Did you know that you can grate garlic rather than slice, dice or mince it? I didn’t know how to grate garlic until I saw a chef do it on a cooking show! How ingenious! An easier way to get fine pieces of fresh garlic in to your food and recipes without slicing a finger. Oh, wait a minute; I guess grating your fingers can be just as painful {grin}.
Since seeing this garlic grating technique demonstrated on TV, I’ve tried it a few times using a microplane. But, when I found this darling little grater at World Market for 99 cents, I had to buy it! And, what better thing to try it out on than a clove of garlic?
Look at the mess of papery garlic skins created just from these 3 garlic cloves? Who knew that garlic is so well insulated? {grin}
How big is a clove of garlic? Maybe a half inch? Comparing this itty bitty grater to a clove of garlic gives you an indication of its size. It measures 3 inches tall by 1 inch wide by 1 1/2 inches across. So cute!
So how do you grate garlic? Here are the steps:
- Loosen the cloves of garlic from the head, using fingers.
- Remove the cloves of garlic from the head of garlic.
- Peel off the outer skin with your fingers, exposing the flesh of the garlic, and discard the skin.
- Rub the garlic clove up and down the grater until the garlic is grated.
- Reserve leftover ends and pieces of garlic for another use or discard.
I still finely mince my garlic with a knife most of the time. Force of habit, I think. Or maybe it’s just old age because I forget that I have this cute little grater? Or, maybe, it’s just that I like cutting things with a knife…relieving the day’s frustrations and stress – the narrowing, laser-beam focus needed to chop anything (so you don’t cut yourself {grin})…
But, now I know how to grate garlic!
Tootles,
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I tried grating garlic and it was like it disappeared. I couldn’t get anything sizeable off the grater.
Yes, depending on the size of your grater, it is quite possible that the garlic “disappears.” But, it does infuse cooked sauces with a garlicky flavor when added. Thanks for your comment, Ellen!
Why would you grate it as opposed to mincing it? I’ve seen this on cooking shows too but don’t know what the advantage is or why this matters and when to do it versus mincing. Thanks for sharing insights on this.
Thanks for stopping by, Carla! If your knife skills aren’t so great, mincing garlic can be a bit of a challenge and grating garlic is an easier alternative. And, grating garlic is faster than mincing, chopping, slicing, crushing, etc. That said, grated garlic is a bit bitter and produces a stronger, garlicky flavor, so shouldn’t be used in recipes that aren’t cooked, such as raw in salad dressings. It has to do with rupturing the cells of garlic. Here’s a great article that explains it: The Best Way to Mince Garlic from Serious Eats: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/01/how-to-mince-chop-garlic-microplane-vs-garlic-press.html Hope this helps!