How to chop an onion finely

A finely chopped onion is an ingredient in so many recipes

My knife skills have been honed over my years of working as a professional chef. Being able to chop finely is, in my opinion, a very important skill to have in the kitchen. When I make a sauce containing onion – whether it’s a gravy or a classic onion sauce – I want that onion to be finely chopped.

Golden rules:

1. Make sure your knife is sharp – a blunt knife is actually more dangerous than a sharp one. As you can see, I like using a large knife rather than a small one; I find large knives much easier to handle.
   
2. Treat your knife with respect for yourself and those around you. This is a tool that needs to be handled responsibly.
   
3. Chop carefully, keeping an eye on what you’re doing. It’s important to look at what you’re doing and focus on it.
   

Chopping an onion finely:

1. Peel the onion and cut it into quarters. Pull off a segment of the onion, place it on the chopping board and hold it firmly in place with one hand.
   
2. First chop the onion segment lengthways, then turn the onion slices round and chop them across into very little pieces.
   
3. When you watch the video you’ll see that I use the hand holding the onion to guide my knife, making sure that my thumb is tucked in behind your fingers so that it is protected.
   
4. When I chop, I keep the tip of the blade on the board and rock the rest of the blade up and down, rather than lifting the whole blade up off the surface.
   
5. Don’t rush when you chop – that’s the way accidents happen. Chop your onion patiently a segment at a time into very small pieces. That’s the way to chop an onion finely.