KNIFE SKILLS

One thing that defines Thai fine dining is undoubtedly 'knife skills' as seen in this Lemon Grass Salad. The tiny rings come from taking layers of a lemon grass stick until the circumference matches that of the baby onions, shallots and scallions.  The other ingredients are : mint chiffonade, coriander leaves, dry chili julienned, roasted peanuts, deep fried 'fansi', thinly sliced Cantonese fried dough or Yau-Jar-Kwai to yield texture and further crispiness, a nice touch.  If you look carefully (apologies for the inverted picture, somehow I could not rotate it on Picasa) the different ingredients are cut in direct proportion to each other, to ensure the most esthetic culinary presentation.  It reminds me of the Le Cordon Bleu regimen of preparing 'brunoise' cuts where veggies are cut into juliennes first, then quarter turned into tiny cubes in exact dimensions, for garnish and in consommes.  Such knife skills require only one thing ... practice, practice, and more practice until it becomes second nature, when the command goes directly from the brain to the hand, without even involving the eyes when one cuts.  One starts eating with one's eyes cannot be more true in this instance.  It is a simple salad, beautifully cut, artistically presented and of course, dressed to perfection.