Japanese knives are redefining cutting edge
BY RUSS PARSONS
Los Angeles Times
As far as I'm concerned, there are only two really important decisions in a cook's life: choosing a mate and buying a chef's knife. If that seems like an overstatement, you just haven't found the right knife.
With a good knife one that is sharp and stays that way; one that fits your hand like it was made for you chores become a joy. Cuts are made cleanly and exactly as you intend, with only the slightest effort. Piles of fresh herbs are reduced to tiny confetti in a flash. Onions are diced before a tear can appear.
There is a revolution in kitchen knives going on today: Japanese knives, with thin, sharp blades that cut like scalpels, are redefining the cutting edge. And buying one just might change your life in the kitchen.
The relationship between a cook and his knife is beyond mere utility. It is odd that cold steel could generate such emotion, but while a screwdriver is a tool, a good knife is a body part. Indeed, perhaps at some advanced stage of evolution, those of us who are fascinated by food will come equipped with limbs that slice and dice.
Until then, we must shop. And these days, there are more choices than you might have thought possible.
Although not so long ago the selection of chef's knives was pretty much limited to two brands (even today, even at the finest kitchenware stores, you probably won't find more than three or four), shop online and you'll find dozens of choices. In addition to the old Western-style chef's knives, now there are Japanese shapes like "santokus" and "gyutous" to consider.
As might be expected in a country where the most celebrated cuisine is largely a matter of perfect slicing, the Japanese have made a fetish of the knife. It seems that every other person I talk to has been raving about these blades. And after a couple of months of testing, I have to say that I, too, am a convert.
ABUNDANT CHOICE
In order to select a chef's knife, I began trying six blades ranging in price from the mid-$60s to almost $200 and using each for at least a week before passing judgment. I tried to use the knives for every cutting chore: mincing garlic, carving roasts, peeling winter squash, even carving my Halloween pumpkin.
Different countries have dominated the kitchen knife world at different times. The last time I bought a chef's knife, 25 years ago, the high-end choices were Wusthof and Henckels, German in manufacture and design.
German chef's knives, which are still dominant commercially, are serious pieces of equipment heavy, with thick blades that have slightly rounded bellies to facilitate the rocking motion used in chopping and mincing.
Now, it's Japan's turn to get all the attention. Although they are not yet a threat to the Germans in department-store home sections, Japanese knives do represent the cutting edge, and anyone who's serious about cooking should consider trying one.
JAPANESE DIFFERENCE
The Japanese knife revolution in the United States began in the mid-1980s, when Global began introducing its knives here. At first, Globals gained a following primarily for their looks they were one of the first knives to have steel handles as well as blades, giving them a high-tech, industrial appearance.
But there were other more important differences. Japanese blades are thinner than European ones, the edges feel sharper and they seem to stay that way longer. They are lighter, too. Cutting with them feels much more exact.
Soon, chefs looking for a new edge began to adopt them, and the Japanese knife rush was on.
Today, there are dozens of Japanese brands available in the United States. Global is a standard at high-end kitchen stores as is Kershaw Shun, made by Japanese cutlery giant KAI. Many more brands are available on the Internet.
Even the Germans have taken notice. Wusthof's best-selling knife is a santoku. When Food Network celebrity cook Rachael Ray started using it on her show, sales went through the roof. At one point, the company estimated it was selling as many as 5,000 of these knives a week. Henckels has one, too.
Japanese blades tend to be harder and hold an edge longer. German steels are a little softer, but that means dulled edges can be honed back into razor shape more easily.
The familiar Western chef's knife does not exist traditionally in Japan. Instead, the closest equivalents are the popular "santokus," which are used for slicing vegetables, and "gyutous," which are more often used for chopping (the literal translation of gyutou is "large meat knife," but in practice it is used as an all-purpose knife).
You can tell the difference quite easily:
"Santokus" tend to be smaller than chef's knives (usually less than 6½ inches in blade length), and they have a relatively flat cutting edge with a down-turned spine (that's the part that runs down the back of the blade).
"Gyutous" are bigger (8 inches and longer), and they have a slight curve to the cutting edge, though not as pronounced as a German belly more like the old-fashioned French knives.
SELECTION PROCESS
Despite their popularity, the two "santokus" I tried just didn't have the heft to do the jobs I normally require of a chef's knife. They aren't long enough to mince a bunch of parsley, and they aren't heavy enough to chop vegetables easily. Discarding those two "santokus" was easy.
Choosing among the four gyutous was much harder. They are all laser-sharp right out of the box, and unlike my old Wusthof, which requires regular steeling to stay sharp, they all maintain their edges quite well. They are all equally easy to work with.
With equipment at this level, especially something as personal as a knife, the choice really comes down to personal feel. In working with them repeatedly and over time, there were a few things that stuck out.
The Kershaw Shun chef's knife has a Japanese-style handle, roughly elliptical in crosssection and kind of an off-center "D" shape. It is more comfortable than I expected, but still it is not fitted to the hand like the European knives I'm used to. It also seems to be slightly more blade-heavy than the others.
The Suisin Inox "gyutou" is probably the most beautiful of the knives I tried, with a striking two-tone wooden handle. It is extremely sharp and very well-balanced, but it is sharpened on only one side and feels slightly brittle when cutting.
Even with their flaws, I would have been happy with either of these.
Although there are a thousand details that can make a knife slightly off, what makes a knife perfect can be summed up in one word: chemistry. The first time I picked up my two favorite knives "gyutous" made by Hattori and Misono I felt like I was shaking hands with old friends.
In the end, I'll choose the Misono, but only by the smallest of margins. What it really comes down to is that the traditional Japanese lack of a bolster (the shoulder between the blade and the handle) is slightly more noticeable on the Hattori, which brings my knuckles a little too close to that razor-sharp blade when I'm chopping with the knife in a pinch grip. And then there's the $60 difference in price.
But in all the most important respects, the knives are equal the balance is perfect; the handles fit my hand like they were made for me. There is such a feeling of control that it feels more like using a paintbrush than a tool. Cutting, now, is a pleasure.
