| In Chinese cooking, vegetables need to be cut to a size appropriate for the cooking method; stir-fries need finely chopped vegetables which will cook quickly, hot pots and stews need to be a little larger in order to add flavour to the stock. Here are some of the ways to prepare vegetables for Chinese cooking, always use a sharp knife and remember to curl your fingers away from the cutting blade, as I have shown below. Spring Onions Clean the spring onion, trim the roots and a little bit off the green end that has been exposed. For stir-fries I recommend you to slice the spring onions into 3cm lengths, separating the firm white part from the softer green tops. The white part can be added to the wok while food is cooking and the green part added just before turning off the heat under the wok. Finely chopped rounds of spring onions are suitable for adding to fried rice, soups and stuffing for dumplings. 
Spring onions can also be shredded at a diagonal as shown for more delicate dishes and salads. Finely shredded spring onion 'threads' are made by cutting the onions into 6cm lengths, cutting the lenghts into half and then finely shredding each half. This is the way spring onions are prepared for Peking duck pancakes. 
Spring onions make perfect garnishes for your meal, these two garnishes use up the whole spring onion with no waste. The first, using the white and light green portion you need onion lengths of approximately 6-7cm. Cut into the spring onion at both ends leaving the centre intact, soak in cold water for 1 hour before draining well. Meanwhile, cut the green tops of the of the onion into 5cm lengths, using a sharp knife cut into fine shreds and soak in cold water for an attractive curly garnish. 
Ginger and Garlic Peel ginger with a small sharp knife or potato peeler. cut into slices lengthways, this ginger may be added to soups and stewed dishes. These slices can also be cut into threads, which will then be suitable for stir-fries and steamed dishes - delightful if added to steamed fish. Chopping ginger threads further will result in a very fine dice, suitable for adding to minced pork and chicken. 
Do choose fresh garlic cloves and discard cloves which have started to sprout as they lack flavour. To remove the skin, bash the whole clove with the side of a large knife or cleaver, you will find that the skin slips off the garlic clove and all that needs to be done is to cut off the top where it joins the top of the bulb. Sliced garlic is suitable for adding to stewed dishes and chopped garlic to stir-fries. Garlic lovers may like to add crispy fried garlic as a garnish. 
Carrots Carrots are a versatile root vegetable that can be used in many ways within Chinese cooking. Cut into matchstick pieces, batons or finely shredded, they are a colourful addition to stir-fries and salads. Where longer cooking is required, roll cutting is an attractive way to cut carrots and by doing so, exposes a larger surface area of the carrot. To roll cut place a whole peeled carrot on a chopping board and cut the first piece on the diagonal at 45 degrees. Turn the carrot a third and cut another diagonal piece out of it, continue until the whole carrot has been used up. 
Here are a selection of vegetables prepared for cooking, notice that the broccoli has been cut to retain its natural shape. Bamboo shoots are normally cut into slices for stir-fries and wedges for braising. 
Bean Sprouts A distinctively Oriental vegetable, bean sprouts are now widely available, they have a short shelf life and need to be eaten within 2 days of purchase. To clean bean sprouts, drop into a basin of clear water, lift handfulls of bean sprouts out of the water and place in a colander, leaving behind the bean cases and broken off roots. Do not soak bean sprouts because they will exude water when cooked. 
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