The best way to cut an orange depends on how you plan on using it—you don't want to garnish your cocktail with an orange wedge when a wheel looks so much fancier, do you? Whether you're snacking on a wedge, garnishing a glass with a round slice, or getting fancy with a salad of supremed oranges, you'll want to make sure your technique is on point. Here's how to cut an orange three ways.
Wedges
Ah, orange wedges, the most ubiquitous snack in school cafeterias and Little League soccer games—for good reason. A perfect orange wedge has a built-in handle (the peel), and it can't be eaten in one bite, making them the ideal snack for little ones (no choking risk). That being said, there's no shame in being an adult who loves orange wedges—they're just too damn fun to eat. This quick two-step method will give you perfect wedges every time.
1. Slice orange in half
On a cutting board, get a solid grip on the orange so it doesn't roll away under the pressure of your knife. With a sharp blade, slice the fruit in half from the stem end to the "blossom" end. Lay the orange halves flat on your cutting board, cut-side down.
2. Cut each half into three wedges
Turn those two half-spheres into wedges by angling your knife into the center of the fruit and making three even cuts on each orange half. This should leave you with six perfect wedges for each orange.
Wheels
Aside from being used as a random but common garnish for omelets at diners, citrus wheels make a perfect garnish forcocktails. They also look beautiful floating ina sangriaorpunch.
The coolest thing about cutting your citrus into wheels, though, is that those orange slices are often used in cooking and baking, too, where you can eatthe entire pith and peel. That may sound strange, but look how pretty the orange wheels onthis olive oil cakeand inthis chicken dish! Seriously, you've got to trust us on this one—once they're cooked, the pith and peel become completely edible and absolutely delicious. Here's how to get perfect wheels every time.
1. Slice off both ends of the orange
得到一个真正的公司橙色反对你cutting board, and use a sharp chef's knife to slice off the stem end and expose the flesh.
2. Slice very gently
Continue slicing the orange, using as little pressure as possible—this way you can avoid squishing the slices into ovals. Note that you need areallysharp knife for this, otherwise you'll have to press down too hard on the orange. Cut your rounds as thin or thick as you want them—you'll want them thinner if you're roasting them and eating the peel, but a bit thicker is fine if it'sfor a garnish. Once you reach the end of the orange where it's mostly pith and peel, discard the end.
Supremes
This French technique is a bit more complicated, but the rewards are legion: Tender segments of orange without any of that pesky, chewy membrane. Supremed citrus is often used in salads, like thisblood orange and mixed beannumber.
1. Stabilize the orange
With a very sharp paring or flexible fish knife, slice off both ends of the orange to expose the flesh. Place the orange with one cut end down on the cutting board.
2. Cut off the peel
Working as close to the citrus flesh as possible, cut along the curve of the fruit to remove a section of peel, exposing the fruit underneath. Once the peel is off, you can trim off any remaining bits of pith still clinging to the orange.
3. Segment it out
Working over a bowl, hold the peeled and pith-less orange in your non-dominant hand and, using your knife, carefully cut along the membranes (the core of the orange) to slice out each segment (aka "supreme"). Let the segment fall into the bowl. Continue rotating the fruit and cutting out the supremes, until you’ve separated all of the membranes from the citrus supremes. Use your utility knife to remove any seeds that might still be attached once you remove the membranes. And don't forget to squeeze that orange core once you've removed the segments—there's plenty of tasty juice in there!
Now that you're an orange-cutting pro, here's how to use the fruits of your labor:
