Dicing an Onion Faster than the Pros!
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- čas přidán 10. 10. 2022
- Dicing an onion the “right” way involves a series of vertical and horizontal cuts to make a grid, then chopping through to create your dice. The radial cut is quicker, safer, and just as good for home cooks. While a professional chef might notice the difference, the end result should be nearly indistinguishable from the professional methods.
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Yeah this method is called a rainbow cut. At least that’s what I was taught. I never liked doing the lateral cuts. An onion is already segmented, no need to make your own.
I never understood that either. I used to dice my onions the “grid” way when I was learning just because that’s what Gordon Ramsay said was the right way. Now, I only make the top cuts and then the cross cut to dice. As it is, I rarely dice, I usually make slivered onions for most everything I make since I can make them much thinner and almost always caramelize my onions.
seriously
@@johnmaynes7142 i do grid/flower cut because almost all street food carts here to the same way. We need chopped onions for everything from pavbhaji to bhurji to dosa to a side side. Plus, since we have to buy the bags and it's not* always the best kind/size, grid cut is the best way to go.
Right, haha
I was gonna say the same thing, the lateral cuts are completely unnecessary
I'm not crying. You're crying.
Crybaby
We're crying*
Not of you have a sharp knife
@@2knives1cook *if
@@2knives1cook its onions bro.... you're crying one way or another
Hell yeah it is! Also, if you're cooking food eaten with chopsticks, you can stop once you've got the radial cuts made, no dice necessary!
yeah I rarely cut my onions that small because they get cooked down so much in the food I make
Kenji Lopez did his research on this and actually came up with a radial cut that is extremely easy and provides actual diced onions. The point is to aim your cuts in a point just below the onion. It's very practical and he explains it very well in some of his videos. Amazing guy!
THANK YOU, 👏👏👏
Someone else sad something similar, What does just below the onion mean?
@@haileyaustin4eva341 if you halve an onion and place right at the edge of your countertop, you can measure a point a few millimeters under the onion, this is where you aim your cuts to end up
@@haileyaustin4eva341 seems really too much for just cutting an onion but it's actually preeeettty intuitive once you understand it
@@kogu9676 Perhaps, but cutting onions is a pretty common task so we may as well become pros at it.
Finally! I've been cutting onions like this for YEARS and I wanted everyone to know how simple and quick it is. I'm glad you shared this.
a slightly better way is to put that center point below where the actual onion is, so that all of your onion bits are (mathematically proven to be) as even as possible, then just throw in a horizontal cut or two and you're golden. That being said, if you ask me, it's hard to dice an onion terribly, especially for home use, so do whatever suits you best
Source: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt
I was searching for this comment. I also saw his article on the mathematically precise way to chop an onion. Kenji is awesome!
@@Janani_KannanI was searching for you
Agreed. I haven't read the article that you're apparently referring to but I understand. It would create rhomboids instead of trapezoids so even the individual pieces would be more even as well as them being similar in volume to each other.
Edit: I did just read the article. Interesting to note that there are also 19 cuts on one half of an onion (to bisect an onion with about 10 layers)
yes
"this technique works for the amature home cooks, now grab your $200 Damascus steel knife..."
All he said was grab a sharp knife relax
@@moomaniac2932 no he didnt lol, you clearly weren’t paying attention.
@@TheStunnerFTW rewatch the video
It’s more fun that way
@@TheStunnerFTW he did.
Kenji Lopez alt worked with a mathematician to determine what angle creates the most even pieces in this style of cut, as cutting towards the center means that pieces in the center are smaller than the pieces towards the outside. As I recall, you should aim for a point that is about 2in below the center of the onion for the most consistent pieces.
i took 3 years of culinary courses. & youre absolutely correct. my teacher mr kim was a south korean/american chef of 30 years. he taught us so many methods thats arent widley practiced here in the states.
I like how the radial cut takes pretty much the same amount of time but requires more effort and precision since you have to cut it both ways.
What? The way he demonstrates is much quicker and only need to cut one way, bro you must be high😅
Did you even watch the video
It's about safety as well. Cutting horizontally in the other method is not without risk, especially if you don't have a properly sharpened knife.
Did you pay attention to the video at all?
Michelin star restaurants are not cutting onions the way you explained that in the video. In fine dining restaurants most of the time the onion gets a quarter-cut and from that point on you cut julienne in 2-3 layers at once and after that, you evenly dice the onion for perfect brunoise.
He’s a CZcamsr, he’s never seen the inside of a fine dining kitchen. He’s just using buzzwords to try and catch eyes. Most people can’t imagine the way stuff is processed in fine dining, it’s not about speed it’s about art.
@@kirkchurchil8216 Do you smell your own farts when they're fresh, or do you bottle them up for later?
