Basic Knife Skills

[jazz music] (narrator)
Great knife skills are essential

to becoming a better cook.

It's really the basis of everything

that you're going to do in the kitchen.

This is truly a skill
you'll use every day

with just about everything you cook.

Okay, so first things first,

before you even start chopping,

you want to make sure
that your cutting board is secure.

A wobbly cutting board can result

in your knife slipping
and injuries happening.

So an easy fix
is to place a damp paper towel

underneath your cutting board.

You can also get a non-slip mat
to put under the cutting board,

or you can get a cutting board
with grips.

Next, it's important to make sure

you're gripping your knife properly.

If you put your finger
on top of the knife,

if you hold too far back on the handle,

if you have a dainty grip,

those are all incorrect ways.

You want to put
your finger and your thumb

at the very back of the knife
and wrap your fingers around it.

That way you have a firm grip,
and when you chop,

you're going to be in control
of what you're doing.

It might feel uncomfortable at first,

but with time,
it'll become second nature to you.

So one common mistake
when you're chopping

is to have all your fingers laid flat.

As you can see, my fingers
are in danger of getting cut off.

You actually want to form a claw

so that your fingers go in

and the knife will hit up

against your knuckles
as you're chopping.

So with this claw, your fingertips

are going to
be protected the whole time,

and it's actually going
to give you support as you're chopping.

Another common mistake
is the slicing motion.

If you just chop
really aggressively down like this,

you're not going to get a nice even cut.

You really want to do a rocking motion
when you cut,

going back and forth with the knife.

Think about it like a wave.

So now that you know how
to hold a knife properly,

we're going
to demonstrate a few common cuts

that you see in recipes.

We're going to start out with a dice.

So for an onion, which
is probably the most common thing

you're going to dice,
you want to cut it in half first,

right through the root end.

So the next step
is to peel the outer layers,

making sure that the root end
is still intact.

So with dicing, you want to make sure
that the flat side is down,

so it'll give you the most stability.

Making sure we have that claw grip,

make a few incisions horizontally
into the onion.

Then you're going to turn the onion
towards you

with the root side furthest away,

and, again with that claw,
make a few cuts vertically.

Turn the onion again
and use your knuckles as a guide,

and you're going
to start chopping along,

and just do that
same nice chopping wave motion down.

And then look, you've got an even dice.

This is an example of a large dice.

Here we've got a medium dice,

and over here we've got a small dice.

So in most recipes, when you just
see something that says "dice,"

it should be a medium size.

The next cut we're going
to show you is mincing.

The most common of these
is minced garlic.

You want to remove the root end,

and again, remember
we're always using that little claw.

The next step is to place the garlic
under the blade

and then smash down.

Then you're going
to peel the garlic.

The papery skin should fall right off.

And then, again use that claw,
use that same wave motion,

and you're just going
to repeat this a ton of times.

You can use your fingers
on the other side of the blade

to help stabilize you,
and then gently scrape it off.

With mincing, the finer the mince,

the more flavorful your dish
is going to be,

and it should really be tiny.

Anything bigger than this
would be a fine chop.

Similar to dicing, mincing
is a really common cut.

You can use it in so many preparations.

Dicing and mincing
are the most common cuts in recipes,

but here are a few other cuts
in case you want to get fancy.

Next up is chiffonade,

which is most commonly used with herbs.

We're going to show you with some basil.

So first,
you're going to stack basil leaves

in a pile, then you're going
to roll them up from the top

all the way down
in a really tight cigar shape,

so it looks like that, and then again,

not to sound redundant, but you're
going to use that same motion

and just do really, really thin slices.

A common mistake
when you're doing the chiffonade cut

is to not use enough force.

You want to make sure
to fully slice down, and if you

do it correctly, it should look
like these beautiful ribbons.

Chiffonade is a really pretty cut,

but it's really a vanity cut.

You'd typically
use it to garnish dishes.

The next cut we're going
to show you is julienne,

which is most commonly
used with carrots,

but you can do it
with all sorts of things.

So to julienne a carrot,
you want to cut it

into about two inch segments.

We're going
to just start with one for now.

To start,
you want to create a flat base.

Once you've cut that flat part off,

put the flat part down
on the cutting board

so you have more stability.

Then I want to make
one eighth inch equal slices down.

Next, stack the carrots up,
like building blocks.

You can also divide the carrot stacks
up into two parts,

so it's a little easier to manage.

And then, you're going to want to

make equal,
one eighth of an inch slices down,

and you should get these beautiful,
equally sized matchsticks.

Julienning is not a super common cut.

You'd primarily see it
in raw preparation,

like slaw
or something like a quick pickle.

It's really great because

you wouldn't want a huge bite
of pickled carrot,

but with a julienne or a matchstick,

it's just the right amount of tang.

Next up, we're going
to show you the oblique cut,

also called a roll cut,
which you will see why momentarily.

First,
you want to trim the end off diagonally.

So right now the diagonal
is facing towards you,

so you just want to rotate it

so that the diagonal
is going away from you,

and you're going to make a diagonal cut,

so you're kind of creating
this triangle shape.

Then you roll the carrot again and cut.

And then you're going to keep rolling.

One of the great things about this cut

is that this carrot isn't even
all the way through,

but with this cut,
all the pieces are going

to be about even size,

and they're going to cook evenly.

So a lot of even.

You can use it to roast, steam, saute.

It's incredibly versatile.

It's also a fun shape.

It's not used that often anymore,

but it's really pretty
and people should use it more.

Now that you know the proper way
to hold and use your knife,

you'll be better equipped
in the kitchen,

and practice makes perfect.

Start off slowly,
make sure you're using the proper form,

and the more you do this,
the easier it'll get,

the faster you'll be,
and you'll be a pro in no time.

Also, on a basic level,

you're not going
to chop your fingers off,

which I think we can all agree
is a great thing.

[giggling]

[clears throat]
But if you want to-- why can't I speak?

If you want to get fancy,
we're gonna-- okay.

But if you want to-- why?
What is wrong with me?

(speaker 1, singsong)
What if you want to get fancy?

(speaker 2) Talk to me.
(speaker 1) Nathan wants to get fancy.

(Nathan) Hey, so like,
I kind of want to get fancy.

[laughter]