1． Cut

Cutting is the most fundamental knife technique for cutting dishes. Cutting is some method in which the blade of the knife is perpendicular to the raw material and the knife is fed in a rhythmic manner to evenly cut the raw material. In the cutting of dishes, according to the nature of the raw materials and cooking requirements, it can be divided into six methods: straight cutting, push cutting, pull cutting, sawing, guillotine cutting, and rolling cutting.

(l) Straight cutting: Generally, the left hand holds the raw material firmly and the right hand operates. When cutting, the knife hangs downward, neither pushing outward nor pulling inward, and cuts straight down one knife at a time. Requirements for straight cutting: first, the left and right hands must cooperate rhythmically; second, the middle finger joint of the left hand should move backward against the blade of the knife. When moving, the distance should be maintained at the same distance. Do not move faster or slower, wider or narrower, so that the cut material The shape should be uniform and neat; third, when operating with the right hand, use wrist strength, and the knife should be dropped vertically, not in or out; fourth, when operating with the right hand, the left hand should hold the raw material firmly. The straight knife cutting method is used, and dry and brittle raw materials are generally used, such as: green bamboo shoots, fresh lotus roots, radish, cucumber, cabbage, potatoes, etc.

(2) Push cutting The knife method of push cutting is that the knife is perpendicular to the raw material. When cutting, the knife is pushed from back to front. The focus is on the rear of the knife. Push everything to the bottom and no longer pull back. Push cutting is mainly used for raw materials with loose texture and easy to break or fall apart when cut with a straight knife, such as barbecued pork, cooked eggs, etc.

(3) Pulling and cutting: When applying the knife, the knife is perpendicular to the raw material, and the knife is pulled from front to back when cutting. In fact, it is a virtual push and a real pull, mainly pulling, with the focus on the front of the knife. Pulling and cutting is suitable for raw materials with strong toughness, such as Qianzhang, kelp, fresh meat, etc. Pushing and pulling both use wrist strength, and the movements are roughly the same. The difference is that pushing cuts from back to front, and pulling cuts from front to back. When you first learn, only after you have mastered the straight knife cutting method can you use the two knife methods of push cutting and pull cutting. It is best to learn from the push cut first and then practice the pull cut.

(4) Sawing is also called push-pull cutting. The sawing knife method is a combination of push cutting and pulling knife methods. Sawing is a knife method that is more difficult to master. The sawing knife method is that the knife is perpendicular to the raw material. When cutting, push the knife forward first, and then pull it back. In this way, pushing and pulling cuts the raw material downward like a saw. Requirements when sawing raw materials: first, the knife must run slowly, with small and even force; second, the blade surface must be straight when pushing and pulling back and forth, not inward or outward; third, hold the raw material firmly with your left hand when cutting, and cannot Move it, otherwise the size and thickness will be uneven; fourth, use wrist strength and the middle finger of your left hand to control the shape and thickness of the raw materials. The sawing knife method is generally used to cut thick, boneless and tough raw materials or soft textured raw materials into thin slices, such as mutton-shabu-shabu slices.

(5) There are two methods of guillotine cutting: one is to hold the handle of the knife with the right hand, and the front end of the back of the knife with the left hand, and press and cut with both hands balanced; the other is to hold the handle of the knife with the right hand , hold the front end of the knife back with your left hand, and shake it vigorously with your left and right hands alternately. The requirements of the guillotine cutting method are: first, the knife should be aimed at the part to be cut, so that the raw material cannot move, and the knife must be accurate; second, regardless of pressure cutting or rocking cutting, it must be quick and agile, and the force must be even. The guillotine cutting method is generally used to process raw materials and clinker with cartilage, small bones or small, round and smooth shapes, such as chicken, duck, fish, crab, peanuts, etc.

(6) Rolling cutting: The rolling cutting method is to hold the raw material firmly with your left hand, hold the knife in your right hand and cut continuously, and roll the raw material once with each cut. Cut into slices or chunks according to the rolling posture and speed of the raw materials. Generally speaking, if you roll it fast and cut it slowly, you will get chunks; if you roll it slowly and cut it fast, you will get slices. This rolling cutting method can cut out various blocks and pieces, such as hob blocks, water chestnut blocks, comb blocks, etc. The requirements of the hob cutting method are: the left hand should control the slope of rolling the raw materials at a moderate level, and the right hand should follow the rolling of the raw materials and control the cutting at a certain slope to keep the size, thickness, etc. uniform. The hob cutting method is mostly used for round or oval brittle vegetable raw materials, such as radish, green bamboo shoots, cucumber, wild rice, etc.

(7) Things that should be paid attention to when cutting dishes

First, the raw materials should be cut into uniform thickness and length. Otherwise, the raw and cooked raw materials will be inconsistent.

Second, all raw materials that have been processed by knife work, whether silk, strips, cubes, blocks, slices, or sections, must not be connected to the knife.

