Dicing an Onion Faster than the Pros!

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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[@eternity9099]

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.

[@johnmaynes7142]

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.

[@dakota7309]

seriously

[@Furrina89]

@@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.

[@minedthagap]

Right, haha

[@butre.]

I was gonna say the same thing, the lateral cuts are completely unnecessary

[@WilliamWallis]

I'm not crying. You're crying.

[@Finduski]

Crybaby

[@zeph5800]

We're crying*

[@2knives1cook]

Not of you have a sharp knife

[@HoesLoveCoCo]

@@2knives1cook *if

[@SubieNinja]

@@2knives1cook its onions bro.... you're crying one way or another

[@kogu9676]

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!

[@stehairy]

THANK YOU, 👏👏👏

[@haileyaustin4eva341]

Someone else sad something similar, What does just below the onion mean?

[@kogu9676]

@@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

[@kogu9676]

@@haileyaustin4eva341 seems really too much for just cutting an onion but it's actually preeeettty intuitive once you understand it

[@tomford6882]

@@kogu9676 Perhaps, but cutting onions is a pretty common task so we may as well become pros at it.

[@gilshemesh6751]

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.

[@Indigonac]

Upgrade your game: imagine the centerpoint your cutting towards is about 2 cm under the onion, so the point towards you cut is 2cm into the cuttingboard. For visualisation: Pause this video at 42 seconds and imagine you pull the centerpoint of all the lines down, how do the lines change? Enjoy your new best onion cutting technique.

[@Thoroughly_Wet]

"this technique works for the amature home cooks, now grab your $200 Damascus steel knife..."

[@moomaniac2932]

All he said was grab a sharp knife relax

[@TheStunnerFTW]

@@moomaniac2932 no he didnt lol, you clearly weren’t paying attention.

[@moomaniac2932]

@@TheStunnerFTW rewatch the video

[@chadcolton528]

It’s more fun that way

[@simtonet]

​@@TheStunnerFTW he did.

[@jn651]

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!

[@carstarsarstenstesenn]

yeah I rarely cut my onions that small because they get cooked down so much in the food I make

[@mainmanmooky8820]

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

[@Janani_Kannan]

I was searching for this comment. I also saw his article on the mathematically precise way to chop an onion. Kenji is awesome!

[@Thawhid]

​@@Janani_KannanI was searching for you

[@zacharysherry2910]

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)

[@catedoge3206]

yes

[@regard321]

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.

[@Ethan-mc1cb]

This is also one great efficient method of mincing an onion. Thank you for sharing.

[@sovereignyx3158]

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.

[@kirkchurchil8216]

He’s a KZbinr, 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.

[@hobosorcerer]

@@kirkchurchil8216 Do you smell your own farts when they're fresh, or do you bottle them up for later?

[@kimjongun9311]

@@hobosorcerer He ages them for maximum quality

[@mikes554]

Man that was hard to read.

[@notapplicable2616]

@@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.

[@bretburns7105]

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?

[@devonstoomuch]

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.

[@ruanqinran]

What an amazing, resourceful, adaptable, intelligent, and adorable species!!! I love Roborovski hamsters and this video made me love and admire them even more! This video was so enjoyable to watch and I loved your animated illustrations and hamster footage 😍😍😍💕💖💞 I can't get over how smart they are and how complicated their burrows are 💖

[@Metazolid]

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.

[@GOTTHEDAWGINME]

What? The way he demonstrates is much quicker and only need to cut one way, bro you must be high😅

[@Romy---]

Did you even watch the video

[@An4lAvenger]

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.

[@treygc3291]

Did you pay attention to the video at all?

[@iansclone]

I've cooked professionally for over 16 years and I've already preferred the radial cut. Thanks for sharing.

[@abbeyroad9529]

Thank you!! just tried this and it was so quick I'll always volunteer to cut the onions from now on

[@bostonbladereviews919]

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

[@dcoy8666]

Best simple instructions I've seen on the subject. Thanks!

[@cherylpemberton1676]

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!