@@hobosorcerer He ages them for maximum quality
Man that was hard to read.
@@kirkchurchil8216 It is about speed, it's just also about the way it looks. If you need to break down a dozen onions you still need to do it quickly while maintaining the standards expected by the chef.
The kanji or Hanzi on the blade says "heart" as in "mind" or "spirit" of such.
So, core?
@@Sheffy55 To clarify, there is a kanji for the actual organ and then this as heart - but I suppose that can be one figurative translation. There are tens of thousands of kanji both modern and archaic, but the radicals contribute to the formation of these characters - like sub characters and roots that build the symbols and or words.
@@awyea1801 Why call it Chinese instead of chenguohua or Japanese instead of nihongo? Kanji (hanzi) as I stated in the original comment, literally means "Chinese character" which we're both aware of.
In this specific context, I'm not sure it makes a difference if I use the English term for the Japanese word for "Han (Chinese) character" or I use the English term for the Chinese word for "Han (Chinese) character" because the kunyomi of "kanji" in Japanese - in this specific case, does not alter the original meaning of the Chinese characters - as may be the case with other uses of hanzi in the Japanese language. I'd be more concerned you used the simplified instead of traditional characters in your argument, but you do you and have a wonderful day! 👍
Thank you!! just tried this and it was so quick I'll always volunteer to cut the onions from now on
I've cooked professionally for over 16 years and I've already preferred the radial cut. Thanks for sharing.
I never see the need to horizontal cut an onion for cooked diced onions. Onions are naturally segmented by it's fiber structure. Vertical or in this case rainbow cuts are all I need.
I just learned that leaving the root (the part with the roots) on while cutting is what makes you not cry 😃
I always watch your videos . And I have a video idea for you. Idea is best budget titanium folders. Can’t seem to find any vids dedicated to budget titanium folder options .
Thx
Only way to dice an onion, i learned from a pro
tbh i just only make vertical cuts (and then dice), still easier and faster than trying to cut at angles.
I'm just a home cook, never took any lessons, but did see the h/v "grid" cuts being done, which I thought were silly because the onions already *had* layers which'd break apart when jostled. So I started with just the vertical cuts, but didn't like the little orphaned crescents at either edge, so started making the radial cuts to keep the pieces together as much as possible. And this is it!
YOUR KNIFE IS SO PRETTY!!!! It looks like it has little hearts in the steel!
the easiest way (and i think the best way because it teaches you how to cut other veg) is to cut them into slices (batonet/julienne) and then cut those slices into dices. you can get much more consistent cuts with that method and the cuts aren't complicated like the horizontal cut in a traditional dice or the awkwardness of radial cuts
Yup, nothing awkward about making onion batonettes. This guy.
One of the few cooking "hacks" that actually works.
Kids we're having onion soup 🍲 tonight
His kids : again 🤦♀️🤦♂️
Me just chopping it into chunks and repeatedly chopping it to get it diced
You dont need to do any horizontal cuts. The natural way the onion is layered will let it fall apart if you just make a few straight cuts vertically first
Me watching this while chopping onions with my slap chop XD
This works well. I was taught to do this by a restaurant chef who was also teaching at my culinary school.
Best simple instructions I've seen on the subject. Thanks!
I’ve worked in restaurants all my life, when we need a medium dice, we cut both ends FULLY off, and pinch each side of the onion, then cut perpendicular to the lines, straight down, then run it with the lines on an angle, once you 2/3 thru, flip in 90 degrees and finish it off. I’ve never seen this online, but this is by far the fastest way to do it and fairly precise as well.
Cool tip!
Hell yeah!
They may teach you the oldschool way originally, but they quickly tell you to use this method. It follows the natural shape and contour of a sphere.
Thank you!!!
Over the years I have independently developed this exact method. Clearly, I AM a master chef 👨🍳 I’m coming for you Gordon
This is genuinely helpful, thank you!
Nice to see someone using natural growth patterns to dice an onion. Doing it like this for years :)
TRUTH. I've been processing onions this way for 15 years.
They taught me this method in my cooking seminar at uni 👌🏼
Beautiful blade👍🏻❤️
just use a slap chop
If I'm home, time isn't an issue. No need to rush
That's the way I've been doing it all along. No teacher needed!😅
This is the same number of steps as the classic method. Also, always make the horizontal cuts before the verticals. Way cleaner and safer
They never taught us horizontal cuts that a no go
I use now. Great for making even bigger bits for curry and stir-fry
Proper radial cut is better and more uniform than the school way.
Trust
Thank you!
Loved your video thanks for sharing 👍
Very useful 👍 thank you
I’ll try it! I’ve been cutting onions the first way for years and years.
Thank you.
This is exactly how I was taught in culinary school, I laugh at nerds with horizontal cuts on an already segmented item
I laugh cause I got a food processor and can achieve a fine dice in 5 seconds.
