How To Chop Every Vegetable Method Mastery

How To Chop
Every Vegetable
| Method Mastery |

EPICURIOUS

with

Amy Chalin
Chef, Author

Piyatida Tongpang
6121606096

Small Vegetables

- Peanut

We can open peanut by a crack down to open
the end and break it, then we got little peanuts
inside.

- Brussels Sprouts

The first step to prepare brussels
sprouts is pluck off them from their
tree, second is taken off the end of
them and cut them in half. If they're so
small just trim off the bottom and
roast them whole. We can eat it raw
with sliced by a mandolin. That can be
dressed raw, delicious with olive oil,
sea salt, a bit of lemon.
Another way is to cut the bottom off,
take off the sort of wilted outer leaves
and peel each leaf if we like as well or they can be tossed in a salad.

- Peas

We don't need a knife to shell a pea, just pop
the end of it and run our thumb along the edge
then reveal all the peas.

- Snap Pea

We can eat the whole of snap pea by steam,
saute or we could make them fancy by cutting
it at an angle that we like.

- Wakame

Wakame is a sea vegetable that we can
purchase dried. We have to soak it and drain it.
First, cut it into manageable size, then slice
down each side of the stem and take the
middle of it off to use it in stocks.
Second, cut the leaves across then it's ready
to be marinated, added to miso soup.

- Garlic

Amy said she liked to prepare garlic by
breaking apart all of the different cloves.
Then tap it with a knife and peel it. We can
start cutting it by taking off the end and thinly
slice it. The other way is to dice it, cut it across
in half, then sliced and mince it.

- Shallot

The shallot is a member of the onion family.
It can be used in place of onions. First, cut off
the root end, then score down the full length
of the shallot with a knife and peel off the
outer layer. If we would like to use it for
something like sauteing, just dice it.
It's nice and easy, a little bit more manageable
than a big onion.

- Watercress

We can pluck off the leaves by hands, all of the
waterceress is eatable. If we would like to cook
it, then chop it up and saute it. It can be put in
broth type soups or ramens. It will cook like
spinach in an instant once it's exposed to heat.

- Green Beans

We could take off the stem end. We don't
cut off the other end because it's pretty.
If we would like to saute, cut it on a nice angle
or cut it in bigger pieces. If we've got an odd
mount left and not enough to make a roasted
dish we can add it to a soup or stew and cut it
short, add it when we're cooking the celery in a soup.

- Asparagus

First, wash it carefully and break off the tough
end. If we would like to saute it, cut it on an
angle and cook it. We can roast it whole or we
can also cut them on a mandolin. We can also
eat it raw.

- Fava Bean

First, wash it carefully and break off the tough
end. If we would like to saute it, cut it on an
angle and cook it. We can roast it whole or we
can also cut them on a mandolin. We can eat
it raw.

- Scallion

The scallion is also a member of the onion
family, but has a milder flavor than a raw
onion. They're delicious on absolutely
everything. We have to take off the root end
and cut it thinly at an angle. All of the scallion
can be used. We can keep it in the fridge in a
jar and sprinkle over salads, grains, soups,
it makes everything taste better.

- Celery

We can prepare celery by break off
each stem that we need.
The inner ones are more tender
and the leaves can be used as well.
They're actually good in stock.
If we would like to add it to a salad,
cut the bottom off on an angle and either cut it thinly or shave it
with a mandolin. If we cook a stew we would take off the bottom,
take off the top, save all the top because they're realy good for
stock then cut it lengthways. We can chop it shortly for a soup or
take off the bottom, cut the larger piece in half and cut it in shape
this way will give more texture and a different look in a stew.

Medium Vegetables

- Spinach

Spinach is a very delicate green. It can be eaten
raw or cooked. It takes very little to cook it.
If we pour boiling water over it, we'll cook it.
If we would saute it, keep their stems because
they’re nice, but we could cut them off and
cut them in half before use them, then roughly
chop or leave whole. If we would like to roughly
chop to stir into a soup or a stew at the end of cooking or a risotto
then roughly chopped is good or torn.

- Kombu

Kombu is a sea vegetable. We can find a much
stiffer kombu in Asian markets that we can roll
and thinly slice. They can be cut in squares,
triangles or long, thin strips. If there's no stem
end to cut off so just cut it into even pieces
and stack them. We could actually try rolling it
to be thin slices or cut it into cubes by stacking again.

