A comment about my knife technique changed how I prep onions

Had a sous chef at this spot in Portland tell me I was 'fighting the onion' with my cuts. Showed me to let the knife do the work with a gentle saw motion instead of forcing it straight down. Been using that tip for 2 months now and my dice is way more consistent. Anyone else get a simple pointer that totally shifted their prep game?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardharris1mo ago

Sharp knives are the real game changer nobody talks about. A dull blade makes you push so hard the onion turns into a mushy mess. Once you keep that edge honed and sharpened every shift, the knife glides right through. No sawing needed, just a clean drop cut. Saves way more time than learning some fancy technique.

riverwhite1mo ago

Knife fighting an onion is a great way to look like a total noob in the middle of a busy line. My old trick was to just push down so hard the onion would skid across the board, almost took a finger off once. Took me way too long to figure out a nice rocking motion makes everything way more even, now my dice is less 'potato chunks' and more 'actual cubes.'