8 Tricks to cut food that can save time in the kitchen

If you’re “crying” in the kitchen, it might not just be an onion problem! Many tips on how to save time preparing food are related to organization. But it is with some techniques that you can speed up the process even more. That way you can save precious minutes for what really matters.

The team of awesome.club went “around the world” and went to find out how some of our foreign friends, for example, cut time with true “culinary coups” and can help us to do the same. Check it out!

This is a cut whose learning is useful for the daily lives of many. After all, how many Brazilians don’t put onions in their food, right? Mijin-giri, a Japanese technique, is excellent for avoiding tears when cutting it. Less time working with this food on the counter means less time exposed to its acids. Remembering that giving a thermal shock or soaking in water can even help, but being quick on the trigger can be even more effective against crying.

For this, the secret is to cut the onion in half and lay the flat part against a cutting board. With one hand you can bring your fingers together at the top of the onion, pressing downwards. Your free hand can make the various longitudinal cuts in the onion, from one side to the other, but without reaching the end. That is, it’s like you’re slicing the onion floors. Without further ado, to finish, just make the transverse cuts, without dismembering the vegetable — that is, in columns. Now just chop it with the knife and that’s it: the onion magically becomes tiny!

There is a saying that first we eat with our eyes, and this slicing, also Japanese, can be proof of that, such is the mastery and beauty with which it is executed. It can be used on mushrooms, but it is often used on meats or in thicker parts of some ingredients. And it is known that the thicker it is, the longer the food tends to take to cook.

To achieve the perfect sogigiri cut point, it is necessary to slice the food into slanted pieces, placing the knife under them at a 45 degree angle. As a result, we can make the food cook faster, in addition to having homogeneous pieces, which would be great for serving an even prettier dish, right?

The artist within you can take over from now on! This cut is proof that repetition leads to perfection, after all, all you have to do is choose a format and replicate it to get the same contact surface on food. With the same base they have a better chance of cooking equally, without one being burnt more than the other.

Also, since the pieces are cut evenly, the food will have a better flavor absorption. It is for this reason that this technique of Japanese origin is also suitable for cooking over high heat.

This slicing, of French origin and very thin, serves to preserve the appearance of the herbs. To do this, therefore, just stack and then roll the sheets until you get a roll. This avoids pricking the vegetable (which would spoil it faster). You can do this with beet and radish branches too. And, of course, with kale from feijoada, for example.

The standard size of the strips is 0.5 cm, but the main idea is to be a Master Chef in optimizing time, and not necessarily in complying with culinary techniques, right? Keeping everything exactly the same can be an extra challenge. You can ensure standardization with some off-the-shelf tricks, such as food cutting boards with a template. But relax, spare time is an amazing spice too.

This is not exactly a cut, but a set of some of them that call it that way. Its size does not follow a pattern, so you can vary it to compose your own Mirepoix, just prefer thicker ones. Normally the French, holders of the origin of the technique, use carrots, celery and onions, but you can change or include leeks, turnips and peppers.

Mirepoix is ​​nothing more than cutting some vegetables into 8 mm cubes that are added to a pot of boiling water so that they are drained of all their flavors, until they acquire a broth. After half an hour or so, the ingredients are discarded and all their flavor goes into the pan. Therefore, in addition to the specific cutting technique to obtain flavor in food, the combination of these sliced ​​foods will also work as a base for soups and sauces, including. Great, isn’t it?

The technique in question (which goes back to a Frenchman) may not be a mystery to many Brazilians, after all it is almost a survival item for those who cook on a daily basis and need time. For the same reason, we know the importance of discussing it. To make it, just cut the food into long, thin strips, similar to toothpicks. However, for a more stable cut, trim the ends and sides of the veggies — that way it’s possible to get them all in the same pattern.

A strong characteristic of the technique is its versatility — the foods cut in Julienne are not only used to fill up the dishes, but also for decorations, or even when they are eaten raw. Also, another extra tip when doing it is to wet a dish towel and place it under the cutting board (if you choose to use it), so it doesn’t slide.

Widely used to make salads, this technique conceived in French cuisine is completely related to the one mentioned above. Because here, after making the Julienne, the next step is to divide the stick into small cubes of 3 mm on a side. You can focus on the exact measurements, or vary between that size and half a centimeter on the side (more than that would technically stop being Brunoise). What matters is that the smaller the cut, the faster the peppers, onions and carrots are sautéed.

With the vegetables cut in a thicker, elongated way and with square ends — the Tourné, which also dates back to France, is another technique capable of making everyday dishes look even better. With a knife, preferably a thin one, the first step is to trim the ends of the chosen vegetable, which should already be peeled. Then comes the turn of the core, which at the end of the process should have seven sides.

Although it may seem to be a little more complicated to put into practice, an accurate or well-executed technique takes less time than several attempts at other alternatives that are not very effective, right? If your result resembles a football without the spikes, you’re right!

And you, in your house, do you usually use a different type of cut to speed up your life in the kitchen? We would love to stamp our passport with more versions. If you have a photo of the result, even better! Share in the comments!