Japanese Kitchen Knives
Over the years I have not given much thought to the knives I use in the kitchen. More often than not I bought the least expensive and never thought more about it. And actually some of the inexpensive knives did fine. Somewhere along the line I upgraded to a Zwilling Henckles Chef knife as my awareness of quality knives budded.
The real eyeopener came when I picked up a KitchenAid Classic Santoku Knife from West Marine for $10. There I was in a marine store and the Santoku shape caught my eye. $10 for a stainless steel knife in an unusual shape – at least to me – was a deal too good to pass up. And a lifetime warranty to boot. These knives are available on Amazon for about $15 as of this writing.
To make a long story short I discovered high quality and high performing Japanese knives. There are many Youtube videos covering reviews of these knives and their care and sharpening. Make no mistake these knives can be razor sharp and any careless handling will result in cuts. Daily use will quickly point out any flaws in your technique as it did (and still does) in mine.
Oh, but they are such a joy to use slicing through raw carrots and potatoes like soft butter and effortlessly through meats. Here is a photo of the knives we use daily.
Left to right they are:
Ryky VG10 Damascus 240mm Gyuto (Tsubame-Sanjo, Niigata Prefecture, Japan)
Light and agile this knife is patterned off the highly sought-after gyuto from Masamoto.
Moritaka AS Kiritsuke 240mm
This knife is made from Aogami Super steel and is double-beveled and symmetrically ground in Western style which adds some durability to the edge and ambidextrous. Outstanding performance in fine slicing of vegetables and fish.
Tojiro 165mm Santoku (F-701A)
Shirogami Steel and a price that is hard to beat. This Santoku is the goto knife for almost every chore.
Tojiro Petty 120mm (F-691)
Shirogami Steel petty knife is what we would call a paring knife in the USA. Super sharp and durable. We actually have more than one and use them for steak knives.
Kuma 8″ Chief Knife
With a 3Cr13 stainless steel blade and a $35 price tag on Amazon this knife is for those rough tasks up near the bone. I originally bought this as a “beater” knife but have come to respect its value. It is made in China. (all the others are from Japan)
https://www.amazon.com/KUMA-Multi-Purpose-Chef-Knife/dp/B07H4KGV82?th=1
Sakai White #2 Yanagiba 270mm
Shirogami White #2 steel makes up the blade of this slicer. Beveled on one side only this is a right handed knife for sushi. But as a long slicer is works very well for roasts.
Tojiro Shirogami Deba 180mm (F-903)
This heavy Shirogami White #2 steel knife is the workhorse for cutting off the heads of fish and other such tasks. Single bevel and right handed it is flexible enough to fillet a fish or break down a beef side.
There are many great Japanese knife makers and I have found that collecting them can become an obsession. We keep a set of Tojiro DP knives on the boat. The DP series uses VG10 stainless steel and western style handles.
Be careful with these knives. You might start out with the Santoku and next thing you know you have 10 or 12 knives and a few hundred dollars of sharpening stones. But, and this is a big but. You will find that cutting tasks that were a chore are as easy as slicing bread.
