For someone looking to become a serious Japanese cook, he or she must own more than a simple Japanese sushi knife. There are many Japanese knives, from the very common to the very specific use. The Japanese cooking knife has its roots intertwined with the Samurai katana sword, both originating from Sakai, Osaka. During the late 1800’s the Samurai were banned from carrying swords around in public. With the demand gone, sword smiths simply shifted their craft to manufacturing cutlery. They employed the same skill to produce the same high quality blade, only instead of a tool used in war their new product was used to prepare food. Originally Japanese knives had only one “cutting side” with the thought that it cut cleaner. Over the past six decades much of the Japanese knife manufacturing has shifted to a more western style with two edges to their cutting blades. Along with the original carbon steel blade, Japanese knives are now also manufactured in stainless and ceramic.
The most popular Japanese knife is the deba bocho (cleaver used for fish). There is also the nakiri bocho (standard vegetable knife) and usuba bocho (high end professional vegetable knife) the santoku knife (all
purpose knife) and the tako hiki and yanagi ba (sashimi slicers). There are other less popular, more specific knives such as the Unagisaki hocho (eel knife) and the Hancho hocho (long knife used to fillet tuna).
Many Master Chefs own their own Japanese knives, which only they use. In some cases they will have two sets of knives. At the end of the day they will sharpen the set they used and let the knives sit for a day for fear of any metallic scent or taste being passed on to the food.
Knife sharpening is an art unto itself. With Japanese knives it is recommended to use a whet stone. There are three kinds employed; the Arato (rough stone used to repair chips, broken tips and repairing a blade angle), The Nakato (medium stone used for sharpening a blade and keeping shape) and Siageto (small rough stone used to finish the process). It is recommended you do not attempt to sharpen your own blades until you receive proper instruction. A full set of Japanese knives for beginners can start as low as $69.
