Flower Carrots

Appears in
Chinese Technique
Chinese Technique

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

  • About
Any time a dish calls for sliced carrots, you can use a few extra strokes of the cleaver to convert them into delightful flower shapes. Carrots must be blanched before they are incorporated into stir-fried dishes or soups, unless they are sliced very thin.
  1. Cut scraped carrots into 3- or 4-inch chunks. Angling the cleaver, cut V shapes ⅛ to ¼ inch deep into the side of the carrot. Repeat the procedure, spacing the grooves evenly around the outside of the carrot. (Make four or five cuts, depending on the size of the carrot.)

  2. Slice the carrot crosswise to form little flowers.