14 Sept 2010

#1 How to slice an onion

Let us start with one of the most practically useful pearls of wisdom handed to me by my mother. This simple technique allows you to slice an onion into small bits, quickly, easily and with minimal crying. I use it every time I need to fry onion to start a dish.
1.       Use a sharp knife. With the skin still on, cut the onion in half through the root. It’s important that the half root remains intact as this holds the onion together.
2.       Place one half of the onion face down and cut of the end (be careful not to cut the root by accident). At this point you should easily be able to remove the skin.
3.       Slice several incisions lengthways. Do not cut through the root, or your onion will fall to pieces.
4.       Now cut across the onion, instantly creating small pieces to pop into your frying pan. Easy!