Try to use a sharp chopping knife – not a bread knife or a blunt peeling knife or anything scary like that.
Rest your chopping board on a damp dish towel if it has a tendency to slip.
Contrary to popular belief there IS a way to avoid the whole onion crying issue – get someone else to chop them for you.
Right, let’s get to it.
- Cut the onion in half from root to tip (that’s longways, not crossways, we’re not making onion rings here)
- Cut off the tip of the onion (not the woody root end)
- Peel the skin off each half
- Hold onto the root end, with the flat cut surface on the board.
- Cut straight lines into the onion and down the onion as though you are making a naughts and crosses board – or tic tac toe, whatever visual works for you. The distance between the lines of this grid will determine the size of your onion pieces. If you have a small onion, you probably only need to cut downwards, and not bother cutting across at all.
- Now holding the root end firmly with your fingers curled back out of the way, cut down the face of the onion.
- Repeat with the other half of the onion.