How to learn the basic knife skills of chefs?
Knife workers should maintain a posture that is convenient for work and reduces fatigue when operating:
1, two feet should stand naturally and have a proper distance from the vegetable pier; The upper body leans forward slightly, and the front chest is slightly stiff. Don't bend over and hunch your back. Keep your eyes on the part of the pier that is operated by both hands.
2. Hold the knife hoop with your thumb and forefinger when holding the knife in your right hand, and grasp the handle with all your hands. The left hand controls the raw material, so that the raw material is stable and does not slide, so that it is convenient to drop the knife.
3. The wrist should be flexible and powerful when holding the knife.
4, the placement of the pier should be suitable for their own height.
Extended data:
Knife workers use various knife methods to cut cooking materials or food into certain shapes.
There are many varieties of dishes, and the cooking methods are different because of different varieties, which requires different knife methods to process raw materials into certain specifications and shapes to meet the requirements of cooking or eating style.
With the development of cooking skills, knife workers are not limited to changing the shape of raw materials and meeting the requirements of eating, but further beautifying the shape of raw materials or food, so that the dishes made are not only delicious, but also beautiful, colorful and artistic.
How do novice chefs practice knives?
1. A classmate learning to cut vegetables
2. A good kitchen knife
3. Chopping board: it must be stable. If the small chopping board at home slips, you can put a wet towel under the chopping board to increase stability, otherwise the chopping board will slip and cut your hand easily!
4. Apron: Wear an apron to prevent your clothes from getting dirty during cutting vegetables.
5. Band-aid alcohol: just in case
Knife holding posture
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The commonly used knife holding posture can be as shown below. The thumb and forefinger and middle finger are held on both sides of the knife surface, and the remaining fingers hold the handle, so that the knife can be held more stably and the vegetables can be cut more smoothly.
Brief introduction of knife method
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There are many kinds of cutting methods when cooking, and different ingredients also have different cutting methods. For beginners, I will introduce some common cutting methods.
1 straight cutting:
Cut vertically. Hold the knife in your right hand, hold the ingredients in your left hand, and cut it straight next to the first joint of the middle finger of your left hand. The strength of the blade before and after needs to be consistent, so theoretically you won't cut your own hand.
Suitable ingredients: fresh and crisp raw materials. Such as cucumber, potato, radish, lotus root, etc.
▲ straight knife cutting signal
2 push cut:
Hold the knife with your right hand and hold the raw material with your left hand, and the knife body falls vertically. After the blade enters the raw material, immediately push the knife forward until the raw material breaks, with the focus on the back end of the knife.
Suitable ingredients: generally used for thin, fragile soft raw materials or cooked and softened raw materials. For example: dried bean curd, cooked meat, pickled mustard tuber, louver, vegetarian chicken, etc.
3 Broach:
Hold the knife with your right hand, hold the raw material with your left hand, and the knife body falls vertically. First, push the knife forward and then pull it back to break the raw material, focusing on the front end of the knife.
Suitable for ingredients: this knife method is suitable for meat raw materials with strong toughness. For example: pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, fish, animal spoils, etc.
▲ Broaching and cutting signals
4 saw cutting:
Also known as push-pull cutting. The blade falls vertically, pushing the blade forward and then pulling it back, similar to sawing, pushing and pulling to cut off raw materials, and the focus is all over the blade.
Suitable ingredients: this knife method is suitable for soft, thick or hard frozen raw materials, such as steamed bread, ham and frozen meat.
▲ Push-pull cut signal
5 flower knife:
Generally speaking, every time you cut two-thirds of the raw materials across the board, the oblique knife will cut at 45 degrees, and you must not cut it off. This knife method needs to be practiced slowly and is difficult.
Examples of ingredients: squirrel fish, fried kidney flower, squid roll, etc.
▲ flower knife cutting signal
6 rows of chop:
Also known as "chop", it is a knife method used when processing ingredients into final shape. First, cut the ingredients into granules, then turn them over with a knife while chopping, and treat the ingredients until they are very fine.
Examples of ingredients: suitable for minced meat, Jiang Mo, minced garlic and other ingredients that need to be processed into powder.
