Chiffonade is a knife technique used to cut herb leafs and other leafy greens into very thin hair-like strips. These fine strips are then usually used as a garnish.
Begin by picking the herb leaves that you want to Chiffonade, making sure that they have no stem attached. Stack the leaves on top of each other. It’s easiest if you have the largest leaf of the group on the bottom of the stack.
Roll your stack of leaves into a tight role, but be careful not to bruise them. Using a lot of patience and your perfected guide hand technique, finely “shave” the herb leaves as thin as possible using a fluid rocking motion. Make sure that even though you are rocking your knife, you are not chopping straight up and down. Instead use the blade of your knife to thinly slice your Chiffonade. A purely up and down chopping motion will crush and bruise your herb leaves, leading to loss of flavor and discoloration.
