Carrot Swirl & Vegetable Triangle Twisties

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These crowd-pleasing garnishes look beautiful with sushi platters and summer dishes and they only take minutes to make. The Triangle Twisties are sure to become a firm favourite – try serving them as batons for dipping or use them to elevate a simple, healthy salad.

Instructions:

Step 1: Begin by creating your delicate carrot swirl

Cut a slice off one side of your carrot. This will give you a working surface so that you can use a vegetable peeler or cheese knife to cut a long, thin sliver of carrot.

Place the thin slice on your chopping board. The rest of the carrot can be saved for making soups, stews or batons. Take the thin slice and cut across the carrot at a 45 degree angle. You’re looking for one piece which is one inch (2.5 cm) across. Continue cutting equal 2.5cm slices if you would like to make several carrot swirls.

Place your piece(s) of carrot into the bowl of lightly salted water. Submerge for 2-3 minutes to ensure the carrot becomes more pliable and easier to shape.

Step 2: Use your knife to make precise incisions
Remove your carrot from the salted water and cut thin slits through the piece. Keep the spacing at around 2-3mm and ensure that you are leaving the same space around the edges. The aim is to cut into the carrot, keeping the existing shape intact.

With incisions made throughout your carrot piece, take a regular chopstick and mould the piece around the chopstick. You’re looking to achieve a spiral effect. Weigh the chopstick down for a couple of minutes so the carrot has time to shape.

Carefully unwind the carrot swirl and gently feather out each ribbon of carrot.

Step 3: Creating your triangular vegetable twisties

With the carrot swirl complete, create your cucumber twisty. You can use a variety of vegetables to create the twisties and a combination of red pepper, yellow pepper and cucumber makes a colourful summer garnish.

Begin by slicing a section of skin and flesh off your cucumber portion. Trim the curved edges off so you are left with a neat rectangular shape. A width of around 2-2.5cm is ideal.

To create the triangular effect, make two incisions in your cucumber slice (lengthways) at opposite sides. The aim is to create three equally sized batons. Ensure that each cut finishes a few millimetres away from the edge of each corresponding side.

Gently bend the two exterior batons outwards to create a triangular formation.