Knife Skills 101: How do I julienne?

July 21, 2:04 PMHonolulu Cooking ExaminerAshley Brooks

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Julienned zucchini

A Julienne is a knife cut in which a piece of food, usually a vegetable, is cut into long thing strips.  These strips should resemble a matchstick, but could be larger or smaller. Generally, a julienne is used as a garnish.

The first and most important step before doing any knife cut, is to make sure your knife has been properly sharpened.  A dull knife could not only hack up your food, but it could also cut you.  A cook's best friend is properly sharpened and honed chefs knife.

A 3 inch piece of zucchini

First start by washing and peeling your vegetable if necessary.  Then cut it to the length you want you julienne to be.  I'm using about a 3 inch piece of zucchini.

Creating a box

Next, slice off the edges of the vegetable to make a perfectly square box. Make sure those edges are flat.

Slicing the box into thin strips

Then, slice the box into thin strips about 1/4 inch thick.

Slicing the strips into a julienne

Finally, stack those strips back into the box shape and cut down lengthwise to create uniform square strips.

 You can now use this technique to dice (see Knife Skills 101 How do I dice?)