There's another side to your knife. And I mean that literally.
The side you're most familiar with—the sharp blade you use for slicing and dicing—holds only half of a knife's potential. Turn the blade around, still holding it by the handle, and introduce yourself to your knife's spine—thedullside of the blade. Once you get to know this part of your knife, you'll be able to perform tasks the blade side would just mess up, such as:
Lemongrass is irreplaceable inso many dishes, but except for its tender core, it's fibrous and largely inedible. To get the most flavor from the reed, place it on a cutting board and give it a few whacks with the spine of your chef's knife. Then chop off the top and bottom of the lemongrass, and use the tip of your knife to score the outermost leaves and peel them away. Toss the bruised core directly into your soups and curries (then fish it out before serving), or chop it finely, just as you would with ginger or garlic.Here's a tutorial from our friends atBon Appétitfor some visual cues.
While you could buy asingle-use, coconut-opening tool, the back of a sturdy chef's knife can get the job done, too. Just hold a rinsed coconut in one hand, over a bowl, andforcefully tap the coconut along its equatorwith the blunt side of your knife. Give the coconut a quarter turn and repeat. Continue tapping and turning until the coconut starts to crack. Let the coconut water drain into the bowl and then continue tapping the coconut to break it in two. Now put your chef's knife away—to scrape the meat from the inside, you need a butter knife, spoon, orthis thing.
所以你大了,嗯?酷。准备好了cooking, you're going to want to scale it. To do this, first trim off any fins with a pair of kitchen scissors or the blade side of your knife. Next, grip the fish by the tail and, using the blunt side of your chef's knife, scrape away from you along one side of the fish. The scales will fly off and flick all over, so you'll want to do this in a large sink or outdoors. After all the scales have been removed from side A, flip the fish and repeat on side B. It can be a messy task, but it's fun to do once in a while, especially if you're trying toimpress your campfire companions.
There's a popularChinese method for preparing cucumber saladthat starts by cutting cucumbers into sections and then smashing them with the side of a cleaver. You can do the same thing with the back (or side) of a chef's knife. Smashing the cucumber isn't just for the sake of releasing aggression—it cracks the cucumber's cell walls in a haphazard way that makes the cooling vegetable more receptive to the bright chili oil and vinegar dressing.
When prepping fresh summer corn, it would be a near travesty to leave behind all of the milky juice that remains locked in the cob. In fact, you can't make truecreamed cornwithout it. To get it, slice the corn kernels off as you normally would. Then, working over a bowl (or usingour sheet pan trick), turn your chef's knife around and use the spine to scrape up and down the cob. Turn the cob and continue scraping all around until every drop of that starchy liquid gold is released.
Part of the reason for using the dull side of the knife is to keep the sharp side sharp. Such is the case when you scrape your knife side-to-side on your cutting board to gather chopped ingredients together. This action will quickly dull a sharp blade, so flip the knife after chopping and scrape with the back end. Use the same technique when using your knife to carry ingredients from the chopping board to the skillet, too. And remember: when your blade stays sharp, so do you.
