Transcripts
1. Introduction: Nice. Gill is at the heart
of Chinese proceed. This is the strike
keep cutting method. The squid has curled into
a cylindrical Bloom. My shoulder barely moves using your other three
fingers and your thumb, bold the knife securely
enables fast cutting. When you hear this sound, you know that the potatoes
are being shredded correctly. Push out and pull back flat. Now that we have a
perfectly sharpened knife, I will show you
how one knife can bring the best out
of every ingredient. I've worked in some of the
world's greatest kitchens, transporting the art of authentic Chinese
cuisine to America. I'll show you how every step
of the way I'm Chef John, elevate your culinary
skills with knee.
2. How To Keep Your Knife Sharp: Hi everyone. Today's lesson, I will show you how to take
the best care of your knives, and we'll teach you how
to sharpen your knife. As the ancient
Chinese saying goes, to excel in a work skill, one must first
prepare his tools. This also applies to culinary skills,
especially knife work, to ensure your ingredients
are properly prepared, a sharp blade is essential. What if your knife
is becoming blunt? Well, it's time to
use the whetstone. This is the rough side of the whetstone where we'll start. Then we'll flip the
stone over and use the finer side to hold the
knife tool fine, sharp finish. It is important to focus on the angle of the blade
as you home the edge. When pushing forward, the
blade has to be pushed flat. Let's use this cleaver to demonstrate push out
and pull back black. When you push it like this, it's mainly working
on the two ends. We will hone the middle part
further after this step. If you complete this movement
ten times on both sides, you will only need to repeat it five times for the middle part. If you want a
smoother finish that will also protect
the blade edge. I recommend adding
a little water to the stone as a lubricant. After sharpening, the blade
should look like this. That your lens a
little curved and the middle very slightly higher. The definition in the blade edge should be smooth and subtle. Lastly, let's introduce the four elements
to good blade care. Let's start by making it a habit to keep our knives clean, clean, and dry the blade after each use to avoid the
possibility of rusting, you should also clean
the blade in-between different ingredients
during food preparation. Secondly, use your knife for
what it's designed for, e.g. you can use a slicer
cleaver to cut potatoes, but if you use it to cut bone, you may blunt the plate
or even damage it. A blunt blade can alter the shape of the cut
you're trying to make and can hurt your hand in your attempt to cut through. If your blade is becoming blunt, it's best to avoid cutting
delicate ingredients with it. Thirdly, if the blade
sticks when cutting ingredients or if the blade edge gets stuck in the boardwalk, cutting, please do not try to free it by moving
it left and right. Instead, tried tapping on it or moving it up and down
with a gentle force. This way, you should avoid
damaging the blade as well as the cut you were
making and also yourself. The fourth tip is to
never use a blade to cut on hard surfaces
such as granite, metal, or glass to keep your
blades from damage, I recommend that
you use your knives on wooden or plastic
cutting boards only if you already employ these four
elements of blade care. Congratulations. Keeping the blade sharp and
free of damage is vital to ensure the cutting process
is fluent and precise. It also makes food
preparation faster and safer.
3. How to Use a Chinese Chef's Knife: Now we have a perfectly
sharpened knife. Let's learn how to
use it correctly. To hold the knife securely, use your index finger to lock
the blade in place while using your other three fingers and your thumb to
grip the handle. This stable method of holding
the knife enables fast cutting and it's a safe way to work without
hurting yourself. Notice that when I cut my
shoulder barely moves, only my forearm in
my wrist or at work. And that is what we call
the skillful force tip. If you're cutting board
is not slip resistant, place a damped kitchen
towel underneath it to prevent any
movement during use. I will demonstrate on the
scallions I have here. First, we need to cut
off the end sections. When you begin the straight cut, make sure your knife is almost perpendicular to
the cutting board. Tried to use the strength
from your wrist. Personally, I like
to put pressure on the front and middle parts
of the blade when I cut. Now let's see how that works on these fresh Krispy scallions. The forward straight
cut is usually used for cutting
softer ingredients. Whereas slicing
foods like potatoes often requires an up
and down movement. I'm cutting by pushing
the blade forward. You can also cut from
the opposite direction. Whether you cut
forward or backward. Remember to always
keep your blade perpendicular to
the cutting board.
