I’m a big fan of anything that makes prep work faster & easier and I’m sure you are too. Our lives are busier than ever, whether your responsibilities include a stressful job, children or just worklife balance- it’s always best to find those little kitchen tools that serve as the workhorses. Personally, I’m always on the lookout for items that serve multiple purposes. How many times have you opened your kitchen “junk drawer” and the thing is just LOADED with stuff? Or can you even open it? Mine is so jammed that my measuring cups prevent me from fully opening it! A tool for zesting, a tool for juicing, measuring spoons, cups, vegetable peelers, pizza cutters… the list goes on! So, in my quest to make perfect fresh zucchini ribbons a few years ago, I had tried a few methods with little success. I mean, my vegetable peeler worked, but the pieces seemed, I don’t know, kind of short and chunky.
I set out to look for a mandoline. Since at the time, I was working across the street from Crate & Barrel I decided to go check it out. They had ONE mandoline and here’s the kicker, it was $200!! It was huge, stainless steel with numerous blade attachments and a giant finger guard. I needed it, but I didn’t need it for $200, plus I had some space constraints living in my tiny apartment. So, I went without a mandoline for a few years until I discovered a jewel in a small Asian grocer, THE JAPANESE BENRINER!!
This madoline is small & compact, easy to clean, easy to use, no electricity necessary (buh-bye food processor) cheap and comes with extra blades for a variety of dicing & julienning styles. Its also sharp as hell, the blades made of carbon steel so it is best to use the finger guard it comes with. I myself am guilty of not using the finger guard, but I’ll throw away that last bit of whatever I’m slicing to save my finger tips! I definitely am not interesting is slicing away a bit of my index finger with my fingerling potatoes! No pressure is necessary as you glide the food over the blade, the Benriner pretty much does all the work for you.
As with any cutting implement, be sure to wash and immediately dry your tool to prevent the blade from dulling. The main blade on the Benriner is permanently attached and you basically adjust the cutting surface on the back with a screw to vary the thickness of your slices. If you want to julienne or would like to fancy up your salad with carrot or cucumber sticks, you then would screw in one of the special blade attachments.
I’ve sliced up everything from cabbage for slaw to potatoes for pizza (yeah, potatoes on pizza are awesome non-believer!) and perfectly sliced radishes for salads. This mandoline is truly fantastic. I paid $15 for mine, it’s the 2 ½ inch sliding surface and it’s available at Asian grocers or on Amazon.com
There are a few size options and you may also want to consider purchasing some Kevlar gloves with yours if you might find the finger guard awkward to use. Grab this guy if you love ease & convenience. And By the way, the "benri" part of "benriner" apparently comes from the Japanese word for "useful" but a more accurate translation would be “convenient, isn’t it?” It definitely is!!
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