How to chop garlic and herbs

✅ The essentials

A garlic clove takes thirty seconds to prepare once you know the trick. The germ only comes out if it is green and big. Herbs get chopped in a tight bunch, with a knife that cuts, and the smell on your fingers goes away with a little lemon or by rubbing them on the stainless steel of the sink.

✋ The move in four steps

1. Put the clove on the board, lay the flat of the blade on it, and press down sharply with your palm. The skin splits and comes off.
2. Cut the clove in half lengthwise. If you see a green germ in the middle, take it out with the tip of the knife, that is what is bitter.
3. Chop by rocking the blade back and forth, the tip resting on the board and your other hand flat on the back of the knife.
4. For herbs, remove the thick stems, squeeze the leaves into a ball with your hand in a claw, and chop the same way, without crushing.

⏱️ How long it takes

Thirty seconds per clove, a minute for a bunch of parsley.

🩹 If it goes wrong

Too coarse is no problem, it will cook a little longer. Garlic that tastes bitter is not the germ, it is burnt garlic: put it in the pan after the onion, never before, and not on high heat. Herbs that went black were crushed, the blade was not sharp enough.

🍽️ Make it tonight

Shrimp in curry and coconut milk, in twenty minutes, with chopped garlic and cilantro.