Essential Skills And Techniques For Using Japanese Knives

Before you invest your money in Japanese chef knives, you need to know how to use them. There are various knife cutting techniques used by Japanese chefs when making sashimi and sushi. We will take you through these techniques to help you know how to use the knives.

Katsuramuki

This technique is one of the most popular Japanese knife techniques. The technique involves cutting wafer-thin sheets from cylindrical vegetables such as cucumber and daikon. It can also be used on carrot and eggplant as well. After cutting the sheets, you can use them to wrap around ingredients and create sushi rolls. You can also cut whole sheets into juliennes or noodle-like ken cuts. These can be used within dishes or as garnishes. It is important to note that this technique is difficult to master. You should proceed slowly when learning as it is very easyeven for the best Japanese chef knife to slip and cut your hand.

How to master the technique

You should begin by choosing the correct knife. The vegetables should be cut into manageable sizes and remember to grip the Japanese knife in the cutting hand. The vegetable should be held firmly in the non-cutting hand. Use the thumb of the no-cutting hand as a guide between the vegetable and the knife. Position the knife against your vegetable and make a thin cut. The cutting should be initiated slowly and steadily in a circular motion to cut a smooth sheet.

Sengiri and Ken

Japanese chefknives are used to do these two cuts in many ways when making sushi dishes. When making Sengiri cuts, you have to cut thin strips of vegetables that are typically used to fill sushi rolls. Ken cuts create daikon noodle-like pieces that are extremely thin which as placed underneath sashimi pieces. However, they can also be eaten to help cleanse the palate between bites of various varieties of sashimi.