In this knife skill video, Chef Hugh Acheson demonstrates his technique for how to dice a shallot using a Shibata Kotetsu Petty Knife.
Special thanks to Evan Sung.
Video Transcription
This is a Kotetsu petty, and we're just gonna mince some shallots with it.
I'm just gonna take the bare bit of the root top off—but leave most of it on to hold everything together. I'm taking the bottom a little bit off, which is mostly the skin of the shallot. We're cutting with the skin still on—all the way through the center. At this point, I'm gonna peel the exterior tough skin away. Take the shallot—like that, [flat side down]—and we're going to just gently slide the knife 90% of the way through [the shallot horizontally], just leaving that root on so it holds everything together.
Next, we're just going to make notches all the way through [vertically], then we're gonna turn [the shallot] so you see it straight on your cutting board. You're gonna cut directly through [the shallot], just pulling back a little bit. Basically, you've [now] created tiny little cubes all the way through the shallot.
This knife is not really doing much work because it's so sharp. We're just cutting through, then you can run your knife down and you'll have beautiful, beautiful dice. This is what we're looking for.
—End Transcript—
Check back for more demonstrations like this easy to follow how to dice a shallot video by High Acheson and other skilled chefs.
