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How to Cut Carrot Flowers
Now and then, I have readers asking me how I did the garnishes for my dishes – for example, cutting carrots to flower shapes, or slicing spring onions to wispy strips.
See Also: How to Cut Vegetables Using Scissors
I’m going to tackle the carrots one in this post, since Chinese New Year is around the corner, and a lot of people like to cut carrots in this manner as flowers are an auspicious symbol, representing richness (花开富贵). This is not just useful for CNY, but all year round too, as I’m sure any dish can be jazzed up with the pretty flowers. This tutorial will work for daikon (radish/white carrot) too.
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Method 1 (Vegetable/Cookie Cutter)1. This is a short cut method using vegetable cutter. I bought the above at Daiso Singapore for S$2. You can also use cookie cutter as well, and they come in many designs besides flowers. Since carrot is a hard vegetable, do use metal cutter rather than plastic ones. |
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2. Using vegetable/cookie cutter is really straightforward. First cut the carrot to slices, position the cutter on top of each slice and press down (I place a cloth on top for more support and to cushion the sharp edges). Discard the outer trims and push out the cut carrot. With this method, it is not necessary to peel the carrot beforehand. |
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Method 2 – Carving the Flower Petal1. This method is the manual method of carving the flower shape yourself. This is my preferred method because it will work for all sizes of carrots, and you can change the design. |
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2. Peel the carrot with a vegetable peeler. Use a sharp paring knife to mark the petals on the carrot. I decided on a 4-petal flower so you can see four slits above. |
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3. Carve a horizontal line down the first slit. Repeat with a second horizontal line about 3 mm away. |
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4. Hollow out the carrot between the two horizontal lines to complete the petal. Repeat with the other petals and when you’re done, you’ll see the flower shape. |
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5. Each slice of the carrot will give you a nice flower. My knife skills are not good so you can see that the petals are not symmetrical or perfect, but I’m happy with them. These pretty carrots are now ready to jazz up all kinds of dishes! |
I can’t wait to try doing this impressive visual trick in the next dish with carrots.
Wiffy, you’re a fan of Daiso as much as me ;) And your method is exactly the same as my mum when she wanted to ‘deceive’ me to eat vegggie when I was a kid :D
I think I am going to be doing a lot of little flowers. Something else to drive my husband crazy. Thanks for the lesson.
Hello! I got the same floral cutters as you did from Daiso just 2-3 days back. Such instant efforts to cut vegetables duncha think? They could double as cookie cutters too and I reverse them to use them as round dough cutters for Macha Sable cookies I just made! That’s killing so many birds with one stone.
And don’t discard the outer rims. Can be chopped up and added to minced meat to make meat balls or ngoh hiang! :)
that’s a great tip! thanks for sharing … love it when nothing goes to waste :)
Cool! I was just ogling some Japanese soups with pretty veggies in them, wondering how they’re designed. Easier than I thought. Thanks, Wiffy!
Thanks for sharing your techniques Wiffy! I have been thinking of ways to make my food look better and this really helps a lot.
I have that cutters too. It’s very useful.
Hi,
I got the same cutters from Daiso & is using method 1 as I think it is much safer & easier to cut the carrots.
Thanks so much for sharing both these methods. Love the second as I don’t have such a cute flower cutter.
Thanks for sharing! These cutters look great. They certainly make an otherwise dull vegetable look at bit more interesting – maybe carrots shaped like flowers will be more tempting for children.