How to Dice an Onion

I’m baaaaaaaaaack! Well, sorta. Back in August while in the Dog Tag, Inc. Fellowship Program, I had a 5 week rotation in the kitchen of the Dog Tag Bakery learning from the Executive Pastry Chef Rebecca Clerget and her amazing staff. One afternoon, we had the privilege of learning basic knife skills from “Kitchen” Kyle Wronsky, head of the savory menu at Dog Tag Bakery.

Kyle taught us how to dice an onion in a way that I had never seen before and my mind was blown! His technique, which I am sure is only new to me, was not only simple, but it created a small, uniform dice of the onion.

I knew I had to turn it into a video tutorial so I could share this with all of you!

Enjoy!

How to Dice an Onion with “Kitchen” Kyle Wronsky

1. Prepare Your Work Surface: Place a wet cloth flat under your cutting board.  This will ensure that your board does not slide around while you are dicing the onion.
2. Sharpen and Hone Your Knife: Not only must you start with a sharp knife, but you must keep your knife sharp.  Hone your knife before & after each use to keep it sharp.
3. Trim the Gangly Bits: Trim the extra gangly bits off the root of the onion, making sure to keep the root in tact.
4. Cut the Top Flat: The opposite end from the root, slice off the top creating a flat surface to set the onion on.
5. Slice the Onion in half: Cutting through the root, slice the onion in half.
6. Make Horizontal Cuts:  Cutting 80% through the onion making sure not to penetrate the root, make horizontal slices about 1/4″ apart starting at the bottom and moving to the top.
7. Make Vertical Cuts: Again, cutting 80% through the onion making sure not to penetrate the root, turn the onion 45 degrees and make vertical slices about 1/4″ apart.  Start at one side and move to the other.
8. Make Vertical Cuts again:  This cut creates the dice.  Turn the onion 45 degrees again, and make vertical cuts 1/4″ apart creating an even dice of the onion. 
9. Repeat: Repeat this process with the other half of your onion!

Big THANK YOU goes to Rebecca of Dog Tag Bakery for allowing us to use her kitchen to shoot this video!  Bigger thanks to “Kitchen Kyle” for sharing his skills!

Learn more about Dog Tag, Inc and Dog Tag Bakery by clicking on their links!