Mijingiri (みじん切り) is a Japanese cutting technique for finely mincing vegetables. You can follow my easy, step-by-step tutorial with photos to learn this important knife skill that‘s used so often in Japanese home cooking.
Here, I demonstrate how to mince an onion.
Step 1: Make horizontal slices
Cut an onion in half lengthwise. Lay the cut onion flat side down on the cutting board. With the knife edge toward the root end, make ⅛-inch horizontal slices to within ½ inch of the root end, keeping the root intact.
Do you wonder why we slice horizontally first? Making neat horizontal slices takes more effort. That’s why it’s easier to do so while the onion doesn’t have vertical slices.
Step 2: Make vertical slices
With the knife tip pointing toward the root end, make ⅛-inch vertical slices to within ½ inch of the root end, again keeping the root intact.
Step 3: Make perpendicular cuts
Make perpendicular cuts down through the vertical slices you made. If you need to chop the onion pieces finer, run your knife through them using a rocking motion. Hold down the tip of the knife; otherwise, the onions will go flying around the room.