Japanese kitchen knives are among the best kitchen tools you can own because of their expert workmanship and the clean cuts they deliver.
This is true throughout the whole world. They are available in a broad range of styles, including adaptable multipurpose alternatives and specialized blades made for a single application.
In this post, we’ll discuss some of the various types that are available as well as why Japanese kitchen knives are so unique.
Hopefully, this can assist you in selecting the ideal Japanese knife for your requirements.
The history of making Japanese kitchen knives
The skill of creating katana, or traditional Japanese sword, had a significant impact on the technique of producing Japanese kitchen knives.
They are still forged by blacksmiths using age-old techniques that have been handed down for many generations.
Upon being soaked with icy water to fortify the metal, an unfinished piece of steel is warmed in a forge and hammered into form.
The cutting edge is thinned by repeating this cycle until the blade is prepared for sharpening and polishing. It’s ready for use after the handle has been fitted.
Among the most well-known places in Japan for creating knives are Sakai City in Osaka, which started off forging blades to cut tobacco over 600 years ago and today produces almost all professional chefs’ knives in the country, as well as Seki City in Gifu, which was formerly the home of master swordsmith Motoshige.
Understanding why Japanese kitchen knives are so expensive is easier by looking at how they are created.
Japanese kitchen knives are frequently constructed from exceptionally strong steel and honed to a very fine edge. When making foods like sushi this sharpness makes sure that the blades cut easier and more effectively, with little harm done to the surface and material of the ingredients.
In addition, Japanese knives frequently feature single-bevel blades, in contrast to Western variants. Since the blade is only sharpened on one side, cutting with extreme precision is simpler.
The Distinction Between Japanese and Western Knives
Traditional Japanese kitchen knives are available in a variety of sizes and forms, and they are made to handle certain jobs like cutting fish and slicing vegetables, noodles, sushi, etc.
These knives have traditionally had single-beveled blades, which means they are only slanted on one side and may be used by either a right- or left-handed person. The tang of these blades is then tapered and pounded into a hardwood handle.
Western knives are ambidextrous by form and feature designs that the majority of Western home chefs are likely used to such as pairing knives or chef’s knives.
The blade is polished equally on each side for a double-beveled edge. Additionally, traditional Western knife handles are frequently made of two pieces of wood, composite material, or both, which are used to cover the tang and are fastened together with rivets.
The extreme hardness of the steel used in Japanese kitchen knives is another characteristic that tends to set them apart from their Western counterparts.
Japanese blades often feature steel that is tougher than Western knives, which makes them harder but also allows them to maintain their edge longer if handled carefully.
Many Western knives are made of lighter steels that are less brittle, allowing their micro-thin blade sides to roll before breaking.
A rolled edge may be restored with a honing rod, but this won’t work well with a Japanese knife’s tougher, more brittle steel. You will want a whetstone to polish a Japanese blade.
These distinctions, however, only go so far because many Japanese knife manufacturers provide a variety of hybrid blades that combine Japanese and Western features.
Santoku and gyuto knives are two very typical examples. Japanese manufacturers are sometimes releasing knives that are far more similar to their Western competitors than they are to more traditional Japanese ones.
In the end, we can declare with certainty that the fact that a Japanese knife is manufactured in Japan is what genuinely distinguishes it from a Western one.
