How to Cut and Cook Potatoes

In every kitchen, potatoes are an essential staple. You can find them almost everywhere! They provide high amounts of iron, vitamin C, and potassium and you can cook various potatoes dishes. But, do you know that there are different ways to cut and cook potatoes?

Learning to cut and cook potatoes will save you from purchasing frozen fries or dry mashed potatoes. If you cut potatoes efficiently, quickly, and securely, your meal prep will be permanently better. So, let’s learn how to cut and cook them.

How to Cut and Cook Potatoes in Different Styles

You can cut potatoes into simple or shaped shapes. You can use any knife for the simple slicing technique that doesn’t require “sharpening” the tuber first. Circles, bars, slices, cubes, slices, straws, and shavings are examples of simple slicing. You can cut potatoes in different styles for the preparation of different types of meals.

Circle

• Cut washed and peeled potatoes into circles.
• The thickness ranges from 1-1.5 cm.
• This type of cutting is Paysanne.
• Use 1.5–2 cm thick slices for stews, baked potato wedges, and stews.
• To deep fry, use rounds between 0.7 and 1 cm.
• To cook potatoes the traditional way, slice the tubers into rings 2-3 mm thick. In this way, cut tiny and medium-sized tubers. However, cutting tiny circles out of large potatoes is challenging with a regular knife. So, shred the potatoes in a shredder to produce homemade potato chips. Use 1-2 mm-thick slices for making chips.

Slice

• You will obtain slices if you divide round potato shapes into two or four sections.
• You have to split the tuber in half lengthwise. Make two chunks out of each side of the potato, lengthwise if it is a giant potato. Cut these slices in half crosswise. Dip the opposite side of the tuber in water as you cut the first half.
• Slices 1-2 cm thick work well for baking and preparing soups.
• Slic potatoes into 2-3 mm thick pieces for frying.

Bars

• Select potatoes that are around the same size.
• Peel and wash them.
• To create a rectangular parallelepiped, trim a bit from each side of the tuber.
• Make strips out of it.
• Arrange the plates one on top of another and then slice them into bars.
• The bar is square and has 6-7 mm sides.
• These pieces are “bonnets.” You can deep-fry these slices of “bonnet”.
• Cube pieces work well for frying and soups.

Cubes

• Slice the tuber to create cubes.
• And then, chop the stack of potato slices crosswise.
• Cut up cooked or raw tubers for salads or snacks.

Different kinds of cubes

The following facet sizes are available:

1. Brunoise (Brunoise) – 1-2 mm facet;
2. Macedonian (Macédonienne) – 5 mm;
3. Jardinière – 3-4 mm;
4. Paisan – parallelepipeds with a height of 0.3-0.4 cm. and a base of 1 × 1 cm

Pieces

• Medium-sized tubers are ideal for slicing, while we rarely use small tubers.
• Divide the potatoes into four equal pieces (as for slicing).
• To create slices, divide each quarter in half.
• This slicing works well for stir-frying, producing potato wedges, stewing potatoes and meat, and baking with filled duck apples.

Straw

Straws come in very tiny, thin slices. A very sharp knife is good to cut the tuber into straws. For Korean salads, use straws instead of deep-fried French fries.

Different kinds of straws

1. Julienne – 2 mm thick by 2.5 cm long bars; 
2. Pai – 4-5 cm length

Chips

• Potato shavings are thin, long ribbons around 1-2 cm wide.
• Use a standard knife or a unique tool to cut them.
• Use a deep fryer for cooking the potato strips.

Wavy potato chips

• Peel and slice the tuber into rounds.
• Use a unique knife with a waved blade to cut potatoes in a wavy shape.

Spiral

• Make a hole in the raw potato using a metal fork.
• Attach a sharp-bladed instrument to it using screws.
• After cutting the potato with the knife, you will get a single, long, spiral-shaped ribbon that is 1 to 2 mm thick.
• Keep the spirals attached to the skewers. Then, fry them immediately using a deep fryer, just like chips. They are pretty impressive.

Ball

• You need a specific spoon for potato balls. Place it inside the tuber and rotate the stem around the center.
• You will obtain little, crisp, identical balls.
• Bake them or deep-fry them.

Slicing potatoes for country style

• Cut the potato in half lengthwise.
• At a 30° angle, divide each half. Ensure that the most significant portion of the slices has a golden crust when baked.

Conclusion

Hopefully, after reading this article, you have learned about the different styles of cutting and cooking potatoes. Follow the steps as mentioned and cook your potato in the shape and style you like.