Meat-Cutting Techniques

1. Most cuts of meat are thinly bias-sliced before stir-frying. This ensures maximum tenderness.

2. To bias-slice meat with ease, partially freeze meat or partially thaw frozen meat.

3. Allow about 45 to 60 minutes to partially freeze a 1-inch-thick piece of meat.

4. For other thicknesses of meat, adjust the freezing time proportionately. You want the meat to be firm, but not too hard to cut.

5. Hold a cleaver or chef's knife at a 45-degree angle to the meat and thinly slice it across the grain. If necessary, make bite-size pieces by cutting the slices crosswise.

1. Bias-slice the meat.

2. Stack a few slices of meat together and cut the slices lengthwise into matchstick-size shreds.

1. Trim separable fat and remove bone from meat.

2. Remove any skin, bones, and tendons from chicken. Skin and remove bones from fish.

3. Cut the meat, poultry, or fish lengthwise into 1-inch-wide strips. Then, cut the strips crosswise into cubes.

1. Place the whole chicken breast on a cutting board, skin side up. Starting on one side of the breast, use your hands to pull the skin away from the meat. Discard the skin. Use a thin sharp knife (boning knife) to cut the meat away from one side of the breastbone, as shown. Carefully cut as close to the bone as possible.

2. Use a sawing motion to continue cutting the meat away from the rib bones, pressing a flat side of the knife against the bones, as shown. Gently pull the meat away from the bones as you cut.