The Properly Diced Onion

Have you ever considered the surprising generosity of an onion? It holds onto nothing of itself as it spreads its essence throughout every dish it graces. The onion gives of itself without being diminished and makes itself indispensable, lessons for living we could all heed. I never thought of it before, but the onion is a role model, able to shine alone or exist amiably within a group, and essential to the integrity of whatever it’s a part of.

You may not know it, but the onion is ancient among vegetables; it was a form of currency during the Middle Ages and was used to pay rent, an approach we might all wish for in this down economy. And even today, the onion is included in the cuisine of nearly every culture. It is endlessly adaptable and necessary always. How many vegetables can boast that–and how many of us, for that matter?

There are so many ingredients that, if need be, I could carry on without–not so, the onion, at least not without a sinking sadness in my heart and the sure knowledge that whatever I planned to cook would be much the worse for its absence. 

The Properly Diced Onion

If you’ve been experimenting with this month’s master soup recipe, then you’ve been dicing your share of onions. I thought I ought to explain the proper way to do it because it’s also the easiest way and the one that will give you the nicest result. What’s more, dicing onions is a skill worth cultivating because it’s the starting point for so many delicious recipes. You’ll need to use a sharp, straight-edged knife for dicing. Serrated knives work for cutting bread and tomatoes, but won’t get you anywhere with onions. In general, 1 large onion will give you about 1 cup diced; 1 medium onion will give you closer to 3/4 cup.

Step One: Wash the onion and peel its loose outer layers. As a first step, it’s a good idea to rinse the onion before cutting it since it grows beneath the soil. As you’re washing, you can also remove the loose outer layers of peel that come off easily.

Step Two: Halve and finish peeling the onion. Notice that every onion has two ends: a root end, which has a hard round stub with hair-like roots attached to it, and a slightly pointed stem end. Begin by cutting the onion from it’s root end to its stem end, dividing the onion in two. This is the only step in which you will cut into the root; in the remaining steps, you’ll take care to leave it in tact. Your goal is to end with two similar onion halves. Then finish peeling each half.

Cut the onion from root to stem.

Step Three: Decide how large or small your dice will be. Diced onions generally range in size from 1/4″ square pieces to 3/4″ square pieces. Your objective is to end with small squares that are all about the same size. So, once you decide what size dice you’re after, you will need to keep this in mind as you begin slicing the onion.

Step Four: First set of slices. This next step involves slicing into each onion half. Begin by placing the cut side of one onion half on your cutting board. If you are right handed, the root end should be to your left. If you are left handed, simply reverse this. Now, with your knife perpendicular to the cutting board, make several slices into the onion, taking care not to slice through the root end. The space between each slice should range from 1/4″ to 3/4″ and depends on how small or large you want your finished dice to be. Repeat this step with the second onion half.

Slice into each onion half, with knife perpendicular to the board.

Step Six: Dice the onion. As a final step, you will now dice the onion. If you are right handed, place the root end of one onion half on your left and the stem end on your right. Beginning at the stem end, cut across the slices you just made to create your first dice. Repeat the process, leaving space between each slice to give you the size dice you want. Then do this with the second half and you will have diced an onion just right!

Dice each onion half

An onion diced just right!