The wet paper tip to prevent crying when dicing onions: does it really work?
The web provides us a lot of curiosities every day, and often also helps us find a solution to some problem we have run into. But have you ever thought about how to avoid crying while cutting up onions? True, there are people for whom this isn't really a problem, and others who are much more sensitive and who find themselves getting red eyes and with tears rolling down their cheeks in just a few seconds after slicing into an onion.
One of these people in the second category, shared her daily problem with onions in a TikTok video that went viral thanks to the response of one of her followers, who shared a tip not yet known by many: the wet paper solution.
In a response video, in fact, Sally explains that the reason why we cry while cutting up onions is due to the fact that the acid contained in this vegetable - which is released when we cut them - is attracted to water and the nearest source of water it typically finds is in the eyes (or the nose) of the cutter.
That's why putting some wet kitchen paper next to the cutting board where the onions are cut up will prevent the acid from reaching your eyes.
More specifically, diced / sliced onions create a chemical compound called sin-propanethial-S-oxide. When this vapour reaches the eyes, it reacts with the water from the tear ducts, causing irritation.
Several people on TikTok have put this tip to the test: for some it worked great, preventing the unwanted crying, even after hours of them cutting up onions of all types. Others, on the other hand, found that, at most, it can help reduce the annoying eye irritation.
But there is also another tip posted on TikTok that claims to be able to avoid the problem: since the acid is mainly found in the root of the onion, leaving that part intact while cutting the rest ensures that the acid is not released. This is less practical, of course, but there are those who gave this a try and it seems that, while cutting the non-rooted section of the onion, there were no problems. However, when these sections were separated from the rest of the onion, the vapour was released and the tearing began.
Do these tips work for you?
