Hey guys, what's up! It's Alex.
So today, we are going to call into question
a very basic skill in the kitchen.
Something that has been established for years,
and yet here we are.
Chopping an onion is a task no
sane cook would ever question.
Oh, what have I done again.
Basically, I want to see if I can improve my onion cutting skills.
Like, can I chop faster?
Can I chop with less cuts?
Can I just be more efficient when I chop an onion?
I think there is only one way to find out.
So, we've got loads of things to do.
First, we need to review our options.
Then, we need to see where I stand.
This is a bit frightening, this one.
And then, how I can improve myself.
And then, just do it!
Anyway, let's just go and get the resources we need.
Yeah!
Let the crying begin.
Right.
So we've got plenty onions for the training.
We can fail miserably quite a few times.
And now I suggest that we start from the very, very core.
From the very root, if I can say, of the onion chopping technique.
Let's start by the book, and by the book, I mean literally.
So it's called "La Cuisine de Référence".
It's a French book about all the very, very classic techniques, and even though
it's not my bedside reading,
I probably read it like once a year.
You can find in there the very essential French technique
So let's look for the onion.
So basically, that method is the one most people know.
I mean in the western world, at least.
First, you want to trim off the root.
Not too much, but, you know, just the dirt.
Split the onion in half through the root and through the head of the onion.
Make a few vertical cuts lengthwise,
then a few horizontal cuts lengthwise, and then
widthwise, you do vertical cuts.
So at the end you get small pieces of onion, usually rectangles or like square shaped.
They can be bigger or smaller; it all depends on how many cuts you did vertically and horizontally.
And in this case, it will cook much faster, but you won't have any texture.
I always do medium because...
I'm hopeless.
I'm going to perform a speed test.
And that's basically how you're supposed to chop an onion in restaurants or at home,
and now let's turn ourselves to the future a.k.a. YouTube.
My idea is to check if I can find any other option out there.
So, I'm a simple guy. Let's take the first one.
Whaaaa?
I want to learn this technique.
Let's do it street style.
So I'm not saying I'm gonna be anything close to the speed of that guy,
but at least I can try to improve my technique.
The first thing I noticed in the video is that that guy is not using a fancy knife.
He's just using a long knife.
Let me show you why.
He uses the tip to prevent the onion from being cut all the way through, and that's...
genius.
Right. So apparently, it's not that easy to master, but let's not give up.
One, two, three, four, five.
Ninety degree turn.
One, two, three, four, five.
Then sideways.
One, two, three, four, five.
And then the rest.
Flat, ninety degree turn, flat.
This is exciting. Learning a new thing is always exciting.
Two, three, four, five.
And that, my friend, is my best first stage so far.
The onion is still holding up, yet I've been doing a crisscross motion
Hang in there, Alex. Hang in there, Alex!
I kinda get the technique now, but the speed is a bit more complicated.
This is my last onion. I'm gonna perform a speed test, like the first one.
I just want to keep all my knuckles and my fingers,
but still I'm gonna try to be as fast as I can.
And surprisingly this technique, although it seems quite slow,
just went 14 seconds faster. That's huge on 30 seconds.
That's like an improvement of uh...
Uh....
I suck at this...
Advantages and drawbacks.
Street style feels a bit more dangerous than the first one.
More rough, bits are a bit bigger.
But if you're doing a sauce or if you're doing a stew, it doesn't matter.
So guys, if you want to learn that street food technique,
I would suggest you first perfect the French classic technique.
Learn how to control the knife, how to get your full speed, control how big you want the pieces to be.
I think it's a nice start.
Then, move on to the street food style.
If you have any ideas of things I could cook with, like,
five to ten kilos of chopped onions, please let me know in the comments,
that would be super precious.
And last, people, click subscribe because I make new videos every week, and it's always about food;
It can be a vlog, like the one I did about a French market a week ago,
or it can be, you know, an experiment like this one, learning new skills,
also, series like the winemaking series or the bread series.
Stay curious, stay hungry. Bye bye. Salut.