▲ row chop signal
7 chop:
When using the knife, apply force to the back of the knife and cut it hard, paying attention to the fast cutting speed. Of course, if it is a hard big bone, it can be handed over to the enthusiastic stall owner for pre-treatment.
Examples of ingredients: ingredients with bones, such as ribs, chicken with bones, duck with bones, etc.
8 rocking knife cutting:
Similar to the "dog's head spear", also known as the hay cutter method, the right hand holds the handle, the left hand holds the front end of the back of the knife, aims at the part to be cut, moves up and down, and moves left and right alternately to chop the raw materials. This cutting method can prevent the ingredients from leaking and not easily damage the chopping board when dealing with the ingredients that are easy to be shelled, spherical, small and slippery.
Example ingredients: peanut, walnut, pepper, kai yang, cooked protein, pine nuts, etc.
▲ Shake the knife and cut the sign.
Tips:
1. In practice, everyone will find the most suitable knife method and feel.
2. Beginners can practice shredding first, and the foundation is very important.
3. Learn to cut vegetables slowly and then quickly, step by step, and don't be distracted.
Choose a knife to review.
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I have published a video about how to choose a knife before.
Students who want to see it are in WeChat official account menu bar "Gangsi Welfare"
You can view the full video.
Here I directly summarize the core idea of choosing a knife:
1 whether the first kitchen knife is good or not depends first on whether the joint of the handle is integral or cast in steel. If there is a wooden handle, it is for anti-slip.
2 tap the blade to listen to the sound, if the sound is crisp and the quality of the slender blade is better; A knife with poor quality will sound "rigid"
These are the most commonly used knife techniques. Don't cook until you learn it.
The Basic Skill of Chef-Knife Method
Knife method is a variety of methods in the process of cooking, when the raw materials for cooking are cut into various forms with a knife. Generally, there are six knife methods: cutting, slicing, chopping, splitting, patting and scraping.
1.Cut
Cutting is a fundamental knife method in dish cutting. Cutting is a method that the blade is perpendicular to the raw material and feeds rhythmically, so that the raw material is cut off equally. According to the nature of raw materials and cooking requirements, the cutting of cooking dishes can be divided into six methods: direct cutting, push cutting, pull cutting, sawing, chopping cutting and rolling cutting.
Straight cutting generally holds the raw material steady with the left hand and operates the knife with the right hand. When cutting, the knife hangs down, neither pushing out nor pulling, and cuts straight down one knife at a time. Straight cut requirements: first, the left and right hands should cooperate rhythmically; Second, the middle finger joint of the left hand moves backward against the blade, keeping the same distance when moving, instead of being fast and slow, and being wide and narrow, so that the cut raw materials are uniform and tidy in shape; Third, the right hand should use wrist force, and the knife should be vertical, not biased inside and outside; Fourth, when the right hand is operating the knife, the left hand should press the raw material steadily. Straight cutting method is adopted, and crisp raw materials are generally used, such as green bamboo shoots, fresh lotus roots, radishes, cucumbers, cabbages and potatoes.
The knife method of pushing and cutting is that the knife is perpendicular to the raw material. When cutting, the knife is pushed forward from the back, and the focus is on the back of the knife, and everything is pushed to the end, and it is no longer pulled back. Push-cutting is mainly used for cutting raw materials which are loose in texture and easy to break or scatter with a straight knife, such as barbecued pork and cooked eggs.
Lacerra's knife cutting method is also that when applying a 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 to pull, mainly pulling, focusing on the front of the knife. Pull-cutting is suitable for raw materials with strong toughness, such as thousands of sheets, kelp and fresh meat. Push-cut and pull-cut both use wrist strength, and their movements are basically the same. The difference is that push-cut is from back to front and pull-cut is from front to back. At the beginning, only after mastering the straight cutting method skillfully can we use the push cutting and pull cutting methods. It is better to learn from pushing and cutting first, and then practice pulling and cutting.