- Okra

If the okra is small, we can leave them whole and cut off the end
where it’s dry then cook this whole with some juice.
They'll cook down, become succulent and
delicious. If we're slicing, it will come across
the sort of viscus juice that is inside and
it comes out when cooking. We can saute
onions, garlic, ginger, whatever flavours we like,
then add okra and saute it. It's also used in gumbo.
It has a pretty mild flavor alone, but it lends itself well to spices.

- Nopales

Nopales is a cactus with very spiky little bits on it
that we should be careful handling. If we hold it
at the bottom, it’s a bit safer, but we can wear
kitchen gloves or hold it with a towel and take
off the spiky bits or use a peeler. We should cut
it down the middle and chop it across.
It's used in Mexican cooking. 'It can be grilled,
sated, but it needs to be cooked for quite a while
to get the sort of viscus juice out again.

- Onion

There are different types of onion such as
cipolini onion, Spanish onion and white onion.
We should taking off the root first and running
the knife down the length longways and chop it
thinly. If we would roast it, we could leave it
in bigger chunks or even whole actually with
the skin on. We can put it in the oven for a long time.
The diced onion can use to saute for start a soup, stew or any dish.

- Broccoli Rabe

Broccoli Rabe is like a delicate broccoli. We've
got these little florets and delicious Rosaceae
leaves, so it's the same member as broccoli,
cauliflower. It is delicious when sauteing and
roasted. We can roast it whole on the pan with
the leaves and make it crispy. We can also grill
this part. The leaves shrivel up a little bit

grilling and roasting, but it's still really tasty. If we would steam it
just cut off the ends because they're a little bit woody and tough,
then cut in a couple inch pieces and steam it whole.

- Endive Endives can be green and purple. It is delicious
in a salad. We wouldn’t want to cook it or
doing it any other way. We can use it dipping
utensil as a credit, but to get the leaves off
we just cut the stem end and they'll start
falling off. We should recut it when it isn't
falling off. If we would like to slice it thinly
for a salad another way we could take the end
off, cut it in half and cut it at an angle.

- Radicchio

Radicchio is delicious both cooked and raw.
We can find it commonly raw in salads where
we just peel off the leaves and break them up
by hand. The only reason we would cut,
it is when cooking it. It can saute with other
greens, it's a delicious bitter flavor. It’s similar to
a red cabbage, take out the core and cut crossways into any shape
we like, it's a good way to braise or saute. They're many types of
radicchio, Castelfranco, a speckledy and Treviso.

- Bok Choy

Bok choy is a delicious, juicy green vegetable,
mild flavoured. It's not strong like a kale or
collard green. We would prepare it by taking off
the bottom and the leaves will fall off.
The leaves cook a lot faster than the stem so
separate them by taking off the leaves and cut
the stem a little bit thinner than the leaves.
We can actually leave the leaves whole, but if

they're big then cut them in half. We can cut the stem at an angle
a bit thinner, If we sauteing, add this first, stir the leaves through
and they're done when they're wilted and a deep green color.

- Cabbage

Cabbage is also a member of the cruciferous
family with broccoli and cauliflower. The first
step is take off the tougher leave off.
Second, cut off the end to make it flat and cut
it in half. If we would roast it, we should cut it
in half again, take out the core and then cut it in 2-3 inch pieces.
The other way to cut it is to thinly slice and shave it with a
mandolin, pickle it by put salt and vinegar on it, crush it up with
hands and it turns a beautiful crimson color.

- Chicory
Chicory is a delicious, slightly bitter, but tasty
vegetable that can be used in salad. We usually
find it in the fall and it’s good combined with
radicchio, some watercress, pear, sliced cheese.
We can break off the leaves and they’re all
eatable. The ones in the center are lighter
green and they’re more tender. We can cut it up and cook it.
It’s delicious in a soup, like a bean soup. It’s a kind of mildly
flavour, pungent but not very strong, especially when cook it.

- Mustard Greens

Mustard greens are very mustarady.
They’re extremely strong when eaten
raw. If we would eat it raw, we should
look for very tender, younger leaves.

First way to prepare it, is tear it off the stem and tear the leaves
into bite-size pieces. It’s good with some shaved pear, apple or
other root vegetables shaved thinly. We can treat it the same way
as we would kale or collard greens, cut off the bottom and slice it
straight across the leaf. It’s not really fussy because we’re going
to saute and keep cooking until it’s wilted down.

