Session 5 — The Julienne
← Block 1–2: Knife Skills & Kitchen Setup Overview
Skill: Take two carrots and one zucchini — or a firm apple, a parsnip, a cucumber, whatever you have that's firm. Square off each piece first (cut a flat face on one side so it doesn't roll). Slice into planks. Stack the planks and cut into matchsticks — roughly 2–3 inches long, ⅛ inch thick. This is also the foundation of the brunoise (tiny dice). Go slow. Precision before speed.
The drill veg become dinner. Toss your finished julienne strips with a splash of lime juice, a few drops of fish sauce, and a pinch of sugar. Toss well and let them sit for five minutes — they wilt slightly and become a sharp, bright slaw that pairs directly with the Pad Thai. This is not a side note; it is the intended side dish for this session.
While you have your knife out: grab a small handful of fresh basil leaves. Stack them neatly, roll the stack into a tight cylinder, and slice straight across it into thin ribbons. That's chiffonade — the same logic as julienne, applied to soft leaves instead of hard vegetables. It takes 30 seconds. (The actual finish for this Pad Thai recipe is Chinese flat garlic chives, not basil — apply the same technique to the chives before the final off-heat toss.)
Why it matters: Julienned vegetables cook faster and more evenly than rough cuts. Chiffonade keeps delicate herbs from bruising — a rough chop turns basil black at the edges almost immediately. Both cuts signal control.
Full Meal: The Best Pad Thai
Sourcing note — this recipe has more specialty ingredients than it first appears: - Dried shrimp (small/medium) — key aromatic; no real substitute - Sweet preserved radish, pre-minced (chai poh) — key aromatic; get the sweet version, not the salty one - Chinese flat garlic chives — the finishing green; scallions work in a pinch but taste different - Pressed/extra-firm tofu — used as an aromatic base alongside pork, not a protein substitute - Tamarind concentrate, Thai brand (not Indian — different consistency, different ratios) - Medium rice noodles — ingredients should read rice flour and water only; do not boil, just soak
Thai Kitchen fish sauce is now at most regular grocery stores. Everything else is best found at an Asian grocery in one trip. Tamarind sub if stuck: 1½ tsp lime juice + ¾ tsp brown sugar per tablespoon of tamarind.
| Component | Notes |
|---|---|
| Protein | Pork shoulder (default, sliced thin); or shrimp; or omit pork for tofu-only |
| Aromatics | Pressed tofu + sweet preserved radish + dried shrimp + shallot — stir-fried before the egg |
| Egg | Added right after aromatics, before noodles — let it set, then break up; don't scramble |
| Sauce | Palm sugar + tamarind concentrate + fish sauce (roughly 2 tbsp each) |
| Starch | Rice noodles — soak in warm water 30 min; do not boil |
| Veg & finish | Mung bean sprouts + Chinese flat garlic chives — bulk goes in raw, off heat |
| Garnish | Crushed peanuts, lime wedges, Thai chile powder (or red chili flakes) |
🎥 Compare Notes: Get More Out of Your Broccoli With This Knife Trick — Not broccoli today, but the principle is the same: thin, even cuts change how a vegetable cooks and eats. Watch the logic, apply it to your julienne.