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Rock-Mincing: Cutting Hard Things to Small Irregular Bits
Appears in
Published 1982
When mincing is to serve a flavor purpose primarily and exacting shape is not important to the eye or the tongue, ingredients are quickly rock-minced to a pile of small, irregular particles.
The first step is to reduce the item to a coarse chop. Large items are best broken down through dicing, as described above. Smaller items, like a clove of garlic or a nugget of ginger may be simply smashed with the broad side or handle end of a cleaver to ready them for mincing.
Rock-mincing is a simple matter of letting the weight of the cleaver do the work, and guiding the blade to rock evenly up and down over the food. First, steady the far end of the blade with your three joined middle fingers. There’s no need to forcefully grasp the blade and waste energy. You simply need to steady it with a relaxed hand. Then, grip the handle near the blade with your other hand, holding it in a relaxed close-chopping hold with your thumb and first finger touching the blade lightly to guide it. The steadied tip of the blade should meet the board, and the other end should be raised an inch or two above the food.