Sawing is also called push-pull cutting. Sawing knife method is a combination of push cutting and pull cutting knife method, and sawing is a kind of knife method that is difficult to master. The cutting knife method is that the knife is perpendicular to the raw material. When cutting, the knife is pushed forward first and then pulled back. This push and pull cuts down like a saw to cut off the raw materials. When sawing raw materials, the requirements are as follows: first, the speed of the knife should be slow, and the force should be small and even; Second, the front and rear push-pull surfaces should be straight, and they should not be biased inward or outward; Third, when cutting, hold the raw materials firmly with your left hand and don't move them, otherwise the size will be uneven; Fourthly, wrist force should be used to cooperate with the middle finger of the left hand to control the shape and thickness of raw materials. Sawing knife method is generally used to cut thick boneless and tough raw materials or soft raw materials into thin slices, such as mutton slices of instant-boiled mutton.
There are two ways to cut the chisel: one is to hold the handle in the right hand, the front end of the back of the knife in the left hand, and press and cut with both hands in a balanced way; The other is to hold the handle with the right hand, hold the front end of the back of the knife with the left hand, and shake it with both hands alternately. The requirements of the chopping knife method are: first, the knife should be aimed at the cut part, and the raw material should not be moved, and the cutting should be accurate; Second, both pressure cutting and shaking cutting should be quick and agile, and the force should be uniform. The chopping knife method is generally used to treat raw materials and clinker with cartilage, fine bones or small size and smooth shape, such as chicken, duck, fish, crab and peanuts.
Roll-cutting roll-cutting knife method is to hold the raw material steady with the left hand, and cut it continuously with the right hand, and roll the raw material once every time you cut a knife. According to the posture and speed of raw materials rolling, it is decided to cut into pieces or blocks. Generally speaking, it rolls fast and cuts slowly, and what is cut out is a block; It is the slice that rolls slowly and cuts quickly. This rolling cutting method can cut out various blocks and pieces, such as hob block, water chestnut block, comb block and so on. The requirements of hob cutting method are: the left hand rolls the raw material with a moderate inclination, and the right hand rolls with the raw material with a certain inclination to cut it, so as to keep the size, thickness and so on uniform. The hob cutting method is mostly used for round or oval brittle vegetable raw materials, such as radish, green bamboo shoots, cucumber, water bamboo and so on.
Matters needing attention when cutting dishes
First, the cut raw materials are uniform in thickness and equal in length. Otherwise, the raw materials are inconsistent.
Second, all raw materials that have been processed by knives, regardless of silk, strips, diced, blocks, pieces and segments, must not be connected with knives.
Third, according to the raw materials' old and tender texture, the grain is horizontal and vertical, and according to different cooking requirements, different cutting methods are adopted. For example, meat raw materials, tender and fragile meat with few tendons, should be cut along the grain, while those with many tendons and old quality should be cut at the top of the grain, and those with general texture should be cut obliquely.
Fourth, pay attention to the matching of the shapes of main and auxiliary materials and the rational utilization of raw materials. Generally speaking, the auxiliary material is subordinate to the main material, that is, the shape of the auxiliary material is slightly smaller than that of the main material. When using materials, we should carefully plan and measure the use of materials, so as to be overqualified, overqualified, detailed and skillful in using coarse materials as much as possible.
2. film
The film is also called splitting. The knife technique of slice is also a knife technique to deal with boneless and tough raw materials, soft raw materials, or cooked and softened animal and plant raw materials. Is to slice the raw materials into thin slices with a knife. When applying a knife, it is generally to put the blade flat and work hard. Due to the different properties of raw materials, the methods are different. Generally, there are push blades, pull blades and inclined blades. Six techniques such as reverse blade, saw blade and shaking blade.