[@nikosfilipino]

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

[@soupdujour4086]

Yup, nothing awkward about making onion batonettes. This guy.

[@brianty6676]

The kanji or Hanzi on the blade says "heart" as in "mind" or "spirit" of such.

[@Sheffy55]

So, core?

[@brianty6676]

@@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.

[@brianty6676]

@@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! 👍

[@joeschmo622]

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!

[@1029zsz]

Over the years I have independently developed this exact method. Clearly, I AM a master chef 👨‍🍳 I’m coming for you Gordon

[@eslynbeck9197]

Cool tip!

[@Leftyotism]

Hell yeah!

[@geneh2972]

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.

[@sarahmuntean819]

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

[@jonathanharmeyer2255]

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.

[@tomturbuckle0076]

One of the few cooking "hacks" that actually works.

[@ogi22]

Nice to see someone using natural growth patterns to dice an onion. Doing it like this for years :)

[@miazuki916]

I've been a chef for 7 years so trust me when I tell you there's absolutely nothing faster or easier about this. The only thing that makes you faster is experience.

[@ThePeaceluffer]

tbh i just only make vertical cuts (and then dice), still easier and faster than trying to cut at angles.

[@AhamedKabeer-wn1jb]

Thank you.

[@penelopepalm]

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.

[@BuddWolf]

Beautiful blade👍🏻❤️

[@donalddluckerii3147]

This is the same number of steps as the classic method. Also, always make the horizontal cuts before the verticals. Way cleaner and safer

[@uweschroeder]

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.

[@stitched.by.jaiide]

I just learned that leaving the root (the part with the roots) on while cutting is what makes you not cry 😃

[@jasN86]

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.

[@justathought88]

This works well. I was taught to do this by a restaurant chef who was also teaching at my culinary school.

[@mariacargille1396]

This is genuinely helpful, thank you!

[@JoeJohnston-taskboy]

TRUTH. I've been processing onions this way for 15 years.

[@gudoivonleiden9254]

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.

[@snwcalic6453]

Me just chopping it into chunks and repeatedly chopping it to get it diced

[@notapplicable2616]

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.

[@malininatarajan7948]

Kids we're having onion soup 🍲 tonight His kids : again 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♂️

[@criordan5437]

Only way to dice an onion, i learned from a pro

[@qv013]

Very useful 👍 thank you

[@derniko1992]

was interested in this video until I noticed it's actually a knife commercial

[@ImBarryScottCSS]

I've tried every onion cut known to man and this is just not faster, constantly adjusting your angle to get the correct cuts is not quicker than making more overall cuts in straight lines. Show me a video of someone radial cutting an onion faster than 'the pros'.

[@jdubs604]

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.

[@ChefRichValentine]

As a Professional Chef, I prefer this method

[@muffassa6739]

Loved your video thanks for sharing 👍

[@lukes6868]

Thanks

[@wildwolf2807]

I've been cooking my whole life and I'm just now learning this at 49yrs old! 😭

[@brianburkart]

Been on team radial cut for almost 20 years, so much more efficient.

[@shiveringowl4928]

Any cutting method is good enough for a home cook..

[@gailhoover9263]

That's the way I've been doing it all along. No teacher needed!😅

[@cdfaulk]

Thank you!!!

[@brianazmy3156]

If I'm home, time isn't an issue. No need to rush

[@HomerSparkle]

Meanwhile ... a street vendor in India just chopped an entire bag of onions in the time it took you to watch this video.

[@chadcolton528]

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 🤷‍♂️

[@victorramosjr2239]

I wanna know what knife you're using

[@jakukuja7736]

Safety is not about what grit you make but about tucked fingers and comfortable speed

[@lucasm.3864]

As good as this is, did you have to wait until halfway through the short to get to the point?

[@jonlouis2582]

I’ll try it! I’ve been cutting onions the first way for years and years.

[@jacobforrester9827]

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.

[@fourgedmushrooms5958]

I use now. Great for making even bigger bits for curry and stir-fry

[@ragerDuane]

Don't see how that is quicker or safer. I just do vertical cuts but no horizontal cuts. What is the point of the horizontal cuts?

