# Finely chopped onions. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435 "2017-08-12T12:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/1 "2017-08-12T12:23:39Z")
In a dish that requires finely chopped onions like steak tartare for example…it does make a diference if the onions are coarse and not finely chopped from the tasters point of view. In a cooked dish too for example curries or biryanis, finely chooped onions lend a better taste. Why is that? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/2 "2017-08-12T12:25:43Z")
It definitely can- if the onion is supposed to be a background note, biting into a chunk of onion (especially raw) can be jarring. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/3 "2017-08-12T13:00:21Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society, our home for questions related to the art of cooking. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/4 "2017-08-12T13:55:49Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > It definitely can- if the onion is supposed to be a background note, biting into a chunk of onion (especially raw) can be jarring. Nailed it in one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/5 "2017-08-12T14:04:42Z")
Please, it is not “finely chopped”. There is coarsely chopped, chopped, diced, minced, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/6 "2017-08-12T14:44:49Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Please, it is not “finely chopped”. > > There is coarsely chopped, chopped, diced, minced, etc. ‘Finely-chopped’ is between diced and minced. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/7 "2017-08-12T14:51:40Z")
In my experience, mostly making things like curries, the onion is supposed to turn into almost a mush that incorporates into the sauce. As said, there shouldn’t be recognizable onion pieces. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/8 "2017-08-12T15:50:59Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Finely-chopped’ is between diced and minced. No, finely diced is between diced and minced. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/9 "2017-08-12T16:54:51Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Finely-chopped’ is between diced and minced. Wouldn’t “finely chopped” be between chopped and diced? Or, perhaps it’s “coarsely diced”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/10 "2017-08-12T18:47:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wouldn’t “finely chopped” be between chopped and diced? Or, perhaps it’s “coarsely diced”. 😉 It could be argued that ‘diced’ equals ‘finely chopped’. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/11 "2017-08-12T22:06:13Z")
In a steak tartare you really don’t want ‘chunks’ of onion. The onion should be about the same texture as the minced steak. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/12 "2017-08-13T11:16:43Z")
Don’t forget grated onion, which I find very useful when I want no onion texture at all. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/13 "2017-08-13T14:26:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In my experience, mostly making things like curries, the onion is supposed to turn into almost a mush that incorporates into the sauce. As said, there shouldn’t be recognizable onion pieces. absolutely, the garlic, onion and ginger I use in my madras-style curry are blended to a mush using a stick-type hand blender. This is a primary reason for curries having that almost “granular” texture to the sauce. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finely-chopped-onions/793435/14 "2017-08-13T14:41:13Z")
Well, one thing I remember from the great book “The cookbook decoder”, which delves a lot into the chemistry of cooking, is that every time you chop an onion, it gives certain flavor molecules more of a chance to develop; they combine from components held apart in seperate cells, or something like that. The same thing happens with garlic, and with the tear-inducing chemicals many people notice when chopping onions.