Third, different cutting methods should be used according to the texture of the raw materials, the texture of the raw materials, and the horizontal and vertical grains. According to different cooking requirements, such as meat raw materials, meat with few tendons, tenderness, and fragile meat should be cut along the grains. Those with many tendons and old texture should be cut against the grain, while those with average texture should be cut diagonally.

Fourth, pay attention to the coordination of the shape of the main and auxiliary materials and the rational use of raw materials. Generally, the auxiliary material follows the main material, that is: silk to silk, piece to piece, and the shape of the auxiliary material is slightly smaller than the main material. When using materials, you need to plan carefully, use them according to the amount, and try to use large materials in a big way, use small materials in a small way, use fine materials in detail, and use coarse materials skillfully.

2. Pian

Pian is also called split. The knife skills of slices are also used to process boneless tough materials, soft materials, or animal and plant materials that have been cooked until soft. Just use a knife to slice the raw materials into thin slices. When applying a knife, you generally lay the blade flat and work upright (or diagonally). Due to the different properties of the raw materials, the methods are also different. There are generally push blades, pull blades and inclined blades. Six techniques including reverse blade, saw blade and shake blade.

(1) To push the blade, push the raw material firmly with your left hand, hold the knife in your right hand, and keep the blade flat so that the blade and the surface of the dish are approximately parallel. The knife enters from the right side of the raw material and moves to the left. Push steadily, the front end of the knife is close to the surface of the pier, and the back part of the knife is slightly raised. Use the height of the knife to control the required thickness. Press the raw material firmly with your left hand, but do not press too hard. When cutting the raw material, make sure it does not move. As the knife slices in, lift your left fingers slightly and hold the raw material with your palm. The push blade is mostly used to cook soft or brittle raw materials, such as cooked bamboo shoots, magnolia slices, dried tofu, aspic, etc.

(2) Pulling the blade When pulling the blade, the blade should also be placed flat. First, insert the rear part of the knife into the raw material, then pull the knife back and lower the blade. The requirements for pulling the blade are basically the same as pushing the blade, except that the blade moves in the opposite direction after entering the raw material. The razor blade is mostly used for tough raw materials, such as chicken fillets, fish fillets, shrimp fillets, meat slices, etc.

(3) Inclined blade, also known as slope blade and trowel blade. Bevel blades are often used for ingredients with a crispy texture. The knife technique is to hold the left end of the raw material firmly with your left hand, hold the knife in your right hand, tilt the back of the knife, and turn the blade to the left at a slightly inclined angle. Cut into the raw material, and move the surface of the raw material close to your left hand to the lower left. Since the blade is cut into the raw material at an oblique angle, the area of ??the resulting pieces and pieces is larger than the cross-section of the raw material and is oblique. Such as sea cucumber slices, chicken slices, fish fillets, cooked tripe slices, kidney slices, etc., this knife method can be used. The requirements for the oblique blade are: place the raw material firmly on the pier so that it does not move, hold the pressed part firmly with your left hand, coordinate rhythmically with the movement of your right hand, and slice it one by one. To control the thickness, size and slope of the blade, you mainly rely on your eyesight to observe the movements of both hands and the position of the knife. At the same time, the right hand must firmly control the movement direction of the knife.

(4) The reverse blade method is roughly the same as the oblique blade. The difference is that the back of the reverse blade is facing inward (toward the body) and the blade is facing outward. The front half of the blade is used to work to make the blade It is obliquely shaped like Caitunzi. After the blade enters the raw material, it moves from the inside out. The reverse blade is generally suitable for brittle and slippery raw materials. The left hand is required to hold down the raw materials steadily, and the upper joint of the left middle finger is pressed against the blade of the knife. The knife of the right hand is pressed against the joint of the left middle finger to feed the raw materials. Every movement of the left hand backward must be at the same distance to make its shape consistent in thickness.

(5) Saw blade The saw blade is a comprehensive push-pull knife skill. When applying the knife, push the blade first and then pull the blade so that the knife is working every time it goes back and forth. It is a knife technique that specializes in cutting lean meat (no or few tendons) and bone-like raw materials. For example, chicken shreds and pork shreds are cut into large thin slices using a saw blade and then cut into shreds.

(6) Shake the blade. The technique of shaking the blade is to lay the blade flat, hold the raw material firmly with your left hand, hold the knife in your right hand, and move from right to left after inserting the raw material. The blade should vibrate up and down during exercise, and it should vibrate evenly. The blade shaker generally beautifies the shape of the raw materials by hand and is suitable for soft raw materials. This kind of knife can slice the raw materials into water-wave-like sheets, and then cut them straight to form beautiful saw teeth, such as preserved egg slices, dried tofu shreds, etc.

