Shelf · Knife & prep · No heat
Mincing
Chopping something — usually garlic, shallot or a herb — until the pieces are too small to pick out individually.
Why it works
Below a certain size the pieces stop reading as texture and start reading as flavour spread through the whole dish. It also breaks far more cell walls, which is why minced garlic tastes sharper and stronger than sliced garlic from the same clove.
The tell
The pile holds together in a slightly damp mass, and no single piece stands out when you spread it with the blade.
- Chunk
- Baton
- Matchstick
How it fails
Mincing past this point crushes rather than cuts and the garlic turns to bitter paste. And because minced garlic is so much more exposed, it burns in a pan long before sliced garlic would — add it later, or over lower heat.
In the app, the card opens on the recipe step that names it, with the tell drawn.
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