This Simple TikTok Hack Claims to Stop You from Crying While Chopping Onions — So Does It Work?
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Save your tears! One TikTok user is showing you how to cut onions without crying.
Last month @cerealeatingghost shared a simple hack she uses so that she doesn't tear up while slicing onions. She was responding to another user, @xxbaileyelizabethxx, who in her original post was visibly crying while chopping onions to make lentil soup.
In the stitched clip, which has been viewed almost 500,000 times on the social platform, the woman explains that the acid in onions is attracted to a water source, which many times, happens to be our tear ducts.
Her solution? Place a damp paper towel next to the onions to act as the source instead.
"Let me share my onion wisdom, so you don't have to cry anymore," @cerealeatingghost says in her video. "... All you have to do is get a damp paper towel, fold it up, keep it on your cutting board. That acid will be drawn to the wet paper towel and not your tear ducts."
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More specifically, onions create a chemical compound called syn-Propanethial S-oxide when sliced. When the gas floats up to your eyes, reacting with the water in your tear ducts, it causes an irritation in the eyes.
So does the trick actually work? The TikTok duo behind @partyshirt, which tests out hacks to see if they are "fact or cap" (meaning real or fake), said it is a winner.
"We've been cutting for hours and not a single tear," said Nick Iavarone. "Life hack of the century," added Xavier Di Petta.
A PEOPLE staffer who tears up quite easily when slicing onions also put it to the test. She said the process definitely helped the irritation but she still shed a few tears. Anything that keeps us from crying a full-on river seems like a win.
TikTok has been a go-to source for many foodies looking to discover various hacks since the beginning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this year, another food trend taking the app by storm was all about putting together delicious, griddled wraps at home using whatever you have in your fridge — without making a big mess in the rolling process.
One viral video featured a wrap made with za'atar, shredded cheese, fresh spinach and homemade chili sauce, while another, created by food blogger Jamie Milne (@everything_delish) was pizza-style with tomato sauce, mushrooms and two helpings of shredded cheddar cheese.
Another trend that took off at the beginning of the pandemic was whipped coffee — or "TikTok coffee," as it has been dubbed since it mostly went viral on that platform.
The drink is known as Dalgona in South Korea, named after a popular street candy. A Greek frappe and Indian cappuccino are also made similarly.