4. Slice Ginger in Diamond Shape: Hi everyone. Today's lesson, I will
show you how to cut the ginger into diamond slices. First, cut the ginger and half, then cut the halves into
halves and turn them sideways. As you can see, the sides of the slices are already
diamond shaped, continue to slice the
rest of the ginger. Finally, put the
ginger slices tin bowl and set them aside.
5. Slice Beef for Tender & Juicy Stir-Fry: Next, the next scale,
the slant cut. This is used mostly when
preparing beef, pork or shrimp. There's a saying in
Chinese cooking, horizontal for
beef, diagonal for chicken and along the
stripes for pork. When we look at the beef, we can see that the stripes
are going vertical, so we should cut
it horizontally. On the other hand,
when we cut chicken, we need to follow its lines. So we'd cut diagonally. For pork, you
follow the stripes. If you cut according
to these principles, than the texture
and appearance of the meats will remain preserved. First, let's cut the
beef into three chunks. So make two cuts. 12. Let's slice one of them. When you slice, tried to avoid cutting too thin or too thick. The thickness of
each slide should be about two coins stacked
together like this. Next, let's apply the
cut to a stallion. Press and hold the stallion
while cutting towards you. The cut slices should
look like this. This cutting method is a little trickier than the straight cut. So be sure to
proceed with caution and keep your knife as
stable as possible. And easy alternative is
to cut forward like this. It's a good way to ease
yourself into the slant cut. If you are a beginner, I strongly recommend
you start with the Ford cut and then work your way to the
professional method.
6. Dice: Tomato: Hi everyone. In today's lesson, I will show you how to taste the tomatoes. Cut the tomato in
half vertically. Hold the tomato half
firmly in place, and used the horizontal cut to carefully slice toward you. Next, cut through
the slices from top to bottom to fully
dice each tomato half. Alright, our tomatoes
are all diced.
7. Mince: Ginger: The ginger into immense gendered tends to roll on
a cutting board. So we'll first cut it
in half lengthwise. Let's try the horizontal cutting to keep the ginger
firmly in place. Use two fingers
to press down and slowly worth the
knife across the top. As you reach the
end of the blade, gently draw it back, then check the slice. My experience has
taught me that to do a good job in
food preparation, you need to be fearless,
but also careful. This is the thickness
required for most dishes. The thinner we make the slices, the finer the resulting
minced ginger will be. If the slices are too thick, that tastes will be less subtle. To prepare the shredding step, we need to ensure the slices
are as even as possible. You can layer this license on the cutting board or you can
stack them in your own way. Now we'll shred. Sure to cut as finely as possible
during the shredding process, use the straight
cut knife technique here and don't rush it. Cut the ginger slowly and carefully to make
uniform pieces. Always try to cut as
evenly as possible. Next, we'll cut the shredded
ginger into immense. I'll show you a
little technique. Here. We have a pilot shredded ginger, and if we cut it straight
across like this, the shreds on the
sides can change angle and scatter.
So what do we do? We first trim a little on the left and then a little on the right and
a little on the left. Alright, the minced
ginger is done.
8. Julienne: Potato: I'll now show you how to
cut and shred potatoes. Because potatoes are
always an uneven shape, we first need to cut through the middle to get
a flat surface. With ingredients that often
stick to the blade like this, you can either dip the
knife into water or sprinkle water onto the
ingredients and cutting board, placed the potato flat side down on the board, hold it in place, and using the front
end of the blade, slice down and forward. As you cut each slice, place it neatly to the side. Now that we've finished slicing. When you hear this sound, you know that the potatoes
are being shredded correctly. The cutting force
has to come from the wrist and your shoulders
should remain still. Similar ingredients to
potatoes, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, or even pumpkin, are all suitable for
cutting in this manner.
