It gave her great sense of tranquility doing just that.
Methodically, she cut the carrot into half. One half she placed on the chopping board while the other went into the plastic container. She took the green capsicum from container and sliced off about a centimeter thick portion before replacing the remainder back to its place. Automatically she replaced the cover of the container and returned it to the fridge. Those would be for later, she had thought.
Washing the three french beans which she had brought out, she picked off the ends and peeled off as much of the veins of the beans as she can. She washed them again and as with the other veges, placed on the chopping board. She took the half carrot and with a peeler, peeled off the skin. She doesn't like carrots with skin. The presence of the fine roots made her feel carrots were unclean. Once done peeling, she cut the tip off slightly.
All the peeling, cleaning and washing done, she took the carrot and the beans and placed them on the counter top beside her. Only the capsicum was left on the chopping board. That would be the first to be diced into small cubes. The capsicum took just a little over a couple minutes to be turned into finely diced pieces. She pushed them all into the bowl nearby.
The french beans were next. She decided they just needed fine slicing. This took slightly longer, as her knife isn't that sharp anymore and the beans were, well, you could say, not that young. The finely sliced beans pieces went into the bowl as well.
Next, it was the half carrot's turn. This required more time. She methodically divided the carrot into two before tackling the first portion. Determined to have them diced very small, she took her time. Slowly, the big carrot stick turned into thin slices which were then turned into very thin strips before ending up as finely diced cubes, probably half the size of a rice grain. She repeated this with the remainder of the carrot. Once all done, she placed these too into the bowl.
She turned around and took a step to the counter behind her. The packet of mince meat was laying there, defrosting since morning. Beside it, another container with the pack of wantan skin sat. She took the mince meat and placed it into bowl. It had not really de-frozed yet, making it look like a soft, lump sitting majestically on top of all the veges.
The combination looked so pretty, she thought, so many colours. Light green, orange, darker green, and then there's the meat colour. She had purposely chosen all those veges to get that colourful combination. Food shouldn't be dull and monotone. But something seemed to be lacking. She thought and looked at her colourful mount. Oh, the onion.
Quickly, she chose the smallest onion from its basket. Cutting it into two, she then peeled the skin off both sides. The onion needs to be just like the carrots, she decided. Automatically, she made slices through half the onion, crossing its grain. She had learnt that technique from the many cooking programmes she watched on the idiot box. Onions get diced faster this way. Once that was done, she cut the onion along the its grain. Immediately, diced pieces appeared. She finished up and continued the same process with the other remaining half of the onion. The onion mount grew on the chopping board as she cut, until finally a mini mount was sitting in the middle of the wooden board.
She gave a few more random cut across the onion mount, trying to make the already small diced onions smaller. She disliked big, chewable pieces of onions, but understood it's important role in making most dishes nice, sweet and aromatic. Satisfied, she stopped and poured this into the bowl. There, that should do it.
I'll let them sit a little while longer, she thought, happily. The cutting skills were certainly improving, along with her creativity. She let herself gloat in pleasure for her amateurish efforts. Art in cooking, she just couldn't stop herself.
Methodically, she cut the carrot into half. One half she placed on the chopping board while the other went into the plastic container. She took the green capsicum from container and sliced off about a centimeter thick portion before replacing the remainder back to its place. Automatically she replaced the cover of the container and returned it to the fridge. Those would be for later, she had thought.
Washing the three french beans which she had brought out, she picked off the ends and peeled off as much of the veins of the beans as she can. She washed them again and as with the other veges, placed on the chopping board. She took the half carrot and with a peeler, peeled off the skin. She doesn't like carrots with skin. The presence of the fine roots made her feel carrots were unclean. Once done peeling, she cut the tip off slightly.
All the peeling, cleaning and washing done, she took the carrot and the beans and placed them on the counter top beside her. Only the capsicum was left on the chopping board. That would be the first to be diced into small cubes. The capsicum took just a little over a couple minutes to be turned into finely diced pieces. She pushed them all into the bowl nearby.
The french beans were next. She decided they just needed fine slicing. This took slightly longer, as her knife isn't that sharp anymore and the beans were, well, you could say, not that young. The finely sliced beans pieces went into the bowl as well.
Next, it was the half carrot's turn. This required more time. She methodically divided the carrot into two before tackling the first portion. Determined to have them diced very small, she took her time. Slowly, the big carrot stick turned into thin slices which were then turned into very thin strips before ending up as finely diced cubes, probably half the size of a rice grain. She repeated this with the remainder of the carrot. Once all done, she placed these too into the bowl.
She turned around and took a step to the counter behind her. The packet of mince meat was laying there, defrosting since morning. Beside it, another container with the pack of wantan skin sat. She took the mince meat and placed it into bowl. It had not really de-frozed yet, making it look like a soft, lump sitting majestically on top of all the veges.
The combination looked so pretty, she thought, so many colours. Light green, orange, darker green, and then there's the meat colour. She had purposely chosen all those veges to get that colourful combination. Food shouldn't be dull and monotone. But something seemed to be lacking. She thought and looked at her colourful mount. Oh, the onion.
Quickly, she chose the smallest onion from its basket. Cutting it into two, she then peeled the skin off both sides. The onion needs to be just like the carrots, she decided. Automatically, she made slices through half the onion, crossing its grain. She had learnt that technique from the many cooking programmes she watched on the idiot box. Onions get diced faster this way. Once that was done, she cut the onion along the its grain. Immediately, diced pieces appeared. She finished up and continued the same process with the other remaining half of the onion. The onion mount grew on the chopping board as she cut, until finally a mini mount was sitting in the middle of the wooden board.
She gave a few more random cut across the onion mount, trying to make the already small diced onions smaller. She disliked big, chewable pieces of onions, but understood it's important role in making most dishes nice, sweet and aromatic. Satisfied, she stopped and poured this into the bowl. There, that should do it.
I'll let them sit a little while longer, she thought, happily. The cutting skills were certainly improving, along with her creativity. She let herself gloat in pleasure for her amateurish efforts. Art in cooking, she just couldn't stop herself.
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