The variation in the world of fruits and veggies daunted me forever.
One could be weirdly rounded, one could be a stick, and one could be like a giant football!
These complex shapes, textures, and toughness make it insanely tricky to cut fruits and vegetables.
That’s why I recommend investing some time in learning how to prep these elements. From chopping to dicing to slicing to mincing — knowing how to cut fruits and vegetables also takes your knifing skills to the next level.
We’ll dedicate this discussion to that. In addition to the basics, we’ll look at specific ingredients that may be tricky.
The Fundamentals
Before We jump into chopping and dicing veggies, we need to get some things in order. These are what I call the “Fundamentals.”
As it’s said, “If you do the prep right, the actual job is buttery smooth.” Before chopping and dicing begin, let’s see what you need to do.
A Sharp Knife Is a Blessing
I’d be rich if I had a dollar every time someone cut themselves or ruined a vegetable with a dull knife.
The more control and accuracy an ingredient requires, the more it benefits from a sharp blade. Having a dull edge increases the risks of slipping and accidentally cutting yourself.
Secondly, it requires more pressure from the user, which automatically reduces accuracy. It also makes making thin slices or dice difficult—something we do regularly with fruits and veggies.
Getting a Stable Surface
The first concern is the chopping board. The results will likely disappoint if the board keeps wobbling or moving during usage. That gets worse with fruits and veggies, as they need to be more consistent and trickier to cut.
Try using boards with rubber feet, as they can prevent movement. Otherwise, even putting a little towel underneath can help with the stability. The board’s material also affects the experience, so consider that.
Creating A Flat End
Their weird shapes and sizes make fruits and veggies tricky to process. Consequently, they keep moving and slipping around when you try to cut them.
Let’s say you’re cutting a tomato. Instead of making thin slices from the get-go, try cutting them into halves. That way, you’ll get two flat surfaces, which increases the stability and makes cutting easier. This is especially helpful for beginners.
Mastering the Grips
For most cutting styles, you’ll require your non-dominant hand to play a crucial role — guiding the knife and keeping it stable. The trick is to form a knuckle for that, known as the claw grip.
Having the knuckle sit flat against the knife ensures that it stays within the boundary and doesn’t cut more than intended. It’s handy for complex, intricate cuts. For smaller ingredients, try tucking your fingers in further for better control.
The varying sizes of fruits and vegetables require a versatile guiding hand. That’s what makes it such a necessity. Forming a knuckle instead of having your fingers open near the blade is a massive safety bonus.
The grip with your dominant hand is paramount as well. Using a pinch grip allows for more control and efficiency over the blade.
This style requires the user to hold the beginning of the blade’s spine (right after the handle) with the index finger and the thumb. The rest of the fingers should grab the handle in the usual manner.
Holding the blade closer to the center allows for better control, which is especially beneficial when you want accuracy.
Learning How to Cut Fruits and Vegetables!
Let’s now look at how to cut some of the common ingredients we come across.
Onions
The dreaded onions — there’s the peel and that pungent smell — we’ll try to deal with both. First off, slice the onion from the root to the tip.
After that, carefully cut the tip’s end and leave the root as is. That way, it won’t lose its shape. You should now be able to peel the skin with ease.
Now, place the sliced halves with the flat sides on the chopping board and make slices vertically. Avoid cutting the root end to keep things in place and cut easily.
Afterward, create vertical slices with your size preferences and cut the root off once you’re done. If you don’t want diced onions like this, just skip the vertical cuts and remove the root.
Make sure you’ve got a sharp knife. Otherwise, the pungent smell of the onion will be even worse as you squeeze its liquid.
Carrots
Another common veggie, carrots, are trickier to cut than you’d think. It can even be a safety hazard due to its rounded shape.
Start by peeling the carrots. You could use a peeler, a knife — whatever your heart desires.
The most straightforward cut would be baton cuts. Divide the carrot into a few large pieces and cut them into tall rectangular shapes. If you want to dice them, make the pieces a bit thicker than baton cuts.
Things are different with juliennes or matchstick cuts. Since they have long slices, cutting the carrot into small pieces to create a flat surface isn’t always possible.
In that case, create wide but thin slices. From there, you’ll be able to make matchstick slices without having to keep the carrot whole.
Carrots are tougher than most veggies, so try using the knife’s heel end for them. It’s more rigid, and you’ll be able to put more force.
If you want proper rectangular shapes, cut the rounded portions out. It’s not necessary for juliennes, but dice and baton cuts benefit from a uniform look.
Bell Peppers
The initial steps remain the same whether you julienne or dice bell peppers.
Rest the pepper on its side. Next, get rid of the bottom and the top portion along with the stem. That gives us our flat surface.
Hold the pepper upright and create a slice to open it up. Once you have that opening, keep making slices around the core until you remove it altogether.
There will still be some pith left, so put the pepper on the chopping board and gently remove any residue. If you want to make juliennes or matchsticks, the next step is to create thin slices.
For dice, repeat the process above, and create thicker slices of the flesh. Cut those slices vertically again to get the dice.
However, the process slightly differs if you want rings. You’ll have to run the blade along the insides of the pepper to get the core to come off. Now you have a hollow wall, so make thin slices with a sharp knife, and the rest is easy.
