Minced Onion

Onion is undoubtedly one of the versatile vegetables that is widely used in most of the cuisines across the world. We all know that whole onions are usually not used in cooking, but, this vegetable has to be cut in different sizes as per the requirement of the particular recipe. In general, you can cut onion in three sizes. They are chopping, dicing and mincing. Mincing is the smallest cut and chopping results in ¼ inch pieces. Dicing falls in between, as far as the size of the pieces are concerned. While, some recipes require chopped onions, others may need diced or minced. Even slices and rings of onions are needed in some recipes.

What is Minced Onion

Most of us are familiar with the term mincing, which means cutting into very small pieces. Minced meat is one of the commonly used minced product. As mentioned above, onions can be chopped, diced or minced and mincing results in the smallest bits, as required in some recipes. As compared to chopped onion which appears as bigger chunks, mincing results in very small bits. You can mince onion with a sharp kitchen knife or use gadgets like grater, blender or food processor. If you find it difficult to mince onion with a knife, you can use any of these gadgets. However, onion minced with the help of these gadgets can be a little watery. So, if your recipe requires dry, minced onion, use a sharp knife for mincing.

Minced Onion Substitute

If you find it difficult to mince onion, you can use instant ones that are readily available in stores. It is actually the dried and dehydrated onion flakes, that can be used to replace onion that is freshly minced. Even though, these dry onion flakes can replace fresh minced onion successfully, the only difference is that the former lacks the pungency provided by the latter. While using this dried version, you have to take care of the correct proportions. If the recipe requires mincing of one small onion, you have to use ⅓ tablespoon of dried onion flakes. Some people soak this dried onion flakes in cold water, so that it gets the texture of freshly minced onion. But, this is not advisable, if the dish has a dry consistency.

It is always better to use freshly minced onion, rather than the dried and dehydrated version, so as to retain the original flavor of the dish. It is not difficult to mince onion with a sharp knife. All you have to do is peel the onion and make a series of horizontal and vertical cuts. Make sure to retain at least half-inch of the root part, so that the onion can be held together while mincing. Once you are done with the horizontal and vertical cuts, cut through the onion, so as to form small bits.