How To: Dice an Onion Properly & Without Tears

Michael Andrew, from Meals Americana, gives us some interesting tips on dicing an onion without tears.

When working with raw onion, always remember to breathe through your mouth. This will cut back on the tears. And always use a sharp knife. Use a hand sharpener to sharpen the blade of the knife before dicing.

After sharpening the blades wipe off the metal shavings using a towel. This is done to avoid the metal shavings getting into the food.

1. Roll the raw onions on your hand to remove off the outer skin.
2. Slice of the root end of the onion with a shallow slice. The shallow slice is done so that the root end of the onion will hold the cuttings while dicing.
3. Slice the top of the onion with a thicker slice.
4. Place the onion on top and cut through the center dissecting it into two halves. Gently remove the remaining skin or rotten layer of onion using the knife blade or hands.
5. Place the onion on its flat side with the root end facing away. Cut through vertically by placing the finger just pressing the onion. Do not cut all the way through the root end.
6. Do the same to make horizontal slices. Cut through the onion horizontally in a sawing fashion back and forth.
7. Slice the onion crosswise until the marking of the dice till the root end.
8. Use the back of the chef's blade to scoop the diced onion into the bowl.
9. Dice the remaining root end of the onion and scoop that also into the bowl.