Japanese Knives Introducing Japanese Knife Society

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JBroida

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For quite some time now, we have been working in the background to try to make some educational knife skills videos for people trying to learn how to use Japanese knives. We have teamed up with Tatsuya Aoki and Mitsunori Ueda to produce these videos and finally have a few that are ready for you. We will be adding in English notes or voiceovers to these videos as they are produced to make the skill sets more accessible to you.

If you have questions about specific knives, techniques, skills, etc., please don’t hesitate to ask. We will do our best to respond to these requests with videos and/or detailed explanations.

Anyways, without any further delay, allow me to introduce Japanese Knife Society.

www.JapaneseKnifeSociety.com

http://www.facebook.com/JapaneseKnifeSociety

http://www.youtube.com/user/japaneseknifesociety

Japanese Knife Society Mission

Can you use Japanese knives?
Japanese knives, or Wa-bocho, have been increasing in popularity over the past few years. Wa-bocho are some of the sharpest knives in the world, however, there are so few professional chefs outside of Japan that understand the knives’ potential and how to properly use them.

Japanese Knife Society (JKS) is an educationally oriented society. Working through the skill and experience of Chef Mitsunori Ueda, JKS aims to teach people about the different styles of Wa-bocho, how to use them, how to care for them, and what makes them special.

JKS hopes to positively contribute to the education of aspiring chefs, experienced chefs, and interested home cooks alike, through educational literature, pictures, blogs, videos, and events. Through JKS gears its educational material towards working chefs, it will be assessable to anyone with an interest in learning about Wa-bocho.


And now some videos:

First up, Ueda-san demonstrates how to break down Fugu (the type of fugu in this video is torafugu):
[video=youtube;JmCzfeiqjj4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmCzfeiqjj4[/video]

Here, Ueda-san shows how to use a Kamagata usuba to cut long onions (and chives for that matter):
[video=youtube;HaEYZZapaTs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaEYZZapaTs[/video]

And, in this last video, Ueda-san covers some of the basics of katsuramuki, using a cucumber and yanagiba (he used a yanagiba despite the fact that the proper knife is an usuba or kamagata usuba... he explained that often times sushi chefs do this as a matter of convenience and he was just concerned with demonstrating the proper techniques here... he will do another video covering the same with an usuba):
[video=youtube;AEjt3608-pM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEjt3608-pM[/video]
 
These videos are highly educational. I'll have Fugu for dinner tonight! :D

DarKHOeK
 
some people have asked about the fugu video... the fish is still moving after the first cut. But what you dont see is that the fish's spine has been severed and the fish is long since dead. The movements are all post mortum nerve twitches.

When he pulls the fish out of the tank, he severs the connection between the spine and the brain with his knife and also opens up the major arteries... the fish's heart continues to pump, helping to remove all of the blood from the body (the blood should not be eaten). Once all of that is done, then the fish is cut up (thats where this video begins).
 
these are great, thanks for setting this up
 
this is a great idea and will prove to be invaluable for those looking to learn more about japanese cutlery techniques

GREAT STUFF!!!
 
This is really cool. Thanks for making the videos.
 
Ya, I've seen fugu done up in a couple videos and once IRL. It's a super involved process, but I guess that's why you have to be certified.
 
Newest video... Katsuramuki with Carrots (also, Yokoken and Tateken cuts)
[video=youtube;2MT7PRopK08]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MT7PRopK08[/video]

This time, he uses the proper knife for katsuramuki... a kamagata usuba or usuba.
 
Nice. Thank you for posting, Jon. And thanks to Ueda san and the person filming for making the video.
 
New Video... The movement of Yanagiba- Hirazukiri... hope you like it:
[video=youtube;CKnhOGc68YY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=CKnhOGc68YY[/video]
 
Excellent piece of instruction Jon! What was he cutting?
 
konnyaku... if you read the entire video description (on youtube), i have english in there too
 
I am really enjoying these videos! I need to get myself a nice yanagiba...
 
Thanks for another great video. Good to know about the konnyaku, too.

Does Ueda san prefer the Suisin Inox Honyaki knives for a particular reason?
 
yes... he likes them because of how easy they are to touch up, how they dont react with acidic foods, the added toughness they have, and the kind of edge feel they give. I know there are many "traditional" japanese chefs who would not do this, but I've stood next to Ueda-san and tested out a bunch of different knives/steels and i understand why he picks what he picks. It doesnt mean that they would be his choice for everything, as he also has a number of white and blue steel knives as well as ginsanko.

Also, we are working with Tatsuya-san from suisin on this project, so chances are we will use suisin knives in every video... though not always INOX honyaki... maybe densho will make an appearance soon ;)
 
Another good one. Though I do feel that using a yanagiba in this manner is a lot more intuitive and natural than the previous videos.
 
i think the only other video with a yanagiba is the katsuramuki one, right? I told him that it would cause confusion, but he insisted that many sushi chefs do this out of convenience, so we should show it.

Anyways, we really tried to highlight some of the parts of this particular cut that many people miss... hopefully it came across in the video.

I'm curious if you guys are trying these techniques at home/work? If so, how are they working out for you? Better or worse? Let me know if you are running into problems or if you have technical questions.
 
I meant that doing this with a yanagiba is more intuitive than katsuramuki in general, or the nuanced negi cut, because the specific use and tailored design of the yanagiba lends itself to this naturally.

I do exactly this stuff, both at work and home. When I was working sushi, I always did katsuramuki with my yanagiba. I never owned an usuba. Still don't...yet.
 
I'm slowly learning katsuramuki... not easy with a yanagi.
 
Thanks for the reply, Jon. I guess I'd have to learn to work with single beveled knives and try a few out to better understand that perspective. Hopefully I can start when I visit LA in the winter...
 
I think this video is the best yet, it's great how you incorporated so many different camera angles, it really helps give me an idea of how to mimic his movements. Thank you and please keep the videos coming.
 
Fascinating, thanks for the videos Jon! it's good to see stuff that we read about actually being demonstrated so completely.
 
Yeah the videos are great and I practice all the things I see at work. I thought it was interesting the slight forward movement at the end of the cut very helpful. My cutting whether with single bevel or gyuto has really improved from watching these keep up the good work both of you.
 
technically there are 4 of us involved ;) but thanks (on behalf of all of us)... glad the videos are proving to be helpful
 
Today i got some notes from Ueda-san and Tatsuya-san about some things that needed to be highlighted in the video, so i added in some text this morning. If you havent watched this today, check it out again to catch the new points.
 
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