Step 3 chop
Chop, also known as chop, is generally used for boneless raw materials. This method is a method of chopping raw materials into velvet, mud or mince. According to the quantity of raw materials, decide whether to chop with double knives or single knives. A large number of double knives, also known as chop; Use a single knife for a small number. The requirements of chopping are: holding a knife with both hands, keeping 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 roots of the knives can be slightly farther. Chop is to use the strength of the wrist, from left to right, and then from right to left, repeatedly chop. When operating, use your hands alternately, and do it rhythmically. At the same time, the raw materials should be constantly turned over. Secondly, when chopping, don't raise the knife too high. Dip the knife in clear water before chopping to prevent the minced meat from sticking to the knife or splashing. When chopping velvet, in order to achieve delicate effect, you can use the back of a knife to hit it. Chopping with a single knife is to chop raw materials such as chicken, duck, fish, rabbit, ribs and pig's trotters with bones. Although the method is simple, the cutting should be accurate and uniform. The size of the shape is generally "domino block".
Step 4 split
Splitting can be divided into straight chopping and following chopping.
Hold the handle firmly with your right hand, hold the knife high, aim at the part where the raw material is to be split, and use the power of your arm to chop down hard. When chopping, the arm, elbow and wrist should be coordinated and powerful, requiring one knife to break. If you chop the second knife again, you often can't chop it on the original knife edge, so there will be a wrong knife, which will make the raw materials irregular and easy to produce some broken meat and bones. The straight knife splitting method is often used for raw materials with bones or hard texture, such as ham, bacon, pig head, fish head and pork ribs. The piers or chopping boards used for chopping these raw materials must be firmly put in place. 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's head, ham, fish head and other raw materials, the left hand should hold the chopped raw materials firmly, and the left hand should leave quickly when chopping the knife to prevent injury to the hand. When you are a beginner, you can hold a wooden stick in your left hand and examine the raw materials. One end of the stick should be far away from the cut edge to prevent the knife from slipping on the stick. Split the raw material with the middle of the blade.
Chopping with a knife is to embed the blade in the part where the raw material is to be chopped. For example, chop the pig's trotters, erect the pig's trotters with the toes facing up, embed the blade in the toes, hold the handle firmly in the right hand, hold the pig's trotters and the knife in the left hand at the same time, chop them hard, and leave the knife with the left hand when chopping. Work closely with your right and left hands when chopping with a knife. Hold the raw material with your left hand, hold the knife with your right hand, and both hands rise and fall at the same time. Moreover, the blade should be tightly embedded in the raw material, so that the knife and the raw material are not easy to fall off when chopping with force, and the chopped raw material can meet the specification requirements.
Step 5 shoot
The method of beating the knife is to put the knife flat and beat the raw material hard, so that the raw material is broken and smooth. If you pat garlic cloves and fresh ginger to pieces, you can also pat the meat to make it not slippery and loose.
Step 6: hmm
Shua Dao means carving, so it is also called Shua Hua Dao. Gouge knife is to use several cutting and slicing techniques to draw deep and impenetrable knife lines on the surface of raw materials. After cooking, the raw materials can be curled into various shapes, such as wheat ears, chrysanthemums, magnolia flowers, lychees, walnuts, fish gills, hemp fiber, wooden comb backs and so on. Make the raw materials easy to cook, keep the dishes fresh, tender and crisp, and make the seasoning 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. Operation methods include pushing, broaching and straight cutting.
The technique of pushing the knife is similar to that of the counter-blade. Hold the raw material with the left finger, hold the knife with the right hand, with the knife edge outward and the back inward, and the blade body is close to the upper joint of the left middle finger, which cuts about two thirds of the raw material. The depth should be equal and the distance should be even.
Broach Broach Broach is similar to an oblique blade. Hold the raw material with your left hand, hold the knife with your right hand, with the blade outward and the blade inward, and pull the knife into the raw material by about two thirds from the upper left to the lower right.
Straight knife, straight knife, is similar to push knife cutting, except that raw materials can't be cut off. The application of knife cutting can be divided into two types: general knife cutting and fancy knife cutting. Generally, it is only a row of knife lines on the raw materials. For example, when cooking the whole fish, you can use the broach method. Hua Dao Shua is a widely used method of Shua Dao. The so-called flower knife is to cross all kinds of flower knife lines on the raw materials, so that after cooking, the raw materials appear in various shapes. However, the use of this kind of raw materials must be tough and brittle, such as kidneys of pigs, sheep and cattle, as well as pork bellies, gizzards, ducks and squid.