HOW TO: Julienne Carrots
Julia Davidson, of America’s Test Kitchen and Cooks Country, recently shared this technique for Julienne Carrots. Brenda was amazed at its ease and wants to share it with you.
Julienne, or matchstick, carrots add beauty to any dish. Brenda saw an ingenious hack for beautiful julienned carrots on Instagram. The post was created and shared by Julia Davidson, of America’s Test Kitchen and Cooks Country. Lately she has been sharing a series of basic prep and cooking tips. When Julia shared this method, Brenda immediately tried it out and was amazed at the ease.
Brenda has already employed this technique to cut slender carrot sticks, widening the cuts to ~1/4”, perfect for a 2 yr old to munch on at snack time.
HOW TO: Julienne Carrots—Quickly
You’ll need a cutting board, a sharp knife (Brenda prefers the Cutco Santoku Chef’s Knife, but any knife will do), and carrots.
Recommended: select the fattest carrots from the bag.
Step #1: Oblong Disks
Prepare carrot, either peeling or scrubbing clean
Trim the root end of carrot at an angle of ~45 degrees
Using a sharp knife, cut 1/8” slices, following the angle of the first cut for the length of the carrot
Step #2: Julienne
Cut each oblong disk in 1/8” matchsticks (cut individually or stack a few)
Brenda’s tips:
Quick! Julienne some carrots:
any stew or casserole
Using the fattest carrots reduces work time as the oblong disks cut in step one are wider, resulting in more matchsticks.
Lo Mein Veggie Style
Lo Mein means “stirred veggies” and is essentially Julienned veggies + noodles + sauce.
Brenda LOVED running the bridges in NYC. When we were training to run The Great Saunter we mapped out an early morning run that included routes over the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. To get to the Manhattan bridge we opted to run through the heart of Chinatown. One thing we did NOT plan for were the delicious smells of an NYC summer morning.
We began our run around 5:15 am, putting us in the heart of Chinatown at 5:30 am. At this hour, the fish markets were laying out the morning’s catch. The potent fish smell only enhanced the aroma of fermenting trash piled in bags on the street corners. When Brenda started to comment on how horrible the smells were, a city worker, leaf-blower in hand, began cleaning the sidewalk, creating a huge, grimy dust cloud that immediately engulfed us.
I’ve never seen Brenda run so quickly. I’m pretty sure we PR’d that morning.
Lo Mein Veggie Style
Lo Mein means “stirred veggies” [according to google] and is essentially Julienned veggies + noodles + sauce.
Start a large pot of water, when boiling add:
Salt
8 oz noodles
Cook according to noodle package directions.
In a small bowl, put together sauce and set aside:
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
Julienne any combination of the following veggies:
1 medium onion
2 medium carrots
1/4 head cabbage
1 bell pepper
1 cup mushrooms
2 cups baby spinach leaves
3-4 stalks celery
In a large skillet or wok, sauté:
Julienned vegetables
Cook until crisp-tender, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in:
Noodles, drained
Sauce
Cook 2 minutes. Serve hot.
Brenda’s Tips:
Serving Size: 4 servings
“Julienne” means to slice into thin short strips.... think 1/8”-3/16” x 2”
Noodles - Brenda uses spaghetti because it’s something she always has on hand. (Spaghetti is Brenda’s favorite meal, yes even above T-bone steak and hash browns!) This recipe works great with spaghetti or fettuccini pasta, or you can use real Lo Mein noodles .... they’re all made using wheat flour.