- Joined
- Jan 26, 2002
- Messages
- 2,737
OK, I found a couple of sites that show the cutting of sheets from vegetables like daikon.
I think that this is a case where the single bevel knife may be better, especially in hand.
It would, I think, be an excellent test of sharpness for a polished edge.
in hand
with jig-like board
Of course, this looks like it takes some skill and a very sharp knife, so a gadget has been invented called a turning slicer. Looks like it does great for the long shreds, but obviously if large flat sheets are wanted this won't work, as this machine would make spirals. Though, spiral sheets would appear even tougher to make in hand than the flat ones.
Links to photos of many Japanese food cutting tecniques can be found in the home page of the first site linked. The method of cutting fine radish julienne also looks pretty impossible without a very sharp knife.
Note that the photos depict a right handed person, and a right handed Japanese knife has the bevel on the right side. This seems the opposite of what would be expected if one compares these techniques to using a wood plane or chisel (??). (For making slices straight down onto something lying on the cutting board, the chisel/plane analogy does hold.) Perhaps the knives used for vegetables are so thin that it doesn't matter, or it is possible to "track" the blade along the thin slice? Or since the bevel on the single bevel knife is twice as wide, blade "tracks" on the bevel? The sheets cut by a skilled chef are very thin and even.
This other site has some further basic information on Japanese kitchen knives and their uses.
I think that this is a case where the single bevel knife may be better, especially in hand.
It would, I think, be an excellent test of sharpness for a polished edge.
in hand
with jig-like board
Of course, this looks like it takes some skill and a very sharp knife, so a gadget has been invented called a turning slicer. Looks like it does great for the long shreds, but obviously if large flat sheets are wanted this won't work, as this machine would make spirals. Though, spiral sheets would appear even tougher to make in hand than the flat ones.
Links to photos of many Japanese food cutting tecniques can be found in the home page of the first site linked. The method of cutting fine radish julienne also looks pretty impossible without a very sharp knife.
Note that the photos depict a right handed person, and a right handed Japanese knife has the bevel on the right side. This seems the opposite of what would be expected if one compares these techniques to using a wood plane or chisel (??). (For making slices straight down onto something lying on the cutting board, the chisel/plane analogy does hold.) Perhaps the knives used for vegetables are so thin that it doesn't matter, or it is possible to "track" the blade along the thin slice? Or since the bevel on the single bevel knife is twice as wide, blade "tracks" on the bevel? The sheets cut by a skilled chef are very thin and even.
This other site has some further basic information on Japanese kitchen knives and their uses.
when my order gets here I put up some pics