How to Do Something Your Don Know: How to Finely Chop Dates

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

How to Finely Chop Dates

Dates are often dried and are great for snacking or for use in a number of dishes. Dates have a pit in the center, so you’ll want to remove it before you start chopping. Chop dates by hand with a sharp paring knife or a pair of scissors. Chop dates quickly into tiny pieces with a food processor. Dates are a sticky fruit, so you want to take a couple precautions to keep the blades from gumming up.

EditSteps

EditChopping by Hand

Use a serrated or paring knife to slice the date lengthwise. Set the date on a cutting board or hold the date in the palm of your hand. Make a cut down the long side of the date. Your knife may hit the pit in the center as you cut.^[1]
- If you set the date on a cutting board, hold the sides when you cut it. If you hold the date in your hand, be especially careful that you don’t cut yourself.
Use a slicing motion when you cut the date. The consistency of date skin does not make it easy to chop it with a standard chopping knife. Don't use a chopping-style knife, and use a slicing motion instead of a chopping motion.
Open the date and remove the pit. Set the knife aside. Stick the tips of your thumbs into the cut you made with the knife. Gently pull the sides apart so you reveal the inside of the date and the pit.^[2]
- Toss the pit in the trash or place all of the pits in a pile to dispose of later on.
Slice the date into thin strips. Set the date down on the cutting board. Use a paring knife to cut the date lengthwise into strips. Make them as narrow as you wish based on how small you want the final chunks to be. ¼ in (6.34 mm) to ⅛ in (3.2 mm) is a good width.^[3]
- To work against the stickiness of the fruit, it also works to cut the dates with a pair of scissors instead of a knife.
Rinse the knife or coat it with flour if it gets sticky. Since dates have such sticky juice, your knife might get gummy. If this happens as you cut, rinse the knife in hot water to get the juice off, or coat it in some flour to keep the stickiness under control.
Turn the strips sideways and cut across them. Make a series of crosscuts on the strips of date that you just cut. Make the cuts close enough together that the pieces end up being as small as you want them to be.
- If the pieces still aren’t small enough, cut them all into smaller pieces so they are the size you want them to be.

EditDicing Dates in a Food Processor

Process some oatmeal into powder in the food processor. Since dates get so sticky when you chop them, it’s helpful to add a drying agent to the food processor. Oatmeal works well because it doesn’t add much flavor and it washes off fairly easily. Toss a handful into the food processor bowl.^[4]
- If you don’t mind the dates ending up in a single sticky ball, it’s not necessary to process the oatmeal first.
Add pitted and quartered dates to the food processor. Slice dates lengthwise and remove the pits. Then cut the dates in half two times so you have chunks that are roughly a quarter of the original date. Food processing works best if you start with chunks rather than whole fruit.
Pulse the food processor until the dates reach the size you want. Even if your food processor has specific settings, it works best to use the pulse button. This allows you to check the dates every few seconds to make sure they don’t get chopped too much.
Rinse the dates with cold water to remove the oatmeal. If you don’t want the oatmeal powder to be included in your dates recipe, rinse it off of the chopped dates. Most of the time it’ll all rinse off. The dates should separate from a glob into pieces. You may need to stir them to break them apart fully.^[5]