Who would not remember sushi when thinking of Japanese food? Sushi, a Japanese dish made with rice and either vegetables or sea foods, is definitely the most famous Japanese dish outside Japan. People from different nations around the world enjoy this very unique delicacy. Sushi is mostly served on special occasions, gatherings, and celebrations around the world.
Using the correct sushi knives, fish is cut into the right size/thinness that adds to the palatability of the dish. Sushi knives differ from the western knives and even from other Japanese knives. In the west, sushi knives would refer to the collection of cutlery used for preparing sushi, from cutting vegetables to slicing fish meat into their respective sizes. Further, sushi knives can be separated from their western counterparts and even from other Japanese knives by their material and the way they are sharpened. Unlike regular knives, sushi knives are made of harder and higher quality steel that are sharpened on one edge only.
To properly sharpen your Japanese sushi knives, checkout these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5opGmTnaxg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0aaIMVfnHg
The traditional composition of sushi knives is carbon steel, the very same sort of material used in making the world-renowned katana, a traditional Japanese sword. The average knives out there however, are made of high-end stainless steel. Best sushi knives today still depend on the high quality carbon steel. You can find a variety of high quality sushi knives on Amazon.com as well as on this site: http://www.chefknivestogo.com/sushi-knives.html
Sushi knives reviews indicate that sushi knives are ideal for slicing sushi, sashimi, and other soft raw fish delicacies. It is also used by some to cut meat and poultry for various delicacies that need very thin slices. These knives are extremely sharp and are specially designed so that they do not bruise, damage or cause untidy cuts on the fish. This is a very important factor when cooking world-class sushi. There’s a descent collection of high quality sushi knives featured in Chefknivestogo.com.
Sushi Knives Types
Sushi knives are generally divided into three categories. The first is the heavy duty cleaver. Heavy duty cleavers are mainly used to do tough jobs like slicing through thick and relatively harder fish meat and filleting an entire fish. The second category of sushi knives is the sashimi knife class. Sashimi knives are used to handle cutting jobs that involve raw blocks of fish and fish fillets. Almost all sushi dishes use raw fish cut with this type of knife. Obviously, this is the same type of knives used to cut sashimi, another Japanese raw fish delicacy. The third type is the vegetable knife. This type of sushi knife is valued for its razor-sharp blade that enables cutting of food in super thin pieces. Vegetable knives are also good for chopping and mincing. These knives come in both single-edged and double-edged blades.
More about Sashimi Knives
Though sashimi knives are made for sashimi, another famous Japanese delicacy which consists mainly of fresh raw salt-water fish, they are also used by chefs in preparing sushi. Traditional sashimi knives can be distinguished by their typical face sharpened edge. A particular side is sharpened more for a much sharper cutting edge.
Sashimi knives come in a variety of styles with varying blade designs. Yanagi, the most popular sashimi knife has a long slender blade, pointed tip, and one sided blade. Yanagi is also called yanagiba. Another popular sashimi knife is the one called tako. Unlike the yanagi, tako has a blunt end. A lot of high quality sashimi knives are sold in Amazon.com.
Masamoto Knives
Masamoto, famed as the leading sushi chef knife maker in Japan, has been making sushi knives for over 150 years. They are so popular and trusted that most chefs in Japan have at least one knife with the name Masamoto on it.
Among Masamoto’s featured knives is the HC Series, a collection of high quality Japanese carbon steel chef knives. The blades of these knives consist of pure Japanese carbon steel that is extremely hard. By a skilled smith, these blades can be made into extremely sharp-edged cutting knives. Due to the hardness of the material, the knives can retain their sharpness in a much longer time. HC series Masamoto knives come with a Black Pakkawood handle and with solid bolster. The only problem with these knives is their vulnerability to rust when not used or not properly taken care of. However, despite this, professional chefs still prefer using HC series especially for cutting jobs that require longer retention of sharpness.
The ST series is a collection of high carbon stainless steel western style chefs’ knives. The blades are an alloy of carbon, molybdenum, chrome, vanadium, and iron forged in extreme heat and quenched into sub-zero Rockwell hardness with HRC 58 for toughness and long lasting edge retention capacity. This line of knives also comes with full tang handles that are permanently riveted with black wood and welded with a solid bolster that adds water and bacteria resistance to the knives. These knives are particularly a choice for those who do not want their knives to get rusted even when not used or put in a damp corner for a long time.
The KS Series is a top-notch among Masamoto sushi knives. These knives are made from forging traditional steel cutting edge of Hitachi steel (Shiro Ko) paired with iron to achieve a very efficient cutting machine. Its handle is made of traditional Japanese Magnolia wood with water buffalo bolster. What is special about these blades is in the way they are sharpened. The blades are sharpened using the “Hon Kasumi” way. “Hon” is a Japanese word which means “real”, while “kasumi” means “mist”. Thus, a blade sharpened the hon kasumi way has a mist-like pattern on it. Unlike the other Masamoto blades, KS Series knives are sharpened, polished, and finished only by the most skilled workers.
Whether you are a professional sushi or sashimi chef or just trying it out for the first time, the Japanese knives you use can make the difference between gourmet and average sushi.