Slicing Onions

Ethan Chlebowski not only cooks, but also explores the how and why behind the way we cook. In this video he's getting down to the nitty gritty about onions. Now, I love onions in just about everything besides cheesecake, but i haven't experimented much. I quarter onions for pot roast and stir fry, but dice them up for everything else. You don't always have to dice onions. Slicing them into somewhat sturdier pieces will give you more flavor options, and there's more than one way to do it. Chlebowski here compares slicing onions from pole to pole to slicing them orbitally, across their equator. It makes a difference in how many onion cells you disrupt, which affects how likely you are to cry while cutting them. Onions haven't made me cry in a long time, which may be because of my glasses, so that's a minor concern. But the texture and flavor of the onion slices, before or after cooking will differ. Which style you want to use will depend on how you want the finished dish to taste. (via Laughing Squid)