Herbs
Herbs don’t first come to mind when you say vegetables, but they’re a crucial subset. They’re tricky to hold, and improperly cutting them results in mushy pieces of leaves.
First, remove the stalks and such redundancies, especially for basil or sage. The stems and stalks are usually okay for parsley or cilantro, so that’s up to preference.
For simple slicing, get the ingredients together and bunch them up. Use your knuckle with the fingers tucked in for guiding, then begin cutting.
Utilize the knife’s weight to get efficient results. Like a chef’s knife, a rounded belly can also help cut in a rocking motion.
Mincing requires a similar preparation. Hold the knife’s handle with your dominant hand and the tip’s end with the other.
The cutting motion here will emulate a lever, and you’ll be able to put a significant amount of force this way. Mincing in this manner results in fine cuts.
Chiffonade is another option for comparatively larger herbs. Take the ingredients, stack them up against each other, and roll them up like you would a cigar. Start making thin slices from there.
Pomegranates
Pomegranates are one of the most unusual fruits, and many find themselves scratching their heads.
A common way of cutting it open is slicing the fruit up from the middle. But there’s a risk — you may damage many of the arils, and there’s a chance of stained clothes. That’s why I prefer doing it less aggressively.
First, cut off the crown and the bottom end of the pomegranate. That gives us our flat surface. Don’t go too deep while cutting; use something like a paring knife and make shallow cuts.
If you look closely, multiple ridges are along the pomegranate’s body. We’ll be making slices along these lines. It doesn’t have to be very accurate or pinpointed — anywhere works.
Five to six slices around the fruit should suffice. Remember, shallow cuts are key.
Once you have the cuts, try prying the fruit open. Unless the cuts you’ve made are too shallow, applying a little force with your hands should do the trick.
All that’s left is pulling the seeds or arils away from the skin. Doing it over a water bowl can help prevent the arils from jumping around. Furthermore, the membranes automatically float in the water, while the seeds won’t.
Broccoli or Cauliflower
Cauliflowers and broccolis possess unique shapes. But that also has a benefit — you can cut anywhere you like.
First, cut the vegetable’s base or stem and lay it flat on the surface. There are a few ways of advancing here. Some divide it into four quarters, while others leave it in halves.
Once it’s split into halves, start making V-shaped cuts along the base to eliminate the core. You should be able to separate the florets easily after that. If some of them are still not coming off, use the knife.
The core is entirely edible, so you can determine how much of it you want to leave.
You can also cut the veggie into steaks. To do that, leave a significant portion of the core intact to keep things in place. Then, start making slices across it according to the thickness you want.
Use a sharp knife, or you’ll have a lot of crumbs near the end because there’s no core to hold the florets.
Watermelons
Handling large fruits like watermelons can prove to be annoying.
Wedges are the easiest to achieve, assuming you have the right knife. A large chef’s knife should do. Some even use serrated knives, which is a decent option as well.
Start by cutting the watermelon into two halves. Now, place each half on the cutting board and split them into two. Take those pieces and start cutting wedges out of them. The sweet spot for the wedges’ thickness would be around an inch or two.
However, many of us prefer cubes when it comes to watermelons. Start by cutting the rind of the watermelon from all sides so that the red flesh comes out. The rind is pretty tasteless, so ensure you’ve got rid of it all.
Once you have just the flesh, start making slices across it. You could also cut off the rounded areas for perfect cubes, but that’s optional.
Watermelon balls are also another option. All you have to do is cut it in half and start making scoops!
Pineapples
As you’ve probably noticed, the first step is to get rid of the crown and the bottom portion. Create a dense enough cut to get a flat base — but not too much that you’ll lose the flesh.
Place the pineapple on the chopping board, and create an opening by making a slice vertically. Slowly start cutting the rind from that opening as you keep turning it with your non-dominant hand.
At this point, the fruit will still have residue from the spikes. Take a smaller knife (a paring knife works well) and start making shallow cuts to get rid of them. A small blade allows for better control, making the cuts more precise.
Then comes the rigid fibrous core of the pineapple. Cut the fruit into four sections around it, and the core should be exposed.
Mushrooms
Once you’ve cut it into sections, creating wedges or dice becomes pretty straightforward.
Although technically a fungus, mushrooms are quite common in many cuisines. The cutting largely depends on your mushroom type, and we’ll discuss the popular options here.
First, there are the button mushrooms. You’ll have to determine whether you want the stems. Some stems are too woody, while others are edible and tasty.
Let’s say we’re cutting the stem off. Then we’re left with a fairly rounded veggie. A typical cut would be splitting the mushroom into four quarters, which leaves comparatively thicker chunks.
You can also create thin slices, which is great if you want that crispness after sauteing. On the other hand, fine dices or minces are suitable for recipes like mushroom meatloaf.
Oyster mushrooms aren’t rounded like white mushrooms, so the approach differs. While many assume that you need to peel them, that’s not the case. Plus, you’d be wasting a lot of time doing that.
The bottom portion of these mushrooms is too woody to eat, so I suggest trimming it. The most common style would be cutting it lengthwise. Just get rid of the stem and bottom portion and make thin vertical cuts.
My Last Two Cents
What makes fruits and veggies so intriguing is what makes them tricky to prepare — their variety. Learning how to cut fruits and vegetables takes some time, primarily whenever you work on something new.
Nevertheless, mastering these basic techniques should make that journey smooth.
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