Using Knives

Essential to any and all types of cutting are good, sharp knives. You will need at least two different kinds: a broad-bladed vegetable knife (called a na-giri-bōchō)— A —and a heavy-duty tapered knife (called a déba-bōchō)—B. If you already own a Chinese cleaver, this may be used in lieu of the vegetable knife, though you may find the weight of the Chinese implement cumbersome in preparing Japanese food. In addition to these two, basic knives, a professional set includes a swordlike sashimi-bōchō—C—for slicing fillets of raw fish and a small dagger (kodéba-bōchō) —D —for preparing shellfish. Fancy cutting often requires small straight-bladed knives, but most fruit knives are fine for this. Traditionally, Japanese knives are made of tempered iron and have single-surface cutting edges (fashioned for use by right-handed persons). Today stainless steel and many other metal combinations are available, though for precision cutting finely honed iron still cannot be matched. Of course iron knives rust easily and must be kept absolutely dry when not in use. A light scrub with a non-chlorinated cleansing powder will usually remove stains and rust from iron knives.