Few ingredients are as versatile in the kitchen as onion, whether you are going to consume it cooked or raw. To make stir-fries, stews or sauces, add flavor to a vegetable cream, complete a hamburger, dress a salad… The possibilities it offers are extremely varied.
It is not a difficult food to handle, if we leave aside the tears when cutting it. But what you may not have known is that the direction of the cut of the onion influences its flavor and texture. This is because depending on the cut, you may be cutting the fibers of the onion, thus modifying the result it will bring to your dishes.
Professional chef Kelly Scott has published a video on her profile on the social network TikTok (@kellyscleankitchen, with 1.1 million followers) a video where she shows the difference between cutting the onion horizontally or vertically with respect to its fibers.
“If you want better flavor and better texture in your cooked onions, the direction in which you cut them makes a big difference,” says the chef, revealing that the trick lies in paying attention to the direction of the onion fibers.
So, if you cut with the fibers vertically, you will get a sweeter flavor, with a softer texture. This happens “because you don’t have to bite through the fiber and break it,” explains the expert.
On the other hand, if you cut against the fibers, placing them horizontally, the result will be different. The flavor will be stronger and spicier, as well as with a crispier texture, regardless of how much you cook it.
On her TikTok channel, Kelly Scott also shared a video tutorial in which she teaches the best method to cut onions into brunoise. “When you cut an onion correctly, it is more uniform, there will be fewer tears and the cooking will be more consistent,” she promises.
The first thing he does is remove the end of the stem, but keeps the root end, saying that this way we will hold the onion more easily when cutting it. Then he cuts the onion in half and removes the outer layer, “because it is wax and doesn’t cook well,” he emphasizes.
With the fiber of the onion horizontal, make horizontal cuts from bottom to top, without reaching the root. Then proceed to cut vertically from top to bottom, to turn it over again and proceed to cut it horizontally from top to bottom, thus creating the perfect small squares, known as a brunoise.
