How do you cut vegetables in to "matchstick" size pieces?!
How do you cut vegetables in to "matchstick" size pieces?
I have a recipe that says "cut veggies into matchstick size pieces . How do I do this? I have dinner guests coming in 2 hours!
Thank you!
Answers:
Not to be the bearer of bad news, but...it's a pain! How you do it depends on the vegetable's size, shape and texture. For a carrot, you peel it, trim off the ends, and cut it into about 3-inch lengths. Then cut each one of those in half lengthwise. (It makes it a lot easier if you have one straight edge so that it balances on the cutting board.) First cut each carrot half into very thin slices, say no wider than 1/8 inch. Then take each one of those slices (you can stack up 2 or 3 and cut them at the same time) and cut them into strips also of about 1/8 inch thickness.
Potatoes, turnips, radishes, jicama, and similarly firm-fleshed vegetables can be treated the same way. The basic principle is that you trim them into rectangles, then slice finely one way, then the other way.
Celery is really inconvenient! One trick is to peel off the outer layer with a vegetable peeler, because otherwise the strings tend to get in the way. But because celery can't really be trimmed into a rectangle, you have to cut wedges and then turn them into finer wedges. With cucumber it's pretty much the same. Be sure and scrape the seeds and watery parts out of the middle of the peeled cucumber before you start though.
Hope this reaches you in time!
Source(s):
Preparing more Vietnamese spring rolls (which are nothing more than a bundle of matchstick vegetables) than I care to remember...
No problem , don't panic....Just take the veggies and slice them very carefully..into thin strips* about 1" thick.
Green peppers, red peppers, celery, carrots green beans..etc. So cut into 1" thickness and about the size of your finger in length so they'll look like match sticks when layed out on platter with bowl of dip in centre*
Ever notice that straight slot on the side of your box or flat grater and thought that it's for cutting cheese? Cut your veggies into 3in. long pieces, run them through that slicing slot, stack the slices and cut down at 3/16in intervals. 3X3/16X3/16 matchstick cut