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Dicing an Onion, the Mathematically Optimal Way

Dicing an Onion, the Mathematically Optimal Way

2 comments

·August 13, 2025
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lalaithion

A couple nits, since we're already going above and beyond the normal amount of nitpicking:

1. In Kenji's article on how to cut an onion, he shows a picture after doing the horizontal cuts; he did five of them, not just one or two. (https://www.seriouseats.com/knife-skills-how-to-slice-and-di...)

2. I'm pretty sure I do more than 10 vertical cuts; there's no easy image in the link above and the video cuts before he does all the vertical cuts, but I think he's doing at least 20.

3. In real life, an onion starts flexing and bending when you cut. With a very sharp knife, I'm sure you do get a bunch of the small pieces which throw off the standard deviation for the "more cuts" method, but a bunch of the small pieces won't actually be cut as a layer of the onion is pushed out of the way instead of a tiny piece cut off.

comrade1234

Oh my god it just doesn't matter that much. If the onion is being used raw then you notice the size of the bits but anything cooked who cares! And even raw, part of the charm of home-cooked is getting the irregular pieces, vs industrial restaurant cooking where everything is the same.