Garlic is one of the best additions to any dish whether it’s chinese or not. This versatile ingredient can be added at the beginning of cooking in the middle or at the end. It can also be chopped or minced finely or it can be used whole without any chopping whatsoever.
Here are some tips on the best way to use garlic.
SIZE
A peeled garlic’s flavour becomes more concentrated the more surface area there is. So a minced clove can be as or even more intense in flavour as a peeled but unchopped garlic.
Here are some uses for different sizes of garlic
Minced garlic – To add towards the end of cooking to enrich flavour. Also can be used for marinating.
Finely chopped garlic – Less intense than minced garlic. Used towards end of cooking to enrich flavour and for marinating.
Chopped garlic – Use towards the beginning of wok frying to flavour the oil or for use in a lot of oil for longer frying times without burning.
Whole cloves – Use for flavouring oil at beginning of cooking or in a lot of oil.
Whole or halved unpeeled garlic – Use for roasting on the same baking tray as food to be scented with garlic or inside a carcass (eg in a chicken) to flavour. Halved garlic can also be used to flavour a little oil in a wok and removed before adding ingredients.
HOW TO PEEL GARLIC
One of the most common time consuming things is usually the peeling of garlic. As I’m a speed chopper my personal method is to chop the top and tail off which releases each clove and then I position each clove and slice through a side of the skin to easily peel away. My method wastes a little of the garlic but I can get through a whole garlic in less than 20 seconds.
Another popular method is to position the garlic on a hard surface and then crush it with a chopping board or a side of a meat cleaver with the force of a palm. Any unpeeled cloves can then be quickly peeled.
Another method is to wash the garlic and peel by hand under running water.
The slowest method is to try to peel only by hand while the garlic is dry.