If you want to improve your skills in the kitchen you must know how to master knife skills. Several cutting techniques are used by the chefs on the basis of the ingredients that are used in a particular dish. When you use a cutting utensil to chop food it is very important to hold it in a correct position, so that you do not end up damaging your fingers. Slicing and chopping are the most common types of knife skills. Use a small paring knife to slice the ingredients finely. If you want to fine chop vegetables for salads or soup you must chop using a large kitchen knife.

• Lower your cutting board over a clean surface. Put the elongated vegetable, like carrot, in the middle of this board. The tip of the vegetable must be rotated, so that it points towards the top right or left corner of the board. The small pairing knife must be held by you in the dominating hand

• Put your forefinger and thumb around the base of the blade. Wrap the three remaining fingers on the handle of the pairing knife. Use your dominant hand to hold the vegetable against the cutting board. Bend the fingers of your non-dominant hand in such a way that your have your knuckles facing forward.

• Put the blade of the knife onto the top of the vegetable. Put downward pressure on the knife blade so as to slice through the veggie. Cut thin slices by decreasing the space between each cut. Practice these cutting techniques with several vegetables in order to master the skills of slicing.

• Now put the handle of the large kitchen knife into your dominant hand’s palm. Utilize the same thumb and forefinger technique around the heel of the blade. Lower a peeled onion in the center of your cutting board. Hold the onion in place with your non-dominant hand. Chop the onion directly down the middle.

• Slice the onions halves into smaller pieces. Place the large blade of the kitchen knife over the top of the onion slices. Lower the palm of your non-dominant hand to rest on the dull top of the blade. Rotate that blade back and forth over the onion pieces to chop them. Practice these cutting techniques in order to master the skill of chopping.

image credits: thepinkpalate.blogspot.com/