6 Knife Skills That Will Change Your Life in the Kitchen
If you’re an avid viewer of cooking shows, (guilty!) one question that may come to mind is: “How did they cut that so quickly???” Anthony Cotroneo, executive chef at The Palm Restaurant in Downtown Los Angeles, is here to teach you how. His weapon of choice is an 8-inch chef’s knife. Make sure it’s sharpened before putting it to use.
Holding the knife: Balance the knife on the index finger, at the point where the blade meets the handle. Pinch it with your thumb, and wrap the rest of your fingers around the handle with a relaxed grip. Practice moving the blade on the cutting board in a rocking motion — the blade should never really leave the surface.
Ingredients: Only slice veggies! Not your fingers!
Holding the vegetable: Make a claw with your hands and tuck in your finger tips so it won’t get in the blade’s way.
Julienne: Cut the vegetable into 1.5-2 inch thick pieces, and flatten one of the sides. Slice each piece into thin, rectangular-like chunks. Then stack them on top of each other and cut in the opposite direction to make those julienned strands.
Medium dice onion: Slice off the bottom of the onion to help it stand. Cut it vertically down the middle and then peel. With the longer side facing down, make 3 horizontal cuts in the onion that go ¾ of the way through. Then make the same slits in the opposite direction. When that’s done, slice the onion all the way through for those perfectly-sliced chunks.
Chiffonade leafy greens: stack a few leaves together and roll them up tightly. Then thinly slice the roll to get that shredded result.
Don’t try to take these tricks on at lightning speed right away. Use caution and give them some practice – it’s much easier to lose a good carrot than, um, a finger. Watch the video to get a closer look.
Read up on more knife tricks:
6 Basic Kitchen Skills We Wish We Knew Years Ago
