In the kitchen, “slicing” vegetables is a different thing than “chopping” them, but not by much.

If you have a chef’s knife, you should be slicing. The knife is angled and the tip doesn’t leave the board.

If you have a santoku, you should chop. Curl back the knuckles and bring the blade down parallel to the board.

My knife block has both, but I’ve just been cutting veggies all willy-nilly. Now, there will be a system. I love systems.

SOURCE:

Knife Skills from the Food Lab.