What You Need To Know About Japanese Kitchen Knives
If you’re curious about Japanese kitchen knives or wondering why they might make a better choice than Western style kitchen knives, here is a little information about them so you know what the big deal is. Japanese kitchen knives are often of a high quality made by renowned Japanese sword makers and using traditional blade forging methods, making them unique to anything you’ll find in the western world.
You’ll find Japanese style blades for just about any kitchen purpose you can think of, though the most common models are the kitchen cleaver and the all purpose utility knife. Other more popular styles include vegetable knives and sashimi slicers. Be it raw fish, various types of meat, vegetables or fruits, you’ll find that these knives serve for a variety of purposes whatever your task at hand may be.
What makes these knives stand out so? One is the way they are forged. Japanese makers normally use one of two methods to make their products: either the honyaki method or the kasumi method. The honyaki style of blade uses only high carbon steel and is considered the true-forged method of blades, but that’s not to say that the kasumi method, which uses a blend of high carbon steel with soft iron, isn’t valid. The kasumi method follows the style used for most types of samurai swords.
Japanese knife makers are so renowned and talented in their field because many of them used to be sword makers. When carrying swords fell out of fashion in Japan, many sword makers turned to cutlery to essentially continue the same practice and make use of their skills. For this reason, the regions of Japan most famously known for their swords also produce the best and most recognized brands of kitchen tools.
Even though the honyaki type of knife is special for using the same type of carbon steel used in katana swords, you’ll find that nowadays stainless steel is being used more and more. There are different grades of quality in these instruments, however, so even though you find different materials being used, pay attention to the style and brand of the knife because you can still find highly effective kitchen tools even though they’re made of a different type of steel.
Traditionally the Japanese style of knife is single ground, which makes it different from its western counterparts. This means that only one side of the blade has a cutting edge as opposed to other knives which have a cutting edge on both sides of the blade.
These instruments are so highly prized because of their sharpness and quality. They’re considered to get the job done faster than other knives because they are so sharp and also because there is such a variety of types, so you can always find the perfect one to get the job done. That being said, however, you don’t always have to go looking for that one knife that is catered specifically for your task at hand, because their all purpose utility knives can often get the job done as well.
If you’re looking for a quality kitchen knife that is incredibly sharp and extremely well made, you may want to consider investing in Japanese kitchen knives for your home. Their history off excellent quality coming from knowledgeable and talented sword makers of Japan make this a highly unique and exceptional addition to your kitchen tools.
Joe Carter is a regular contributor in a food and lifestyle magazine. He mainly writes about kitchen tools and how to choose the best ones. Joe has a Japanese kitchen knife review blog where he writes exclusively on the sharpest, finest and most efficient Japanese knives you can buy for professional cooking in your own kitchen.
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