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Party In My Tummy: Peel Garlic with a Bang!

by | Food, Uncategorized

Whew!  I’ve been non-stop crafting for the past week, finishing up a crochet giraffe for a client and FINALLY completing a project I’ve been meaning to do for a really long time!  I can’t tell you what it is yet, since it’s up for the So You Think You’re Crafty audition; I’m so excited to be handing it in today.  Cross your fingers and wish me luck!  Or even better, vote for me when the time comes!  Trust me, I’ll definitely be letting you know when and where to vote.

On to the cookery!  Something simple today – another easy but oh so useful little tip, and an experiment!

 

How to Peel Garlic | One Dog Woof | #cookingtips

 

I remember there was one day, not so very long ago, when I was sitting in my mother’s kitchen “helping” her cook, and she asked me to peel some garlic.  (We use lots of garlic in stir fry, know why?  Because it’s yum!)  So there I sat, at the kitchen table, meticulously peeling the little flaky papery layers off each clove of garlic.

 

mom: WHAT are you DOING?!

me: huh?

mom: Why are you PEELING the garlic?  Do you seriously do this every time you cook?

 

Ok, one thing.  This all happened in Chinese, and my memory is a bit sketchy, so it’s my best shot at a rough translation.

 

Well, that was when I learned the following method for taking the skin off the garlic clove:

Hit it with the side of a knife,

A chef’s knife, a big honkin’ chinese cleaver, your pick.  Probably not a paring knife though.

 

How to Peel Garlic | One Dog Woof | #cookingtips

How to Peel Garlic | One Dog Woof | #cookingtips

 

BANG.

It feels pretty good after a frustrating day at work, way better than getting more and more frustrated peeling sticky garlic skin that refuses to come off all the while getting that long-lasting garlic smell all over your fingers to remind you of your frustration for the next several days.

 

How to Peel Garlic | One Dog Woof | #cookingtips

 

BANG.

 

The skin splits and falls right off.  Works really well with big fat cloves.  Not so well with the itty bitty little cloves at the center of the head, but still works.

A little bang to loosen the skin if you want the clove intact.  A big BANG! if you want to smash it open, release the juices a bit and slice/mince it up.

The experiment?  I saw a video a while back about a “10 second method to peel a whole head of garlic”.  Have you heard about this?

 

How to Peel Garlic | One Dog Woof | #cookingtips

 

The theory is that you smash open the head of garlic with the palm of your hand, throw it all in a bowl, cover with another bowl, and shake shake shake for 10 seconds, at which point all the cloves of garlic are now naked.

 

How to Peel Garlic | One Dog Woof | #cookingtips

 

I gave it a try, and my rate of nekkid-ness was definitely not 100%.  I got 5 bare cloves, and 9 cloves still in skin.  Two of those were easier to peel, but the others looked like they were not at all affected by being thrown around between two metal bowls.

Conclusion:  I like my method better.  Bang.  Lets out a little steam, not as much noise as a dozen cloves rolling around a metal enclosure, and pretty much guaranteed naked cloves.

 

How do you peel your garlic?  Have you tried the bowl method?   And take a look at what other tips I’m cooking up!

 

2 Comments

  1. Grateful4Crochet

    Loving these posts, I am learning so much 🙂

  2. Alecia @ ChickenScratch NY

    I’m a garlic basher. I think I might have actually learned that from TV!

    Great series!

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