Sushi has had an interesting journey - from artistic Japanese expression to something so prevalent not only in Michelin-star restaurants, but also food art and food culture across the world. Today, any 20-something year old can appreciate the subtleties that go into making this premium delicacy, thanks in part to “Sushi artists” across major social media platforms.
However, if you're a true Sushi connoisseur, you know that everything comes down to how it's cut. Knife etiquette is all about precision and finesse, a craft that takes a Sushi Chef at least 5 years to master. The right cutting techniques, shapes, and visuals, all contribute to the taste and texture. We put together this list of basic knife know-hows so you can start working towards your Itamae dreams: Becoming a Sushi Chef!
1.Stay sharp and organized:
Sharpened knives are the foundation for preserving all the flavors in Sushi, since there are so many fresh ingredients. A dull knife can alter the taste of food at the cellular level, which is why ace Japanese chefs religiously sharpen their knives to a razor's edge every day. Sharp knives are much safer too, as blunt knives slip on food. Assuming you are adept to do this yourself, here are some sharpening tools to choose from: rabbitfantasy. Always stay organized and keep your tools clean.
2. Sashimi Rollin'
Use a conventional Sashimi knife like the Messerermeister Yanagiba to cut fish slices and rolls with absolute precision. The “pulling away” action is more important to master than using power to push this knife through. It has a longer blade than handle, and has the sharpest edge due to carbon steel. This knife requires more attention when cleaning, drying, and storing since it rusts easily.
3. Cut to the chase, get to the bones:
A traditional Deba knife resembles a cleaver, and should be used to cut through bones, and cut off any extra fillet from the cartilage. As you may have guessed, it is built for hard, heavy duty movements.
4. Cutting edge slicing, dicing, chopping:
If you're a home cook, you would use a Nakiri knife like The The Chroma Haiku Kurouchi 6.75” and if you're a professional chef, the Usuba may sound more familiar. Both serve the same purpose: to use on make clean, rhythmic cuts (or peels) on vegetables and herbs without crushing them too much. The flat, rectangular shape makes it easy to scoop lots of food at once, and also the safest knife to use.
5. The All-Star knife:
We chose to list the Santoku style at the end, because the word translates to “three uses”, therefore making it a well-rounded knife. Although not suited for slicing fish due to its short blade length, it is ideal for chopping and cutting fruits and vegetables. The Santoku is also lightweight and easy to handle, and is perfect for an amateur chef!
Japanese kitchen knives are crafted to varying degrees in accordance with the traditional blacksmithing processes of Japan. These knives come with four common types of characteristics namely handles, blade grind, steel and construction. Sakai, located in Osaka, is the originating point of most of the top-quality Japanese cutlery. In Sakai, the manufacture of steel knives began in the 16th century, when the Portuguese introduced tobacco to Japan and to craft knives for chopping tobacco. During the ‘Tokugawa shogunate', the knives industry of Sakai experienced a substantial boost, which accorded a unique seal of approval and increased its repute for quality. Another popular center for knifesmiths is the Miki city. It's well renowned throughout the country for its knife making traditions. The knives and tools produced in Miki help recall the honor of Japanese steelmaking. Most of the Miki producers are small businesses run by families where craftsmanship is given more importance compared to volume and they typically manufacture fewer numbers of knives a day. Seki, Gifu is considered as the abode of modern Japanese cutlery. Here, state-of-the-art technology and manufacturing has upgraded ancient forging dexterities to manufacture world-class ranges of laminated and stainless steel kitchen knives that have received fame across the world. Some other prominent knife manufacturing centers of Japan are:
Types of steels used to make Japanese knives
Stainless steels
Stainless steel has been defined as a steel alloy that has 10.5% minimum Chromium content by mass. One major benefit of stainless steel is high corrosion resistance that makes it fairly easy to maintain compared to the Carbon steel variety, which may rust quite easily, if not appropriately cared for. Stainless steel knives are especially useful for people who deal with wet or moist foods, acidic foods like fruits, or salty foods. Another benefit of these types of knives is that as long as any other alloying element isn't blended in significant volume, Chromium develops bonds with some amount of carbon which leads to production of Chromium Chloride – a very robust ceramic compound that enhances the edge retention characteristics of knives. Some key types of stainless steels used in the production of Japanese knives include:
Stainless steel: Comes with a carbon content of below 0.5% and poor edge retention capacity. This is very difficult to sharpen and re-sharpening is required almost after every use.
High carbon stainless steel: Contains less than 0.8% of carbon content with good retention quality. Sharpening is moderately easy and re-sharpening is needed every 4 to 6 weeks.
Stainless steel with Molybdenum Vanadium: Comes with less than 0.5% of carbon content and adequate edge retention capacity. Sharpening is an uphill task for this type and re-sharpening is required almost every week.
Carbon steels
This is an alloy of carbon and iron, in which the fundamental alloying component is carbon. These can rust easily compared to their stainless steel peers. Carbon steels react with different acidic foods and onions and begin to develop a blue-gray, dull color. However, this patina is forcibly developed by some people by using different kinds of methods including controlled exposure and use of acidic paste, among others. Managing carbon steel includes wiping it with wet cloth each time when switching ingredients and rinsing it very well in warm water once you're done with your cutting. The knives can also be scoured with detergent and Scotch-Brite instead of the earlier process, which is perhaps a good idea when working with meat of any type. Here's a list of the most commonly used carbon steels in Japanese knives trade:
High carbon steel (AUS 8, AUS 10 and MBS 26): Contains more than 0.8% of carbon content and provides good edge retention quality. Sharpening is quite easy and may need to be re-sharpened every 2 to 3 months.
High carbon steel (Yasuki Steel, Aogami No 1 and No 2 Blue VG10): Comes with more than 1% carbon content and has very good edge retention quality. Sharpening is absolutely easy and re-sharpening is required every 2 to 3 months.
Powdered steels
Powdered steels are the newest and most advanced kind of steels in the realm of knife steel technology. Knife makers throughout the world always keep searching for the next superior level metal that can be put into use. Powder steel is perhaps the best answer to this search because of its edge retention and corrosion resistance ability. It's an absolutely fine material that empowers knife makers to produce knives with beautiful, sharp edge. This isn't the type of steel produced by old knifesmiths who simply sprinkle metal powders around. Instead, this is a specialist chemistry performed under extremely stringent conditions in the chemistry lab to manufacture the absolutely flawless amalgamation of steel possible in present technologies and times. This is a precision component and must be treated with intense care. Knives made with powdered steels may chip over time but that's a small thing considering your investment to benefit from its unique performance. The following powder steels are being used in the kitchen knives' industry:
Stainless powder steel (SG2 / SGPS): Its good distribution of components and fine structure empowers it to add more alloy components compared to ordinary stainless steel. That enhances its cutting and hardness characteristics.
Stainless powder steel (D2 / SKD11): More alloy elements can be added to this kind of steel compared to regular stainless steel. Though these are slightly firmer than SG2 / SGPS steel, they provide less rust resistance because of their lower chrome content.
Stainless powder steel (MC66 / ZDP-189): Perhaps it's the hardest stainless powder steel available in the market. It comes with the highest content of different alloy elements amongst all powder steel kinds.