Tuesday, January 19, 2010

My New Vocabulary: Julienne Peeler


Image courtesy of Williams-Sonoma Inc

Today I discovered something new with regard to a kitchen utensil. It's called the Julienne Peeler. I was having dinner with my missus at a Hainan Restaurant near where we live and one of the fried rice we ordered had a very thin sliced stripped cucumber. I've seen thin strips of carrot and cucumber before, such as in California Handrolls, and some pita sandwiches. I've always wondered how can anyone slice the vegies that thin. At first I thought it was the works of a grater, but later on I found out that a grater couldn't do the work (after trying it at home).

Back to the story, I curiously asked the Hainan Restaurant owner how did they sliced the cucumber. Without asking any further, he answered while going in the kitchen area, "We use a special tool, mostly used in hotel  restaurants. This tool is not normally found in common shops, but they are available". Shortly after, he came back out and showed me a utensil that looks like peeler, but with an additional corrugated blade. I thank him for sharing the info, and he replied with a smile "You're welcome. You're not the first to ask."

As soon as I got home, I Googled and found out that special peeler is called a Julienne Peeler.

The julienne peeler is a hand held kitchen utensils which cut vegetables into even and thin strips, the style of which is known as julienne cut.

These thin strips of vegetables are usually used for dressing up dishes such as pasta and salads and may also be become a part of cooked dishes such as a stir-fry.

These julienne strips need to be even in size so that they cook in an even manner, without losing their physical appearance.

These are the two most important traits of delicious and presentable food, and are widely adopted by professional chefs worldwide.

Source quoted from: http://www.juliennepeeler.com/

Need a visual clue what a Julienner Peeler is? Check out this video below. I found it through http://www.juliennepeeler.com/ . Now that I know what a Julienne Peeler is, I'm gonna go find them. The restaurant owner suggested Ace Hardware and the household shops at PJ Old Town. I'm gonna give my household supply shop near the office a try first. Enjoy the video!

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