I have always been a garlic lover, but I used to use those tubs of minced garlic in oil. I was under the impression that its way too much hassle cleaning fresh garlic, until someone showed me this technique and showed me how easy it actually is. All you need is a semi decent chefs knife, in my opinion probably the one kitchen tool I simply cannot do without.
Most of you probably know this already, but for the few that was born under a rock like me, here is how I go about it.
First break apart the bunch and get the cloves out.
Lay one of the cloves flat on its side and with the side of a chef’s knife, gently press down on it until you hear a cracking sound. Thats all you want, don’t smash it completely.
Lift up the knife and slice off the hard bits at both ends.
The skin should rub right off
Thats it really, now you have cleaned the garlic. To chop it, I go about it like this.
First I slice it as think as I can vertically, like so.
Then I cut across it horizontally like this.
Then you simply hold down the point of the knife with your one hand, while moving the handle up and down and moving it around on the chopping board. (Yes I know this is a crappy photo of that action, but you try doing it while holding a DSLR camera in the hand thats supposed to be holding the knife!)
That’s all there is to it really. Fresh garlic has way better flavour, and I believe it doesn’t make your breath smell as much as the oiled in a tub type. I’ll never go back to the processed type!
If you haven’t made the switch yet, try it, I’m sure you’ll love it!
