One of the most important skills in the kitchen is how to use a knife. Each week, we introduce the skills necessary to accomplish 1 task in a cleaner, more efficient way. Today we focus on knife skills on how to dice a melon.
Cutting melons is intimidating. After you remove the seeds and the rind, you still have to cut the thing. And there are few ways to cut it. You could cut wedges, scoop melon balls, or dice it. Today, we’re going to focus on how to dice a melon.
The bad news is that melon season is over. But the good news is that gives you plenty of time to practice these new skills… like on oranges, for example. Plenty of new (and seasonal) skills coming soon.
Let’s go.
Step by Step Instructions on How to Dice a Melon
Step 1: Find the “belly button” of the melon and slice in half PARALLEL to that. This step is key because it makes scooping the seeds out a lot easier.
Step 2: Using a spoon held at a 45 degree angle, carve out the seeds. You do not need a special spoon for this. I use just a regular old teaspoon.
Step 3: Hold half the melon on its side and slice off the top. You definitely want to hold on because that thing is wobbly!
Step 4: Place the melon half face down. Using the middle of the blade, follow the curve of the melon to slice off the rind. You can to try to cut off all of the rind and very very little of the fruit.
Step 5: Slice across the melon
Step 6: Carefully stack a few of the slices and slice again. Rotate 90 degrees and slice again.
Step 7: If you have pieces that are not sturdy enough to cut in a stack, cut them on their own.
Step 8: And there you have beautiful, diced melon.
Now it’s ready for you to eat! Or put in a fruit salad. We also use diced melon for our favorite – fruit skewers.