- Collard Greens

Collard greens are dark leafy green
vegetables. We can steam, saute or
marinade them and eat them raw, but
only when they’re super fresh.
The way to prepare them is to cut off their tough stems about a
couple of inches or cut them into inch pieces for steam. We can
take out the stem but it’s actually a nutritious part. If we would
like to take them off and juice them or cut them up, use them in
soup we can tear it down with hands. The way to keep the stem is
slice them. If we would like to do a chiffonade it’s actually better
to stack them up, roll them and chop them very short for
marinaded, lightly salted or added to a soup at the end.

- Swiss Chard

This is a rainbow chard. It can be cooked in a
variety of ways, similar to spinach and kale and
collards. We can do a few things, eat the stems
and cook them, just cutting straight across.
We can cut the leaf off the stem, then fold them
a few times and thinly slice it or dice it a little bit square. It can be
steamed the whole leaf or take the stem out and cut them up to
sauteing. We should saute the stem that we cut first and add the
leaves last when the stem tender, stats to get a bit soft.

- Fennel

This is a juicy, delicious vegetable with an anise
kind of flavor. If we would like to eat it raw in a
salad, then cut off the stems and save them for
a stock or broth. We’ll start to prepare by taking
off the tougher sort of the root end, cut it in half
lengthways, face it down then cut it half again and take out the
core. Next, shave it lengthways on a mandolin, save some of the
fronds to garnish or stir through, plucked off and put on the salad.

- Leek

Leeks are part of the onion family so
we can use them instead of onion.
The way to cut a leek is cut off the end,
trim off the top part. Then slit it down
the center of one of the leaves, but not all the way through.
Next, running the water through the leaves. Finally, cut it in half,
leave it in large chunks and slowly simmer leeks with a bit of olive
oil then put a lid on it. That’ll really steams and falls apart to be a
delicious French dish or we can cut it on an angle. If we would like
to eat or raw just use the tender, slice the light green part thinly,
it won’t too strong onion flavor. Then we could separate it and use
it like we would a scallion.

- Iceberg Lettuce

Iceberg lettuce is 99% water that makes it
very juicy and crisp. It doesn’t have a lot of flavor
because it’s just about all water. We’ll start by
cutting it in half, cut it in half again, thinly sliced it
then wash only the outside because it doesn't dirty inside.

- Kale

This is lacinato kale, it usually the most reliable and
not too tough. We can pinch off the leaves from the
end of the stem and run our hand down. This kale can
be sliced thinly and used raw or we can stir this into a
nice white bean soup so it wilts at the end of cooking.
We shouldn’t cook this ahead, it tastes better fresh.
If we would like to roasting use the sliced one, taking off the stems
and breaking it into bite-size pieces. The purple kale can be a little
tough, we should cook it first. If we would like to leave the stems
in we can cut them down the middle and then cut across. If we
would like to use the stem just cut them straight across and use
them when we’re cooking carrots and celery for a soup.

- Butternut squash

It’s in season in fall and we can do a lot of
different things with it. One of the best things
to do with squash besides making soup is
to roast too. We can leave the skin on but
mostly we’ll take it off. We should put a towel down because when
we start peeling it, it bleeds and gets very sticky. We can peel it on
the full length, then peel the bottom and the top. The best way is
to cut the neck off, then cut the base in half and take out the
seeds by scraping it. If we would like to roasting it, we can do any
shape we like.

- Kabocha squash

This is one of the densest and sweetest
tasting squashes we can buy. Their freshness
is so good in soups, stews or steaming
because it’s so moist and creamy.
Their skin can be really tough. We can use an ax to cut it by put it
on a towel before cutting it to make sure that it won’t leave. We
don’t have to take the seeds out actually, but if we would like just
use a spoon scoop it out. Then cut it up, leave the skin on if we’ll
steaming or roasting.

Technically Fruits

- Tomatillo

They are a tomato family member
and they have a husk on the outside
that we need to peel off before use
them.

We don’t need a knife because the best way to prepare them is to
boil them, blanched them until they burst or put them under a grill
until the skins char a little bit. The inside of it looks like a tomato
and not great raw. They’re also very sticky once we take off the
husk, so don’t take it off until we plan on using them. It’s like a
green tomato, raw, still better cooked through.

- Tomatoes

They are the best thing when they’re in season
and that season is pretty short. The way to cut
them is take out the stem end and cut them
into wedges. We could use just olive oil and
salt, then the taste so amazing.

