the smaller holes for carrots and ginger (see Box Grater on page 16). A microplane can be used for grating ginger as well. Remember to grate onions just before ready to cook them so they will not smell bad.
Garlic
To chop or mince fresh garlic, first pry off a clove from the garlic bulb with your fingers or by carefully using the tip of a small knife. Place the clove (with the peel on) on a cutting board and lay the side of a chef's knife flat on a clove with the blade facing away from you. Then firmly push down on the knife to smash the clove, which makes it easy to remove the papery white peel. After removing the peel with your fingers, mince or chop the clove with a knife, or you can use a garlic press (and with some presses you don't even need to take the peel off). You can also grate the peeled garlic clove using a microplane or on the small holes of a box grater.
Chopping and Mincing
Chopped food is bite-size or smaller pieces, and minced food is cut into very small pieces (smaller than diced), almost to the point where the food seems crushed, such as minced garlic or minced onion. Mincing food is handy when you do not want to bite into a big piece of garlic or onion, but you would still like your dish to have the flavor evenly dispersed. Mincing garlic can also be done using a garlic press.
Boiling the Potatoes
Boiling potatoes are an easy task, but you do have to factor in the half hour it will take when making a recipe that will use them.
1 Wash the unpeeled potatoes with cold water. In a large pot, add the potatoes, covering them with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water. Make sure that the level of the water is at least 2 inches (5 cm) from the top of the pot so that the water does not boil over.
2 Cover the pot. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue boiling for about 30 minutes, or until you can easily insert a knife into the potato. (Make sure you do not boil them to the point where they become too tender and easily fall apart, especially if you are going to cube or dice them.)
3 Drain the potatoes in a colander and let the potatoes cool slightly so you can handle them, or you can run cold water over them to cool them faster.
4 Using your fingers or a small knife, peel the skin off the potato and discard. The potatoes are now ready to be used in a recipe, or cover and refrigerate them up to 1 day.
NOTE: You may boil the potatoes up to one day in advance. They may be refrigerated already peeled or with the peels on, though it is easier to peel the skin off potatoes when they’re still warm.
Cutting Methods
Fresh Cauliflower
The first time I prepared fresh cauliflower at home without my mother by my side, I was not sure how to cut it. For those new to using fresh cauliflower, here is how to cut it into florets:
1 Pull away the green leaves and discard. Using a small knife, gently scrape away any brown marks on the cauliflower head.
2 Slice off the stem at the bottom of the cauliflower head and discard.
3 Turn the head upside down so that it is stem-side up. Insert a small knife inside the head right next to the core to cut loose the florets from all around the internal stem (core). (The core can be chopped and enjoyed raw or it may be chopped and cooked along with the florets.)
4 Cut all the loose florets into small bite-size pieces.
5 Place the florets in a colander and wash with cold water.
Half-moons
Sometimes I specify a half-moon" cut for onions, which is a semi-circle made by slicing an onion crosswise into rings, and then cutting the rings in half to create half-moons. Or, an onion may be cut lengthwise in half, and then both halves should be thinly sliced across to create half-moons.
Fresh Broccoli
1 Cut off any leaves on the broccoli stalk and discard.
2 Cut off the thicker bottom portion of the stalk. (The stalk can be peeled and chopped and cooked along with the florets.) You will now be left with the crown of the broccoli.
3 Use a small knife to separate the crown into individual florets. If some of the florets are big, cut them gently through the stem.
Cubes and Dice
The standard size cube size is ½ inch (1.25 cm) or larger. It is okay if all of the cubes are not exact squares, or if they have some rounded sides, but try to cut almost equal-size pieces so that the food cooks at an even rate. When a recipe calls for an ingredient to be diced, cut it into small cubes that are approximately ¼ inch (6 mm) or smaller. When a recipe calls for something such as green chili peppers or onions to be finely diced, the pieces are cut even smaller.
Matchsticks
Vegetables such as carrots and potatoes are commonly cut into strips called matchsticks, but usually not as thin as an actual matchstick. When creating thin matchsticks, the cut is known as julienne." The vegetable is first cut into thin slices, and then the slices are cut across to the desired length, resulting in a short or long matchstick." I like to use this attractive cut when preparing the carrots for Vegetable Rice Pilaf (page 65) and Vegetable Curry with Tofu (page 103).
1 Cut off the both ends of the carrot and discard.
2 Thinly peel off the outer skin and discard and then wash the carrot with cold water. Or you can leave the nutrient-rich peel on and thoroughly scrub the carrot with your hands or a vegetable brush.
3 Cut the carrot in half crosswise to make it an easier size to work with.
4 Cut each half lengthwise down the middle.
5 Cut each piece in half lengthwise again. For the thicker part of a carrot, you might want to make another lengthwise cut to create strips of even size.
6 Stack the strips and cut them cross-wise into approximately 2-inches (5 cm) long matchsticks.
Basic Ingredients
Here I explain the magical and exotic, yet easy to find ingredients and spices, which will transform fruits, vegetables, and tofu into delicious dishes and will provide excellent health benefits as well. I use easily available ingredients that can be found at your local grocery store so you can conveniently make any dish in this book.
All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat. This fine textured flour is milled from the endosperm (inner part) of the wheat kernel and does not contain the germ (the sprouting part) nor the bran (the outer coating), which are nutrient and fiber rich parts of the kernel.
In America, the law requires all
