Today on The Culinary Exchange, we’re back to the basics – of cutting, that is. Why? Because knowing how to properly cut your ingredients is an important part of improving your skills in the kitchen. And also, it’ll impress your significant other because being handy in the kitchen is always attractive – on both sexes.
Let’s talk about the julienne cut, which is a common way to slice vegetables for certain recipes like julienne carrots or Thai sesame noodles with julienne cucumbers. A julienne cut means cutting things into long thin strips, usually shorter than two inches long. Now, there are some people that forgo the artistry of chopping vegetables in the julienne style in lieu of using a mandolin, which can make julienne cuts quickly and easily. But it’s always good to know how to create a julienne cut if you don’t have a mandolin readily available – or if you just want to experience the satisfaction of a perfectly executed julienne cut.
How to Julienne Cut
We’re going to pretend that we’re performing a julienne cut on a cucumber for ease of reference. To start, you’ll want to chop off the ends so that they’re flat. Note: if you’re cutting a carrot, this is the moment when you’ll want to use a vegetable peeler to slice off the outer skin of the vegetable.
Cut the cucumber in half – or if it’s a longer cucumber, cut it into two-inch sections. Next, slice off the rounded edges so that you’re left with a rectangular piece of vegetable.
While the cucumber is lying on one side, make 1/8 inch slices down the length of it. Take the flat slices and stack them so that you can repeat the same cut down the length to create thin strips that look like a matchstick. Repeat the same process with the rest of your two-inch cucumber slices.
A julienne cut can work beautifully for stir fry vegetables and all types of other dishes. Even better, you can use the julienne cut for almost any type of vegetable – from potatoes to cucumbers to peppers.
Do you have any favorite recipe that calls for julienne cut vegetables? If so, share them with us in the comments!
