Cutting Techniques

Improving your knife skills can be difficult – especially when there are so many different techniques to remember! We’ve put together a list of the essential and most common techniques that you’ll come across during your cooking experiences. Suss them out below!

1. Chop 

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When a recipe calls for a “rough” chop, it means that the individual pieces of the food don’t have to all be the same shape and/ or size.  To use this technique, keep the tip of your blade on the far side of the piece of food you’re cutting — you chop by moving your hand and wrist up and down

2. Mince

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Mincing is very similar to chopping – the difference being that minced foods are chopped very finely so they can literally dissolve when cooking.

3. Chiffonade

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Chiffonade is a knife technique usually reserved for cutting herbs and greens. They are cut into long, thin strips and then used as a garnish. Use the knife in a rocking motion to shave the greens. Avoid chopping up and down, as this will bruise and possibly discolor the leaves.

4. Dice

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Dicing is the opposite of chopping as you want to cut the food items into even-sized cubes.

5. Julienne

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Similar to a dice cut, a julienne is a smaller, much finer cut. To julienne, cut food into rectangular planks or strips – these should resemble match sticks.

6. Bias Cut

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An alternative to a simple round cut.  Essentially, you slice at an angle to provide more surface area which also creates a pretty cut.