The chef showed how to cut and shred cabbage with a knife quickly and without cutting yourself

Perfectly shredded cabbage – thin, of equal thickness and length, juicy and crispy. We suggest you learn how to chop cabbage with a knife correctly and quickly. We’ll also talk about special devices: types of shredding devices, pros and cons, application features.

Which knife is better to use?

The quality and speed of shredding cabbage depends 75% on the correct choice of knife. This is a fairly dense vegetable. The knife must have enough weight to cut through it with ease.

Experienced chefs use a large chef's knife 25-30 cm long to shred cabbage.

Less often in a professional kitchen you can find a special Japanese kyabeshikiri knife. It is large, with a wide semicircular blade 18-22 cm long and single-sided sharpening.

Rarely does anyone use large knives at home. You need to choose from what is available:

• universal chef knife 20 cm long;
• Japanese santoku knife;
• any other knife with a thick blade.

Heavy knives cut dense foods easily and accurately due to their mass.They are also convenient for cutting carrots, potatoes into strips, cutting steaks and performing many other manipulations.

How to chop cabbage thinly with a knife?

If the shredding knife is chosen correctly, the rest is a matter of technique. To chop cabbage skillfully and quickly, you need:

1. Prepare your work area: place a large board on the table and prepare a large bowl for cabbage straws.
2. Check the correct grip of the knife. You should grasp the handle and press the plane of the blade with your thumb and forefinger. The index finger should be bent.
3. Divide the head of cabbage into parts and cut out the stalk. The large head is divided into 4 or more parts, the small one can be divided in half.
4. Take one of the parts and peel off 5-7 sheets, depending on the thickness.
5. Place a stack of sheets on a board with the convex side up and press lightly.
6. Use a knife to cut into strips of the desired thickness. The movements should be swaying, and the tip of the blade should not rise, but slide along the board.
7. Short straws for salad are obtained by cutting cabbage leaves crosswise, long ones for salting are obtained by cutting cabbage leaves diagonally.

Video tutorial: how to properly and quickly chop cabbage with a knife:

Our great-grandmothers spent days and weeks chopping cabbage in order to ferment it for the winter. The harvest was collected together and also prepared together. “Cabbages” continued from Vozdvizhenye to Intercession.

Today, modern devices make it possible to chop several kilograms of vegetables in one sitting. A variety of devices allows you to find the best option for the needs of a particular family.

Graters

To shred cabbage, you can use the long-slotted side of a grater or buy a separate one.The device looks like a board with built-in cutters; it can be made of plastic, wood, or less often metal.

Graters differ in the number of cutters (from 1 to 3), the quality of the blades, and accordingly the cost (from 150 to 3000 rubles). The most expensive graters have several attachment inserts, as well as a fruit holder, which helps protect your fingers from injury.

How you can quickly shred cabbage using a Borner grater is shown in the video:

The principle is as follows:

1. The vegetable is cut into several parts that are convenient to hold in the hand.
2. The grater is installed at an angle.
3. The cabbage is rubbed on a surface with cutters.
4. When a piece becomes too small, it is pricked onto the fruit holder.

Electric vegetable cutter

A compact alternative to a food processor is an electric vegetable cutter, or, as it is also called, a multi-cutter (electric grater). The device does almost all the work for the owner.

Application:

1. Install a shredder attachment for medium or thin straws into the multi-cutter.
2. Cut the head of cabbage into small pieces.
3. Place the vegetable pieces in the compartment.
4. Press with a pusher.
5. Place a deep bowl.
6. Press the “ON” button.

An example of shredding cabbage on an electric vegetable cutter Moulinex DJ905:

Special knife for shredding

A knife with two blades located in the middle of the working surface has been developed specifically for shredding cabbage. Essentially, it is a mobile grater with a handle.

How to use a cabbage knife:

1. Cut off the “cap” of the cabbage.
2. Move the knife up and down the cut.

Advice. To avoid accidentally touching your fingers, you can insert a knife into a dense head of cabbage and hold the cabbage by the handle of the knife, like a holder.

Mechanical shredder

In appearance, a manual shredder looks like a meat grinder. It is designed like an electric vegetable cutter. The difference is that you have to turn a crank instead of pressing a button.

Necessary:

1. Cut the head of cabbage into small pieces.
2. Place the bowl next to a mechanical shredder.
3. Place the pieces in the upper compartment.
4. Press the cabbage down with a squash.
5. Turn the handle until the compartment is empty.

What the device looks like:

Peeler

You can chop cabbage... using a vegetable peeler. This simple device works as follows:

1. We cut the head of cabbage in half.
2. We move the vegetable peeler up and down along the cut.

Video:

Questions and answers

Which device to choose for shredding a large amount of cabbage?

Professional chefs prefer to use a good chef's knife. With the correct technique, the shredding speed is colossal, and the quality of the straw is ideal. If you want to put in a minimum of effort, a food processor with a special attachment or an electric vegetable cutter can help you chop a large amount of cabbage. It is important to choose a good quality model so that the processor does not miss pieces of leaves and does not squeeze juice out of the vegetable.

Which cabbage is easier to shred?

Juicy and fresh cabbage is easier to chop than wilted (lying) cabbage. Early vegetables are mainly chopped for salads, while mid- and late-ripening ones are suitable for pickling and salting.

With the right approach, you can shred cabbage at a speed of 1 kg per minute. It is not necessary to use special devices. All you need is a good chef's knife and a little practice.