Martin Yan's Lightning-Fast Method For Crushing Garlic

From Italian pasta to Cajun gumbos to Asian stir-fries, freshly crushed garlic can add a fantastic flavor boost to a wide variety of dishes. Still, there's no denying that crushing garlic can be a tedious process when done in some of the more traditional ways. Fortunately, legendary Chinese-American chef and media personality Martin Yan has a surprising and straightforward method that can dramatically speed things up once you master it.

In a video with YouTuber Nigel Ng (aka Uncle Roger), Yan demonstrates the technique with a motion that is so quick and seamless that you might miss it if you're not careful. To crush the garlic, he simply positions the blade of his knife parallel to the cutting board and smoothly and quickly smashes down and slides to the side. The downward pressure pulverizes the garlic clove while the scrape sideways breaks the pieces into the perfect size and texture. When done correctly, the entire process takes barely a second or two.

As simple as it looks, it doubtless requires some practice, as Ng shows when he attempts it for the first time with only partial success. It also requires the proper equipment; In this case, that's a broad, rectangular knife like the Chinese cleaver used by Yan. These lighter blades are often used in a bench-scraping motion similar to the one demonstrated here to crush the garlic. Some similarly-shaped alternatives that may also work include the Japanese Santoku knife or the traditional Western cleaver.

In the video, Martin Yan notes that in Nigel Ng's first attempt, the garlic was "not crushed properly." This might seem like a matter of preference, but it's also a vital flavor factor. Garlic's pungent taste increases the more it's smashed, chopped, or crushed, meaning a fully crushed clove will infuse more flavor than a partially crushed one of the same size. The flavor also degrades over time, an important reason you should never use minced garlic from a jar.

Once mastered, Yan's method offers all the benefits of grating your garlic, without an extra kitchen tool to clean and all the advantages of finely mincing without the required knife skills and effort. When slightly modified and repeated back-and-forth, the smash-and-scrape technique is also the centerpiece of one of the easiest way to make garlic paste, another preparation called for by some recipes. Keep this technique in mind, and you'll be able to try all sorts of recipes any garlic lover will appreciate (such as simple garlic butter and easy roasted garlic Aioli), without the hassle of painstakingly preparing each clove.