Cooks dice more onions than anything else. Learn the onion and you have learned most of what knife work asks.
Key idea
Two motions: the rocking cut keeps the tip on the board and rocks the heel up and down (for herbs and mincing); the push cut slides the blade forward and down through the food (for slicing and dicing). The onion dice: halve through the root, peel, keep the root on; make lengthwise cuts toward the root (not through it), one or two horizontal cuts, then slice across. The root holds it together until the last cut.
- Halve the onion from top to root. Trim the top, peel, leave the root end on.
- Lay a half flat. Make cuts from near the root to the top, spaced as wide as the dice you want.
- For a fine dice, make one or two cuts parallel to the board, toward the root.
- Slice across the first cuts; dice falls away. Use the root end for stock.
Why it works
Mincing garlic: crush the clove with the flat of the knife to loosen the peel, slice it thin, then rock the knife back and forth across the pile, gathering it with the blade. A pinch of salt helps grind it to a paste.
Worked example: Spacing the cuts
You want a ¼ inch dice from an onion half 3 inches wide. About how many lengthwise cuts?
- $3 \div \tfrac14 = 12$ strips, so about 11 cuts.
Answer: About 11 to 12 cuts.
Common mistake
Cutting off the root first. Without it the layers slide apart and the dice turns into strips.
Practice at home
- Dice two onions to ¼ inch. Spread the dice on a plate and measure ten pieces with a ruler. Write how many were within an ⅛ inch of the target.
- Mince four cloves of garlic. Then mince a bunch of parsley, gathering and rocking until it is fine and dry, not a wet paste.
In Meal Prep
- Knife cuts: a quick guide to the cuts at home