One of the most essential techniques that any self-respecting chap, should know when in the kitchen…is how to wield a blade.
It really is up there with knowing how to turn on your oven or even how to turn on your microwave. Simple tasks, but tasks that are vital to the continuation of cooking.
Once you have practiced these and become a master cutter, you can even consider moving onto becoming a black belt with some super amazing, super sharp Japanese Kitchen Knife types.
So without further contemplation about our culinary skills, let us take a stroll over to the quick rundown of the 4 essential knife techniques that will help you to keep your food looking great and your fingers still attached…
How To Chop
Chopping is the art of…chopping!
However it is a bit more complicated than that and is really the main technique we think of when we think about using a knife.
To do this correctly, you should first use a flat, stable surface for your food to rest on such as a decent chopping board. Hold your ingredients by making your hand into a kind of claw shape by curling your fingers inward and tucking your knuckles underneath. These will help you to keep the tips of your fingers attached for the foreseeable future!
Press you kitchen knife straight down with an even stroke, shifting the knife forwards slightly as you go along.
Don’t let these fancy words put you off.
This is basically the technique of using a kitchen knife to slice an item of food into long slender pieces, usually used for carrots and celery etc.
The whole reason behind the Julienne cut is to get beautifully even strips that cook very quickly or to use raw on top of salads and so on.
You need a super sharp knife and slice the carrot into compact lengths; take each bit and slice in 50 % lengthways. Trim each carrot piece in order that the edges are straight and look nice & even.
How To Chiffonade
No recipe is complete without a difficult word to pronounce and leafy greens.
Literally meaning “ribbons” in French; you have no worry to be intimidated by this cut.
Essentially, you just stack up the leaves you want to cut, roll them into a tight little ball and then cut them perpendicular to the roll i.e. lengthways.
How To Slice
Slicing. Love that word, very nice to say and also a lovely technique to use!
Using the tip of the blade, make sure it is in constant contact with the chopping board & pull the knife back somewhat so that the blade cuts into the food.
Continue by pushing downwards and forwards, using the complete length of your blade to slice through your food.
Really not that hard, right?
Conclusion
OK, so there you have 4 Essential Knife Techniques that you can use to get yourself started.
They really aren’t that difficult, you just need to practice a bit and become more proficient.
