My neighbor in Chengdu told me to stop peeling garlic and I should have listened

So I've been living in Chengdu for about 8 months now and my neighbor Auntie Li kept telling me to just smash garlic with the flat side of my knife instead of peeling each clove by hand. I thought she was just being lazy and ignored her for months. Finally last week I was making mapo tofu and had to prep like 15 cloves and got so frustrated I tried her method. It took me maybe 2 minutes total and the garlic came out perfectly smashed for the stir fry. I felt like such a dummy for wasting all that time peeling individual cloves every single time I cooked. Has anyone else had a local cooking tip that completely changed how you prep food?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan_butler9311d ago

Nah you got it a little backwards. You don't smash garlic to get the skin off easily. You're supposed to smash it first, then the skin basically falls right off cause it's all cracked. Then you can chop it fine or leave it smashed depending on the dish. Smashing it whole and then trying to fish the skin out of your smashed garlic is way more annoying than just smacking it first, peeling the skin off in one piece, then doing whatever you want with it. Auntie Li was right about the method but you might be doing it in the wrong order. Give it another shot but smash first, peel second.

emerycarr11d ago

Bro @rowan_butler93 I feel you but honestly the whole smash method changed my life too. My landlord in Kunming showed me how to do it with a cleaver and now I cant go back. The game changer for me was realizing you dont even need a knife if you have a heavy bottomed pot or a jar. Just put the clove under a flat surface and press down hard. Works every time. I used to spend like 10 minutes picking at those tiny skins and getting garlic juice under my nails. Now its done in 30 seconds flat. Auntie Li was definitely onto something but yeah smash first then peel is the real pro move.