[@mdmuzammilmemon7187]

Learn sir thank you

[@fungdark8270]

Proper radial cut is better and more uniform than the school way. Trust

[@nicolasvasquez5352]

The other way is a bit finer but i see your point

[@kairu.kun.z]

Except the best way is to not aim it at the center but past it so each cut has the exact same size. Kenji Lopez explains it well

[@justinbeaver3]

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?”

[@tomepajmakoski9095]

Let me comment - it is harder this thing you are doing at the end, also I just do the vertical lines with no horizontals. You can practice to get that crazy thin line by following the lines on the onion and don't rush the strokes. It is easier and you are walking the walk

[@violin01]

Me watching this while chopping onions with my slap chop XD

[@mahdireza5695]

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!

[@martakudyba2898]

Best ever!

[@MoviesFreeGalore]

I mean both the grid and radial cuts are fine. Really unless you're doing a brunoise it should be serviceable. Consistency is more the complaint than most of anything else in a kitchen

[@Kbpolice23]

They never taught us horizontal cuts that a no go

[@Errcyco]

This IS how professionals cut. Although we claw our fingers more.. since they’re important and all.

[@iggyRS3]

This is exactly how I was taught in culinary school, I laugh at nerds with horizontal cuts on an already segmented item

[@CokefishR]

I laugh cause I got a food processor and can achieve a fine dice in 5 seconds.

[@gabriell4031]

Looks okay besides the fact of laying the pointer finger flat. Remember to use that claw grip to avoid going to a local ER boys and girls. Takes moments to learn and couple weeks to get into the habit.

[@kevinfields7500]

I just cut them in circles and chop them. It's fast and you get a good amount of diced onions.

[@Tecboy08]

Thank you!

[@mrldennis]

No one, and I mean NO ONE, cuts onions like this in restaurants. I’ve worked in kitchens for over 20 years, and if I saw another cook cutting onions like this I’d tell them to get that food network bullshit outta here!

[@armandobaretos2939]

Increíble el error que cometió el DIM despidiendo a Arias, por eso no progresa el FPC por la falta de respeto a los procesos

[@Felixson2004]

The heart knife ❤

[@zizo6892]

They taught me this method in my cooking seminar at uni 👌🏼

[@Ash_4949]

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.

[@AninoffsMagister]

Many professionals do it like this as well. Only culinary students make the horizontal cuts. The onion is segmented already they are completely useless and in fact are one of the most common ways people cut themselves while cooking. The horizontal cut is unnecessary and dangerous.

[@IkariNoi]

As someone who has shaved off finger tips and exposed knuckle bones I also recommend to keep your knives sharp

[@Jezzlemon]

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

[@gaz8577]

No need to turn it around for the 2nd lot of radial cuts, just angle your knife and lead more with the point of the blade. If you slice down the lines on the onion with your radial cuts, you will get more accurate dices also.

[@rem45acp]

Yeah I didn’t get the turn it around part. The full rainbow cut can be simply done left to right or right to left

[@CornPopsDood]

Have training, & work time as a chef. I’ve always done the second method except I’ve never really seen a need to pull the knife back to you. Double the cuts away from you if you need more pieces. If we can get people to understand not to cut the root I think that’d be a good starting point. Less teary eyes = less bloody onions.

[@ThéoLRDS]

Your knife has no soul. But thank you teaching me to cut onion. XD what a time to be alive

[@AbsalomArchives]

Okay but how do I do this with a regular, normal knife? I don't have a chef knife that cuts through things without having to press down hard

[@Burritosarebetterthantacos]

Ill stick with lateral. Way I was taught has worked for years. I judge people at work based on this method as the standard😂

[@llamaRambo]

Horizontal cuts first then vertical cut

[@sorushflummi411]

If You want to cry less from Onion Cutting,try removing first the innermost Part, the Part with the Root, because thatis the Part that can grow again and has the most defense mechanis sinside

[@MagpulSqwerl]

I actually learned this method at culinary school from my chef instructor