When it comes to cooking, garlic is one of those ingredients that can make a dish much more intense and flavorful. It’s essential to know how to cut, mince, crush and saute this ingredient properly!
First, peel the papery skin off a clove. This will make it easier to work with and reduce its sticky, oxidizing and bitter flavors.
1. Pulling a Clove
To pull a garlic clove, simply place the flat side of a knife on top of the single clove while holding the handle and then give it a good whack with your heel. This will cause the skin to crack and separate from the clove.
It might not be the most precise technique, but it is a fast and easy way to get a single garlic clove ready for your recipe. You can use this method with a chef’s knife or a Santoku knife.
If you have a lot of cloves to peel, this method can be tiring. Instead, try slicing and mincing the garlic for your recipe.
2. Peeling a Clove
Whether you’re using garlic in a sauce or just to eat, peeling the cloves will help you get the most of your fresh garlic.
If you want to save yourself time, a simple way to peel a single clove is to use a chef’s knife. Place the flat side of the knife on top of the clove and press down gently.
This will crack the skin and make it easier to remove. This is also great for smaller cloves if you need to mince them for a recipe.
Another method that’s popular in the kitchen is to shake individual garlic cloves, or an entire head, in a glass jar. This works well if you’re storing the garlic, but might bruise them in the process.
3. Crushing a Clove
Using a knife to crush a clove is one way of handling garlic when you don’t have access to a garlic press. To do this, simply lay a flat side of a knife over the clove and smash it slightly.
Crushed garlic doesn’t break up the cells in the garlic that slicing does, so it will impart a milder flavor than sliced or minced.
An alternative method for crushing a garlic clove is to use a stone. Place it over the clove and give it a good smack, enough to loosen the skin but not so hard that it cracks.
4. Mincing a Clove
When you need small pieces of garlic, you’ll need to know how to mince a clove. Mincing garlic means cutting it into tiny, uniform pieces that are about 1/16th-inch in diameter, or less.
You can use a knife to do this or a food processor if you have one. Either way, just chop the cloves until you get the right size, scraping down the sides and moving them back and forth repeatedly.
The finer you mince it, the stronger and bolder its flavor will be. But don’t use it in advance—the longer it sits, the harsher its taste will become.
5. Chopping a Clove
Garlic is an essential ingredient in many cuisines, and knowing how to cut garlic properly can make it easier to use in your cooking. Different cuts–whole, crushed, sliced, chopped, and minced–release different amounts of the sulfur-containing compounds that give garlic its smell and flavor.
Generally speaking, finely minced garlic releases more flavor than coarsely chopped garlic. Sliced garlic, on the other hand, will produce less.
To start, peel off the papery skin from each clove and place them flat on your cutting board. Pepin says a good way to do this is by using the flat side of a chef’s knife to press the garlic into the board.