- Zucchini

Zucchini is a member of the squash
family and it’s during summer season.
We could cut them into chunks and
roast them. We can roll, cut them and
then steam it. We can slice them in long, thin strips and grill it.
The other way to prepare a zucchini is to peel it and create ribbons
then we can make a delicious pine nut dressing with lemon, toss it
over this really nice, different textured way to eat it.

- Cucumbers

Cucumbers are very versatile.
They are absolutely delicious just sliced
as they come. We can cut them on a
mandolin thinly and use that as a pickle.
It can be cut into large slices and use as
a crudite, thinly sliced as a sandwich or
cut into round.

- Chayote

Chayote can call as chokos in Australia.
They are a squash family member similar to
a zucchini, mild tasting. The skin is eatable.
We should take out the seeds though.
We used to eat it steamed and we would cut it across and we could
also do that to roast. It’s like a mix of cucumber and the zucchini
because it’s crunchy like cucumber, but very mild like a zucchini.

- Peppers

They are a large family of vegetables and they can be
used in so many different ways. The way to prepare
a bell pepper, cut it in half lengthways, take out the
seeds and the membrane. It’s a little bit bitter.
We can do it with our fingers and we can decide to
slice it to be eaten raw as a snack, as a crudite or larger pieces that
we like to roast, then put on a sandwich or a salad. The best way to
cut Jalapeno pepper is to go around the seeds, the seeds are really
spicy. The flesh maybe spicy or not. We have to test it by biting it
to see if it’s burning our tongue. We can slice it up in long strips
and dice it, then we can use that in a salsa.

- Bitter Melon

It is a member of the watermelon family.
It can be eaten in a variety of ways. We don’t
need to peel it, but we need to take out the
seeds though. First, cut it longways and next
take out the seeds by scraping with a spoon.
If we would like to saute it, then cut it at
an angle or cut it a bit thicker when we steam.
It’s better when we eat it raw.

- Eggplant

Eggplants need to be cooked cooked properly first.
If we don’t cook them enough, they’re hard.
They should be soft, succulent and really melt in
our mouths. We can cut them as we like, mixing them
with salt and set aside for an hour to drain to get out
a bitter taste then rinsing them really well before prepare them.
We need a lot of oil to roast or fry them because they are spongy
and absorbent. We could dlice it across for a sandwish.
After we’ve salted it and drained it, then pan fry them.
If we would like to roast it just cut it into sort of wedge shapes.

Roots

- Radish

Radishes are delicious eaten raw, however we can
roast them or saute them. We can shave them by
plucking off the end, leave at least some of the
greens when you’re saving them because
we have a handle to use and we can shave them.
If we would like to cut them into little wedges
and steam them.

- Turmeric Turmeric is full of nutritional benefits and
there’s so many reasons to add it to our diet.
It comes dried as a powder, but fresh is the
way to go. We have to peel it, then cut it
lengthways, stack it up like ginger then thinly
slice and dice. If we would like to cook it,
we should dicing it finely.

- Ginger

Ginger is delicious and very medicinal.
It’s fantastic if we have a cold or a sore
throat. The best way to prepare it is to
break off a manageable piece and peel it.
The other way is to peel it with a spoon
because we just take off what we need
with the skin. We can slice it, grate it or cut it into little tiny
minced pieces. If we would like to add more ginger flavor at the
end of cooking just squeeze in the juice.

- Beetroot

There are a lot of different things we can do
with a beetroot. We can boil them whole which
is a fantastic way to marinade them. We can
put it in a pot of boiling water without washing
it and then once it’s cooked through to the
center, we just peel off the skin under running water. Next, we can
chop that up, marinade it with oil and vinegar. We can also eat
them raw but they need to be peeled and we can shave them nice
and thin. The other way uses a box grater and grate it, then using
that as a salad.

- Carrot

They’re good when they’re freshly dug
and we shouldn’t do anything to them,
just eat them straight because they taste
so sweet and delicious. The nicest way to
cook carrot is to roast them. The way to prepare a carrot is cut it
down the middle, place it on a roasting pan face down because
we’ll get a nice golden edge on it. The other thing to do with a
carrot is shave it with a peeler and create ribbons which is a nice
way to add it to a salad rather than grating it. We can take off the
outer skin or scrub it. Then we could use the inner core in a soup.
The other part of the carrot we can chop it up for our base of soup.

