Precision Mincing: Cutting Hard Things to a Teeny-Tiny Square Dice

Mincing is often the extension of precision dicing in an exacting Chinese kitchen, where a square mince of infinitesimal cubes is considered delightful on the tongue and a treat for the eye. In the minced topping for a fish, for instance, the play of precise, nubbly bits against the smooth fish flesh is thought to be far more engaging, in a yin-yang drama of textures, than an irregular mince or mash of things afloat indistinguishably in a sauce.

Sauce ingredients like garlic and ginger and garnishes such as Smithfield ham are thus often given this precision treatment. The technique is quite simple, the approach differing slightly with the shape of the object to be minced.