How (and why) to cut food on the bias

It may look like some fancy french cut that you'll probably never use in day to day cooking. but cutting on the bias is a simple cutting technique with great benefits.

Three reason why you may want to cut on the bias

  1. Visual appeal

  2. Faster cooking

  3. Better browning (aka more flavor)

Visual appeal aside, the latter two are very important for cooking techniques such as sauteing, grilling, or stir-frying, but how does cutting on a bias actually make vegetables cook faster or brown better? It's all about surface area.

By cutting on the bias, you are exposing more surface area for cooking. Try a little experiment where you compare vegetables cut on the bias vs normal vertical cuts. You can see the surface area difference. Here’s a quick recipe for you to test your bias cutting skills

Blister Bias Stir Fry

Ingredients:

  • 1 TBSP (14 g) vegetable oil

  • 2 handfuls of Green beans, cut on the bias

  • 2 Carrots, cut into thin slices on the bias

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 red hot chile, minced

  • 1 TBSP (14 g) Soy sauce

  • 1 TSP (5 g) Mirin

  • 1 TSP (5 g) White vinegar

  • Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top

Method:

  • Heat a pan over medium high heat with the vegetable oil

  • Add the bias cut green beans and stir fry until blistering and browning occurs.

  • Add in the minced garlic and chile and saute for 1 minute.

  • Reduce the heat to medium, add in the soy sauce, mirin and vinegar, until slightly reduced.

  • Sprinkle in the sesame seeds and mix.

Ethan Chlebowski