Start by cutting the onion in half
Cut off the end that does not have the roots.
Remove the outside layer using your hands.
Place the onion on a cutting board and make horizontal cuts but don't cut through the onion.
The number of cuts will depend on how big the onion is and how small you want to dice it. I usually make 2 -3 cuts.
Stop each cut right before the end of the onion, so the onion does not fall apart.
Now make more cuts on the onion like in the pictures. It's like cutting the latitude lines of a globe.
To make it easier insert the tip of the knife first, then bring the knife down to make the cut.
Curve your fingers to hold the onion and start making cuts on the edge of the onion.
The curved fingers are important to protect the tips and also it makes a nice claw that will keep the onion in place as you cut.
Stop before you get to the rootsy end. (I think rootsy is a word that doesn't exist, but you got the idea, right?)
Stand the little bit of onion on the board.
Chop around it.
Now more than ever it's important to keep your fingers curved in the claw position. However if you curve too much you can't get to the onion, so find the best possible way to do it.
And this is it. You have a nicely chopped onion.
BUT if you want the pieces to be even smaller, keep chopping the onion until you are happy with the bits' size.
Use rocking movements with the knife.
DON'T worry about how fast you can chop an onion. Worry about using the correct technique. With practice you will get much faster.