9. Carving Cut: Squid and Slinky Cucumber : In today's lesson, I will
teach you the carving cut. This may be more challenging
than the others, but the outcome is definitely
pretty in his work, the practice, it's also
called the flower cut. And you'll see why let's use
squid for our demonstration. Fancier dishes like sweet
and sour mandarin fish and chrysanthemum duck gizzard also involve this cutting method. Cut the piece of squid meet
in half and then make cuts across the surface using
the straight cut method. Each cut should be
about the width of a toothpick and four-fifths
the depth of the neat. Be careful not to
cut too deeply to ensure that piece of
squid stays in one piece. After cutting. If you
cut through the base, the whole piece will be ruined. That's the reason I said this cutting method
is more challenging, but once you get the hang of it, you will be able to take
this skill to another level. Taking a closer look, you can see that although the cutting is not yet finished, the design for the flower
cut is beginning to form. This method of cutting
is not just for show. The main reason for the
complex cutting is so that the flavors of the seasonings will be better absorbed
into the meat. Let's continue with
our work on the squid. Who will now cut it
crosswise with a blade tilted at 45 degrees as before, cut it down to about
four-fifths the depth of the meat and be careful not to break the meat into pieces. After all this hard work, we're still not done because the beauty of our carving
is not in full bloom. So let's cut the squid
into slices and put them in hot water to
reveal the final look, Let's see what happens. The squid has curled into
a cylindrical bloom. As you can see, this is
a very pretty shape and it's delightful to create
when making a seafood dish. Next, I will teach
you how to make a unique Chinese cutting
method which will transform the entire
cucumber into a slinky. First, hold the cucumber
horizontally and make straight cuts to a depth of approximately four-fifths
of its height. The key is to make all the
cuts and even width apart. Okay, We have finished
the first side. Now let's turn the cucumber over and use the straight
cut method again. But instead of
cutting vertically, will slant the knife to about 30 degrees
and make cuts that are two-thirds to three-quarters of the way into the cucumber. These cuts should not be as deep as the ones we made
on the first side. Here we are at the last cut. When will the result look like? Let's hold it up
and have a look. Wow, look at it. It's now a long spiral
of sliced cucumber. This is the strike
keep cutting method. As you can see, it's not all
that difficult to achieve. The most important
thing is to cut evenly and not cut completely
through the cucumber. If you can achieve that, you will be able to create a
pretty cucumber every time. Don't worry if you are not yet competent in your
cutting abilities. Here's a more straightforward
method you can try. Take a pair of
chopsticks and place one on each side
of the cucumber. These will act as a measure
of where to stop cutting. No matter what cuts
you make when you feel the chopsticks
near the bottom of the cucumber removed the knife. You can stop using
the chopsticks as you improve and gain experience.
10. Carrot Flowers & Shiitake Hanagiri: Now for a combination of
straight cuts and slanted cuts, what will the care
it look like if you cut it with
this combination? First, hold the
carrot firmly so it won't roll around when
you make the first cut. Make a straight cut into the carrot to about
one-quarter inch deep. Then stop using
the straight cut, as you should know by now means the knife is perpendicular
to the cutting board. Next, apply a slant cut
at a 45-degree angle to meet the first cut
and it will make a wedge which you can
remove with these. This technique also uses
the skillful force. Notice as I work, I use my middle finger
and thumb to hold the two ends of the carrot in my index finger to
steady the top. When you do this, be
sure to keep your fingers a safe distance
from the blade. The finished look
needs a total of six V-shaped cuts in the carrot. If you look at the
carrot from this end, you'll see that I have
created a flower shape. Now we can cut it into slices depending on the
thickness we require. This particular
cutting combination is called the little flower cut. Next, I'm going to
show you how to trim mushrooms to create an
elegant presentation. First, trim off the stem and a thin slice of mushroom
to create a flat bottom. Now we're going to cut a
six-point star in the middle, holding your knife at
a 45-degree angle, make a single slice
quite shallow. Then rotate the mushroom
and make another slice in the opposite direction to create a small wedge and remove it. Rotate the mushroom and
do the same thing again, crushing the first
cut at the center, a single straight
cut my go-to deep. So you can also rock
the blade back and forth a little bit to
achieve the right depth. This technique
requires a sharp blade and good knife control. The wedge you remove will
now be in two pieces. Rotate again and cut
your final wedge. What's left is a striking
six-pointed star. These cuts also have
a function creating more surface area for the
mushroom to observe flavor. It looks beautiful.
Chef John, Chinese Cuisine Master Chef