3. Chop

Chop, also known as chopping, is generally used for boneless raw materials. This method is a method of chopping the raw materials into velvet, puree or mince. Depending on the quantity of raw materials, decide whether to chop with double knives or with a single knife. For large quantities, use double knives, also called Pai Cho (cutting); for small quantities, use a single knife. The requirements for chopping (cutting) are: holding the knife with both hands, keep a certain distance, not too close or too far. The distance between the front ends of the two knives can be slightly closer, and the distance between the blade roots can be slightly further. Chopping means using the strength of the wrist to chop (chop) repeatedly from left to right, and then from right to left again. Use both hands alternately during operation, and perform the ups and downs in a rhythmic manner. At the same time, the ingredients should be constantly turned. Secondly, when chopping (cutting), do not lift the knife too high. Dip the knife in clean water before chopping to prevent the minced meat from sticking to the knife or splashing. When chopping antler, in order to achieve a delicate effect, you can use the back of a knife to smash it. Single-knife chop is used to chop bone-in chicken, duck, fish, rabbit, ribs, pig's trotters and other raw materials. Although the method is simple, the knife must be accurate and even. As for the size of the shape, "domino blocks" are generally more suitable.

4. Split

Split can be divided into two types: straight knife split and follow-knife split.

(1) Straight knife chop: Hold the handle of the knife firmly with your right hand, raise the knife high, aim at the part of the raw material to be chopped, and use the strength of your arm to chop straight down. When chopping, the force of the arms, elbows, and wrists must be coordinated and powerful, and it is required to chop with one knife. For example, the second knife often cannot hit the original edge, so the wrong knife will appear, making the raw materials uneven, and it is easy to produce some broken meat and broken bones. The straight knife splitting method is often used for raw materials with bones or hard texture, such as: ham, salt pork, pig head, fish head, pork ribs, etc. The pier or cutting board used to chop these raw materials must be firmly placed. When chopping raw materials, the skin of the meat should be facing down and the knife should be cut on the meat surface; when chopping pig heads, ham, fish heads and other raw materials, the left hand should hold the chopping raw materials firmly, and leave the left hand quickly when the knife is chopped to prevent injury to the hands. . When you first learn, you can hold a wooden stick in your left hand to press the raw materials; one end of the wooden stick should be farther away from the cutting edge to prevent the knife from slipping on the wooden stick. Use the middle of the blade to chop raw materials.

(2) To chop with a knife, embed the blade into the part of the raw material to be chopped. For example, when splitting a pig's trotters, stand the pig's trotters up with the toes facing up. Hold the handle of the knife, hold the pig's trotter and the knife in your left hand high at the same time, and chop it down with force. When the knife is chopped down, your left hand moves away.

When chopping with a knife, your left and right hands must work closely together. Hold the raw material in your left hand and hold the knife in your right hand. Both hands rise and fall at the same time. The blade of the knife must be tightly embedded in the raw material and must be firmly embedded. In this way, the knife and the raw material will not fall off easily when chopping the raw material with force. Only the raw materials that come out meet the specifications.

5． Pat

The knife-patting method is to lay the knife flat and tap the raw materials hard to break the raw materials and smooth them. For example, you can use the beating method to mince garlic cloves and fresh ginger. You can also use the beating method to make the meat non-slip and loose.

6. Ji

Ji Dao means carving, so it is also called Ji Huadao. Ji Dao uses several cutting and slicing techniques to mark the surface of raw materials with deep and impermeable horizontal and vertical knife patterns. After cooking, the raw materials can be curled into various shapes, such as ears of wheat, chrysanthemums, magnolia flowers, lychees, walnuts, fish gills, coir raincoats, wooden comb backs, etc. It makes the raw materials easy to cook, keeps the dishes fresh, tender and crispy, and makes the condiment juice easy to hang around the raw materials. There are certain requirements for the depth of the knife edge, which is generally about two-thirds or four-fifths of the raw material. The operation methods are divided into push knife, broach and straight knife.

(1) The technique of pushing the knife is similar to that of the reverse blade. Hold the raw material with your left fingers, hold the knife in your right hand, with the edge of the knife facing outward, the back of the knife facing in, and the blade of the knife close to the upper joint of the middle finger of your left hand. The film's raw materials are about two-thirds. The depths should be equal and the distances should be even.

(2) Broaching the knife. The broaching knife is similar to the inclined blade. Hold the raw material with your left hand and hold the knife in your right hand. With the blade facing outward and the blade facing inward, insert the knife into the raw material from the upper left to the lower right. Pull out about two-thirds.

(3) Straight knife cutting The straight knife cutting method is similar to the push knife cutting method, except that the raw materials cannot be cut. In terms of the application of ji knives, the knife technique can be divided into two types: general ji and flower knives. Generally, the raw material is grilled with a row of knife lines. For example, when cooking a whole fish, the broaching method can be used. Huadao Ji is the most common type of Ji Dao technique. The so-called flower knife is to crisscross various flower knife patterns on the raw materials, so that the raw materials will appear in various shapes after cooking. However, when using this type of raw material, it must be tough, crisp and gluten-free raw materials, such as: pig, sheep, and cow kidneys, as well as pig belly, chicken gizzards, duck gizzards, squid, etc.