How to Chop and Mince
Chopping food means using a chef’s knife to cut it into pieces. These pieces don’t have to be perfectly homogeneous, but the recipe will often tell you if you need to chop something fine, coarse, or somewhere in between. Another word for chopping something very fine is chop. You will often be asked to chop or chop vegetables or herbs.
To chop or mince, hold the handle of the knife in a comfortable manner and cut the food into thin slices. Then cut the strips crosswise (the thickness you want), shake the blade with your hand and squeeze the top. Your best bet is to hold the handle in one hand and place your other hand on top of the blade.
chopping onions
Want to practice chopping? Many recipes call for chopped onions, so it’s a good place to start. Follow this step:
1. Cut the stem, then cut the onion in half lengthwise through the swollen middle and peel the leafy skin.
Leave the root end intact. While cutting an onion into strips, the tip of the healthy root holds half of the onion together as you slice and chop it.
2. Lay each half cut side down, and using the tip of a knife directly in front of the root tip, cut the onion lengthwise in parallel pieces, leaving ⁄ tobf1/4 inch between slices.
3. Make several horizontal cuts of the required thickness, parallel to the board.
4. Cut the onions crosswise to get thick pieces as desired.
5. Finally, cut off the root end and discard.
No matter how you slice it, onions release intense flavor and juice, which is why many recipes call for chopped or chopped onions. However, the fumes it emits when sliced raw can be irritating to the eyes. To reduce the tearing of chopped onions, use a sharp knife to reduce chopping time, and rinse the onions often with cold water as you go.
Better yet, have someone else cut it.
Garlic chop
Chopping garlic means simply chopping it fine.
First, a quick glossary of terms: In your grocery store, you find garlic bulbs. (Buy garlic that is firm and firm, not mushy.) The onion is covered with a papery skin. When you peel it, you will discover that the onion contains multiple cloves with a thin peel. If you have difficulty removing individual cloves, take a butter knife and pry it out.
Then, here’s what you do:
1. Peel the cloves.
To help you remove the peel easily, place the cloves on a cutting board and place a chef’s knife on top of them with the blade pointing away from you. Hold the handle of the knife in one hand and use your other hand to strike the side of the blade over the clove. Doing so should break the shell and allow you to scrape it off easily.
2. Hold the garlic clove on a cutting board, with the knuckles of your index finger and middle finger on the side of the knife blade.
Keep your fingertips folded inward to prevent injuring yourself.
3. Keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board and pump the handle up and down while sliding the cloves under the blade.
You may have seen this technique used by the professionals at cooking shows.
4. Slowly move your knuckles toward the other end of the garlic as you chop it.
Using fresh garlic is really worth the extra two minutes of preparation time because the flavor is better than the one that came pre-cut in a jar. This ingredient acts sparingly, so it does not hurt to keep a bowl in the refrigerator.