Been on team radial cut for almost 20 years, so much more efficient.
If you want a great chef’s knife that works for under $40 you should check out the Victorinox, the Dexter, and the Cold Steel 6-8” knives.
All of them are well thought out and built to be used, and the Dexter (cheapest) is actually the most common knife you’ll find in pro kitchens 🤷♂️
Meanwhile ... a street vendor in India just chopped an entire bag of onions in the time it took you to watch this video.
I have been cutting my onions EXACTLY like this for many decades; I figured out the easiest, quickest way, most efficient way back in the 70's!
Nice will try this
If you use the radial cut without cross cutting, only cutting off the root end, it's a classic sauciers long cut. You can make French onion soup without the onions going to paste.
Bro I was making potato soup for a class a couple weeks ago and I had to cut onions.
Man I wish I had this
Why do you need to dice an onion if you’re going to puree the soup anyways? 😂
@@KaiserChromos wasn’t like that
@@BoredPenguin539 well then nevermind 😂
I actually learned this method at culinary school from my chef instructor
Safety is not about what grit you make but about tucked fingers and comfortable speed
I already figured that out myself.
The only difference is that I stick the point near the buttend and cut from there.
A thin sharp knife works the best.
I've also never done a horizontal cut. Only diffrence in my method is, I chopped it straight and focus more on the edges. Thats why I don't get big pieces.
This IS how professionals cut. Although we claw our fingers more.. since they’re important and all.
For a home cook there is literally no difference between these two methods, because it doesn't matter if it takes me an extra minute to cut up an onion or two. I'm not going through 100 onions and saving 10s on every onion will saving me 15 minutes, I'm cutting one onion for a sauce made from canned tomatoes.
Also, it is absolutely not any safer to make radial cuts from the center versus vertical cuts and maybe one or two horizontal cuts. If you're cutting stuff at home just walk, don't run. Take your time, you have plenty of it, and your fingers are worth more than the 2 minutes of prep work you might save.
Best ever!
The other way is a bit finer but i see your point
Once i remember having to make dinner for everyone in my house because they were all sick with the flu and i was having a bad day, so i randomly started having a brutal war with an onion. It was messy, but it got the job done, the lasagna was still delicious and my stress was taken out! To my surprise it wasn't horrible, it was almost perfectly diced!
The funny thing is, when you look at it closely: the grid cut doesn't produce a better dice - at least not with just one or two horizontal cuts. If you really need Star Restaurant dice, you're going to cut each layer of the onion individually anyways as that's the only way to produce a truly consistent result.
Thanks
I've always done this weird thing where I just chop an onion
I’m so confused. You turn the onion 180 and make more cuts in the same direction? like what’s the purpose of turning it?
Learn sir thank you
As a Professional Chef, I prefer this method
i like how i can cook an dish that been in my family tradition since long tine ago but cant dice up the onion and my grandma is the one who does all the cutting
Finally someone with sense. Although not entirely my personal method but similar.
I always thought that vertical cut method is stupid and annoying and truly doesn’t produce uniform pieces and is more dangerous.
That’s how my ex French chef girl friend always yelled I was cutting onions wrong
this is definitely the move!
Oh thanks I will try this. I always jused the pro cut at home, because my dad teached me to do it that way
My anxiety when he was holding the onion while cutting😅
The radius cut is hard but it's a lot easier
That is such a beautiful piece of Damascus
Any cutting method is good enough for a home cook..
that's how i learned it from my Fromer Chefs in school we learned the old way
That's what I usually do but I take out the center first and dice it by hand. That way there's less tiny pieces that get burned up.
Your knife has no soul.
But thank you teaching me to cut onion.
XD what a time to be alive
The heart knife ❤
As someone who has shaved off finger tips and exposed knuckle bones I also recommend to keep your knives sharp
I wanna know what knife you're using
Michelin is the reason marco gave his stars back though.
“Once you accept you are being judged by people who have less knowledge than yourself, then what's it worth?”
that knife srcaping that board...
To be honest this looks slower and harder than the other way, which took me 5 min to learn.
I use a Condor Moonshiner in my kitchen 👍
I use a albion knecht kreigsmesser in the kitchen
You need horizontal cuts if you want them to be even. It’s just 4 more cuts. No big deal unless you don’t know how to handle a knife.
My eyes!!!!!
I just cut them in circles and chop them. It's fast and you get a good amount of diced onions.
This is how I was taught at Chipotle. Pretty nifty for cutting a couple dozen pounds a day.
This is what I always thought! The onion comes in layers already, you don't need to make your own.
Ill stick with lateral. Way I was taught has worked for years. I judge people at work based on this method as the standard😂
That's how I've always been slicing