PSA: I was cutting onions wrong for 20 years until last Tuesday when my friend laughed at me

I always cut the root end off first and then just hacked away. My eyes would be streaming within 30 seconds. I thought that was just normal onion behavior. Then my buddy stopped me mid-chop and showed me leaving the root intact and slicing from the other end. No tears at all, like magic. I felt like such an idiot, honestly. Has anyone else had a basic kitchen skill totally flip on them one day?

2 comments

2 Comments

white.grant10d ago

Wait, is this really that big of a deal? I've been cutting onions the same way my whole life and yeah, my eyes water a little but it's not like it's some major life crisis. Leaving the root on, cutting from the other end, I've heard that trick before and tried it. Still got teary eyes. Maybe I cut too slow or something but it didn't feel like magic to me. Plus, half the time I'm in a hurry and just want the dang onion chopped up and in the pan, I'm not gonna stand there fussing about which end to cut first. It's a vegetable, not a science experiment.

davis.gavin9d ago

My buddy tried that root trick once and still ended up crying so hard his wife thought he got bad news.