How to Slice and Dice a Pineapple tells you everything you need to know to get to the sweet, juicy goodness of this spiky tropical fruit!
The Basics:
Looking at a fresh pineapple can be kind of intimidating! The outside is spiky and rough, and although you know there is delicious, sweet, juicy pineapple waiting inside, it’s hard to know where to start.
It’s best to buy the pineapple a few days before you want to use it, the same as you would for an avocado. Sometimes you can find a ripe pineapple the same day you need it, but most of the time they are really green and hard. A ripe pineapple usually looks more yellowish green, and if you turn it over and smell the bottom, it should smell like sweet pineapple!
The Preparation:
The first thing you need to do with your ripe pineapple is grab a big, sharp knife and cut off the top and bottom. I like to use a serrated knife, but use whatever you are comfortable with for this job.
Next you’ll work on cutting the sides off. You want to slice off large pieces of the peel cutting from top to bottom. Rotate the pineapple as you go and keep cutting until all the peel is off. You can also trim off any dark areas, or those little “eyes” that may have been missed when you cut off the peel.
Once your pineapple is peeled, cut it in half, then in quarters. Now you can easily cut the tough, woody core from the pineapple. You can see that the core is more solid and white than the pineapple flesh. Tip each quarter on it’s end so it’s sturdy on your cutting board, then cut from top to bottom to remove the core from each piece.
The Pay Off:
Now you can slice each quarter into long strips, then dice those into whatever size pineapple you like. If I’m going to use the pineapple in a stir-fry, or Teriyaki Chicken Fried Rice with Fresh Pineapple, I’ll make the “tid bit” sized dice. If we’re just going to eat the pineapple as a snack, or if you want to juice the pineapple, you can do a larger dice.
That’s all there is to it. Next time you see a bumper crop of fresh pineapples in your store, you’ll know exactly how to slice and dice a pineapple!