- Parsnip

The best way to cook parsnip is to peel it
because the skin is a little bitter and
turning it into a pureed vegetable soup
or roast. First is peel it, then do like
a roll, cut for roasting or cut it into
long strips and roast it.

- Turnip

Turnip can be used in all the ways we do with
a parsnip, a carrot, even a potato.
Although it has a little bit more of a pungent
flavor and a lot of people don’t love it.
We need to peel it, then take off the end,
cut it in half and then cut it in small pieces.

- Potato

They’re probably mostly used for
mashing or roasting and stuffing.
We have also sweet potatoes,
colored little baby potatoes, purple inside, pink skinned but white
inside. We usually peel a potato. If we’re going to mash it boil
them first or roast a sweet potato, whole and scoop out the flesh.
The way to prepare potato is cut it and dice it. After cutting it add
rosemary or other herbs. The sweet potato color inside is orange.

- Taro

Taro root is a starchy root vegetable.
The inside of taro is pale white with
specs of purple all around the inner
root. It needs to be peeled and thinly
shaved before it’s fried into chips.

It can be made into fritters. It can be cooked with coconut milk
and mashed. We can use a peeler to peel it, but it gets stuck in the
peeler because it’s so fibrous. Next is cutting as little of the flesh
as possible, chop it up and boil it then mash it.

- Rutabaga

Rutabagas which are called swedes in England
are an unusual vegetable. They sort of get
stronger and a bit spicier tasting if that makes
any sense or sort of more pungent as they as.
They’re often mislabeled as turnips or golden

turnips, don’t be fooled. They are a starchy root vegetable so they
can be made into a pureed vegetable soup. We can cut them like
a big dice if we’re cooking them in a soup, add them to sauteed
onion and garlic. Then add any flavors we like, add the rutabaga,
water, cook until tender and blend.

- Daikon

Daikon is a member of the radish family,
but it’s a lot milder. We can quick-pickle
daikon by peeling it first, cut it in half and
shave it on a mandolin or thinly slice it.
That’ll make a delicious pickle with vinegar
and salt. We could slice it into long, thin strips and use it to dip
into a hummus dip or any kind of dip. It’s really delicious and juicy.

- Jicama

We would choose one that’s very firm and
unblemished if possible. If we would like to eat
it raw, we have to peel it first, then cut it in
half and slices it thinly. If we would like to add
it in a salad or a slaw, just stack it and slice it.

- Lotus Root

Lotus root grows in water. It can be dried and
purchased that way. We can soak it and use it
in stews. We should peel the outside, cut it
thinly and steam it or simmer it. Then cut it
a bit thicker, put it in a pan, salt and season it
a little bit, little bit of water and cook it until it’s soft.

Edible Flowers

- Artichoke

Artichokes are quite special because a lot of
preparation is involved in getting this gnarly
vegetable down into an edible thing.
One way that’s very quick and easy is to cut off the end, then
steam it until it’s tender. If we wanna go further we have to break
off a lot of leaves down to the more tender leaves. We should peel
the stem off, then cut it in half and take out the choke. We have to
take out all the fluffy inside, then quarter this and roast it, braise
it big pieces or thinly slice it and saute it. If we get right down to
the heart we can shave it and eat it raw.

- Cauliflower

Cauliflower is part of the broccoli cruciferous
family. The best way to prepare it is to cut off
the leaves. Then we have to cut off each
floret too. We can slowly spin it around and
cut them off. If we turn it into cauliflower
rice break it up into smaller florets or cut it,
then put it in a food processor, grind it until it’s light and fluffy.

- Romanesco

Romanesco is a variety of cauliflower
and has basically the same flavor.
It’s much harder to cut into florets
because they join quite close together
at the top. We can do the same thing
as we do with cauliflower, take off
the leaves and the stem. Then cut it into wedges. It’s not green
all the way through inside. We could cut it in half twice and roast
pieces like that.

- Broccoli

The basic way to prepare broccoli is
cutting off the florets, slowly spin it
around when cutting them all off.
Then we’ll get to the center they’re
a bit smaller. We can cut each piece
through the center in whatever size
we like. The way to use the stem is
cut off the skin that so hard to do with a peeler. We need to take
off the outside because it’s very tough then we’ll see it’s kind of
woody and fibrous. The inside is delicious because it’s very tender
and it can be steamed or sauteeed with cutting it in size we like.
We could actually eat it raw, it’s really delicious.