When you cut vegetables, you can say みじん切り. Can I say 小刻みにする instead of みじん切り?
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2017-08-30T09:10:47.870
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question
word-choice food
Can I say 小刻みにする Instead of みじん切り?
I think みじん切りにする normally implies chopping something into dices(tiny cubes).
On the other hand, I think 小刻みにする normally implies cutting something into
slices.

I mean みじん切りにする implies cutting onions into tiny bits so that you could mix
them and meat for meat patties of hamburgers. On the other hand, 小刻みにする
implies cutting onions into slices so that you could put them on the pizza.

Edit 1: There is a definition from Wikipedia: みじん切り.
<https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A7%92%E5%88%87%E3%82%8A>

みじん切り(cutting vegetables into dices by the side length of cubes : approx
1-2mm）Called brunoise in French.

粗みじん切り(cutting vegetables into dices by the side length of cubes: approx
3-4mm）

あられ切り(cutting vegetables into dices by the side length of cubes : approx 5mm）

I think normally if you are asked to do 小刻みにする, you are required to cut
something into slices by bigger than these size above.

Edit2:

If you read the last paragraph of mackygoo's answer, it describes that keep
cutting vegetables in 小刻みにする eventually becomes みじん切り.So, if you keep saying
小刻みにする, the vegetables gonna get into small fragments since they have been cut
in various angles. But if you said みじん切りにする, it's difficult to go back to
小刻みにする。since your intention is cutting into tiny dices.It's hard to go back
from an object being changed into dices to that of being changed into slices,
right?
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answer
> Can I say 小刻みにする instead of みじん切り?

No, you cannot.  
I'll explain etymologically why you cannot.

"みじん" in "みじん切り" is "微塵｛みじん｝" when written in kanji. "微塵" is made up of "微"
and "塵", where "微" means "very small or fine" and "塵" means "dust", so "微塵"
itself means "very small dust or fine dust". Therefore, if you cut something
with the method of "みじん切り", the cut result must be small pieces.

On the other hand, "小刻み" means literally small "刻み _notches or nicks_ ".
Strictly speaking, it means "notches or nicks" with small spacing.  
"刻み" is originally notches or nicks made with a knife on a pillar, plate,
stick or bar. When the notches become continuous, they look like the scale on
a ruler.  
Therefore "小刻み" means continuous cutting with a small interval. So if you cut
something with the method of "小刻みにする”, the result will be sliced as in other
answers.

As a result, in order to make the food material "みじん切り minced" with the method
of "小刻みするにする slicing", it is necessary to repeat "小刻みにする" by changing the
direction of the sliced material several times.
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answer
I don't really think that 小刻みにする is often used for cutting something in
cuisine, although there seems to be [examples of actual
usage](https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%94++%22%E5%B0%8F%E5%88%BB%E3%81%BF%E3%81%AB%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6%22)
. As [chocolate](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/9831/chocolate)
mentioned, I'd say "小さく刻む".

小刻み, in general, refers (kind of figuratively) to i) something repeated at
short interval or ii) something done gradually, step by step.

Examples:

> [小刻みの駆け足](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000042/files/24416_15370.html)
>
> [実践目標は小刻みに](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001097/files/49825_57788.html)
>
> [鉄道の小刻みな振動](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001824/files/57067_58185.html)
>
> [セコンド針の小刻みの音](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000183/files/45282_39789.html)
>
> [小刻みにふるえて](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000293/files/4751_6703.html)

etc.

So my answer would be _Not actually, 小刻み bears a different meaning from
literal 'cutting into small pieces'. Although it will be understood and some
actually use it, I don't think it's that widespread._
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answer