Garnish (cooking)

List of garnishes

Foods and entree

Garnishes for foods and entrees include:

• Amandine – a culinary term indicating a garnish of almonds
• Bawang goreng – crisp fried shallot, a common garnish in Indonesian cuisine
• Carrot
• Caviar
• Sun dried tomato
• Celery
• Chives
• Chili pepper – julienne, rings or decoratively sliced
  • Chili threads
• Cilantro – coriander leaves
• Crouton
• Cucumber – julienne, rings or decoratively sliced
• Duxelles
• Egg garnish
• Fried onion – used as a garnish on steaks and other foods
• Gremolata
• Lemon basil
• Radish
• Manchette
• Microgreens – young vegetable greens that are used both as a visual and flavor component, ingredient and garnish
• Mint
• Nuts
• Ginger
• Parsley
• Persillade
• Sautéed mushrooms – used on steaks and other foods
• Edible seaweed – such as shredded nori sheet, used to garnish foods such as soups, entrees and sashimi
• Sesame seeds

Desserts and sweets

Garnishes for desserts and sweets include:

• Caramel
• Chocolate (shaved or curled)
• Cocoa powder
• Flaked coconut
• Powdered sugar – Fine sugar with an anti-caking agent
• Confetti candy – Confectionery food
• Coulis – Thin sauce made from vegetables or fruits (raspberry coulis, for example)
• Edible flower – Flowers that may be consumed safely
• Sliced fruit – Seed-bearing part of a flowering plant
• Gomul – Edible powders in Korean cuisine
• Honey – Sweet and viscous substance made by bees
• Maraschino cherry – Preserved, sweetened cherry
• Mint – Family of flowering plants
• Sprinkles – Tiny multi-colored candy topping
• Syrup – Thick, viscous solution of sugar in water
• Vark – Metallic leaf used on Indian sweets
• Wafer – Thin type of biscuit
• Nuts
  • Walnut pieces and candied walnuts
• Wedding cake topper
• Whipped cream

Beverages

Garnishes for beverages include:

Coffee-based drinks may have:

• Cinnamon sticks or ground powder
• Cocoa powder

Savory drinks such as Bloody Mary may have:

• Carrot sticks
• Celery stalks (usually with leaves attached)
• Pepper
• Salt, coarse (applied to the rim of glasses)

Eggnog may have:

• Nutmeg, grated

Various fruits are used:

• Cherries
• Strawberries
• Lemon slice, twist, or wedge
• Lime slice, twist, or wedge
• Orange slice, twist, or wedge
• Pineapple slice or wedge
• Watermelon slice or wedge
• Cocktail garnish – Decorative element added to a drink
  • Cocktail onion – Pearl onion pickled in a brine
  • Cocktail umbrella – Small paper umbrella used as decoration
  • Green olive – Fruit of a cultivated plant
  • Mint – Family of flowering plants
  • Twist – Citrus zest garnishing a cocktail
  • Sugar, granulated or powdered

Garnishes according to cuisine traditions

French garnishes

Classic French garnishes include

For soups:

• Brunoise – one to three mm diced vegetables
• Chiffonade – finely shredded lettuce or sorrel stewed in butter
• Croutes – small pieces of halved French bread buttered and oven dried
• Coulis – (a thicker soup) drizzled decoratively
• Croutons – small pieces of bread (typically cubes) fried in butter or other oil
• Julienne – thinly sliced vegetables
• Pasta (tapioca, sago, salep) etc.
• Pluches – a whole leaf spray of herbs, without the central stalk (traditionally chervil)
• Profiterolles – puff pastry stuffed with purée
• Royale – a small decoratively shaped piece of egg custard (in German this is called an Eierstich)
• Threaded eggs

For relevés and entrées:

• Croquettes
• Potatoes (pommes dauphine, Duchess potatoes or Marquis)
• Duxelles – fried onion, mushrooms and herbs
• Matignon – minced carrots, onions, and celeries with ham stewed in butter and Madeira
• Mirepoix – similar to Matignon but diced (cf. minced) with or without ham (or with bacon substituted for the ham)
• Polonaise – Polish-style garnish with melted butter, bread crumbs, chopped boiled egg, lemon juice and herbs over cooked vegetables
• Salpicon – a variety of other diced meats or vegetables
• Fritters

Indonesian garnishes

• Bawang goreng – crisp fried shallot, a common garnish in Indonesian cuisine
• Young carrot leaf
• Celery – locally known as daun seledri used as topping for soups or rice congee
• Chili pepper – sliced decoratively
• Cilantro
• Cucumber – sliced decoratively
• Flaked coconut – grated coconut flesh, usually used in traditional kue sweet dessert snacks; such as klepon, putu and lupis
• Emping – melinjo nut crackers
• Krupuk – various traditional crackers
• Lemon basil – locally known as daun kemangi
• Tomato – sliced decoratively

Japanese garnishes

• Beni shōga – julienne pickled ginger, usually used as a garnish for gyudon and okonomiyaki
• Gari – marinated thinly sliced ginger, usually used as a garnish for sushi and sashimi
• Katsuobushi – dried bonito flakes, usually used as a garnish for takoyaki, sometimes called okaka
• Scallion or tree onion (wakegi) – mostly used as topping of tofu and miso soup
• Various edible seaweed – including thinly sliced kizami nori sheets, Aonori, Tororo Kombu used widely as topping of ramen, udon, yakiudon, Takoyaki, soba, okonomiyaki, yakisoba, or even pizza and hotdogs
• Sesame seeds – sprinkled on steamed rice or noodles
• Shiso leaf
• Fukujinzuke, a condiment and garnish for curry dishes
• Kinshi tamago, shredded strips of eggs popular on rice porridge, and hiyashi chuka a cold mixed ramen salad
• Fish roe such as tobiko, masago, mentaiko, and ikura are popular on rice dishes such as chirashi and sushi as well
• Shredded daikon and ground daikon called daikon oroshi, a winter radish, is popular in bento and sushi dishes, the latter is popular on oily foods such as fish and tempura
• Sakura, star, heart and various shaped carrot garnishes are popular in bento
• Garlic chives
• Whitebait such as shirasu and chirimenjako
• Edible flowers such as chrysanthemum
• Furikake
• Umeboshi
• Nameko mushrooms
• Menma fermented seasoned bamboo shoots
• Soy egg
• Narutomaki
• Mitsuba, Cryptotaenia japonica
• Tenkasu, fried bits of batter which defines tanuki udon
• Aburage, fried tofu which defines kitsune udon
• Kamaboko, a surimi often found in bento and hot pot udon
• Wasabi
• Yuzukosho

Korean garnishes

In Korean cuisine, decorative garnishes are referred to as gomyeong (고명), means to decorate or embellish food.

• Chrysanthemum leaves
• Egg garnish – a common topping in Korean cuisine, made with egg whites and egg yolks.
• Gochu – red chili pepper
  • Chili thread – a traditional Korean garnish made with chili peppers.
• Crushed garlic
• Green onions
• Manna lichen
• Scallions
• Shiitake
• Shredded vegetables

Garnish tools

Tools often used for creating food garnishes include skewers, knives, graters, toothpicks, and parchment cones.