks (think of the grilled onions at In-N-Out Burger).

The Preparatory Step

Begin here; this is the initial step for most all onion cuts. Start by slicing off the onion’s tip (the pole opposite the root).For stability, place the onion down on this flat spot prior to slicing the onion in half, top to bottom, cutting directly through the root end. Remove the outer, paper-like skin of each half. With two, prepped halves, you are now ready to slice or dice.

Pungent or Sweet?
An onion can be sliced parallel its equator, or parallel its poles. Slicing along the equator ruptures more of the onion’s cells and thus results in stronger, more pungent flavors. Cutting parallel to the poles produces sweeter and milder results. 

The Equator Slice
With the onion-half’s flat side down, and your non-dominant hand securing the onion from slipping while keeping your fingers curled safely under your knuckles, begin slicing on the end opposite the root. Slices can be as thick or thin as you like.

The Pole Slice
Cut off each half’s root end. Turn the onion-half so that your knife will slice parallel to the poles (a 90 degree turn relative to the equator slice). In a fashion equal to the equator slice, with fingers tucked safely under knuckles, slice your way across the entire half, making cuts to your preferred thickness.

The Dice
Step 1:
Execute the preparatory step from above.

Step 2:
Leave the root ends intact as they hold the onion together as you execute the following cuts.

Step 3:
Place an onion-half flat side down, and prepare to slice inline with the onion’s poles. Secure the onion from slipping with your non-dominant hand while keeping your fingers curled safely under your knuckles. Without bisecting the root end, and with your knife-blade always angled and cutting toward the core, make radian cuts inline with the onion’s poles (think of slicing onion wedges, much like pie wedges).

Step 4:

Finally, turn the onion-half so that your knife will slice perpendicular to the wedge cuts (inline with the onion’s equator). Then make a series of vertical cuts up to the root end. Voila! You have a diced onion.

Making it Easier
Two things will make onion cutting a breeze: a truly sharp, long knife and a large cutting board. And if the thought of onion slicing and dicing has you already in tears, there is but one guaranteed solution: swim-goggles.


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