Japanese Knives My Sweet First Knives :)

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Sara@JKI

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I wrote the same content on my blog, but I thought it might be easier for some people to read it here... so here's the content of my new blog entry...

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I own a kitchen knife store with Jonathan. And there's a funny irony in it.

I have never purchased a kitchen knife in my life, not even once, not even a single knife. I always used my Mom's at home, and when I had my own place, she gave some of hers or I borrowed my friends'. For some reasons, "buying my own knives" never occurred to me.

Now we own JKI, we sometimes receive great knives as gifts (*note* often with just MY name engraved, not Jon's), and Jonathan is constantly "testing" new ones - this even put me farther from buying my own.

Day before yesterday, I suddenly decided - "it's time for a change! I"m buying one (or two)!"
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Jon has a nerdy (or call it "professional") point of view to knives, and I have very normal person's. I think choosing "right" knives for myself will give me a more round view into our friends'/customers' thoughts when they are picking their knives.

So... here's what I have been doing, and I thought you might enjoy being a part of my knife shopping.

Just like a regular walk-in customer, I formally enter JKI.

Sara "Hi... do you have knives?"
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http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3974/img9883et.jpg

Jonathan tries to take an active part in my process of choosing a knife, but I'm a big girl and already know what I'm supposed to do when it comes to picking up right knives for someone (this time, for myself).

(FYI: AS A JOKE) The first thing I look is, of course, the prize of the store.... the most expensive knife in a shop. Yes, that would be Hinoura-san's 300mm beautiful yanagiba.

Sara: "May I please take a look at this knife" (it wasn't really a question because this store is also mine)
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Before Jonathan has to say anything, I already knew it. This "it" is a concept that I'm so familiar and still bitter to swallow when it comes to me taking a lesson - the great knives come with great responsibility.... I have to pick skill-set appropriate knives. I can't choose something so beyond my knife and sharpening skills because I won't able to get the most out of those knives, and in fact, I will miss use them (besides that's just dishonorable to knives and craftsmen who I love so much).

See the bitterness in my face:
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Giving up on this prized knife was sad, but I quickly resumed the pursuit of my own knives.

The first step- this time serious one - is to ask myself a simple questions:
"What types of knives do I want?" I want 240mm wa-gyuto and 150mm wa-petty. Thanks to being at JKI all day long, this question is really easy for me. As first knives, I need something simple and multitasking.
"What types of steels?" I want carbon for my wa-gyuto, and stainless and wa-petty... I grow up with carbon knives because my Mom had them. I know how to work clean in kitchen, and have a good sense which food are acidic. Carbon knives will be easier to sharpen (of course it also depends on which carbon knives I will end up having, but in general I feel comfortable saying that), and since I will be also sharpening my own knives, this is a good plus. I want stainless for wa-petty because I cut a lot of fruit and a lot of acidic food like lemons with my wa-petty.

I know some Chinese cleaver loyalists out there are kind of angry with me for not picking this one:

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Chinese cleavers are little too heavy for me, so sorry for the Chinese cleaver supporters, but I picked wa-gyuto and wa-petty.

Next questions is "which ones from JKI?" I know I want carbon steel for my wa-gyuto, and ideally I want White #2 steel. It might not have the best edge retention, but I'm a home coo, and my priority is an ease of sharpening over crazy edge retention (I will let you know if I apprentice to a sushi chef, then my choice of steel will be different).

Immediately I associate my self with our customers on little details....

Sara: "I want a colored buffalo horn! This one is pretty!"
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"Yakiguri handles are awesome."
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"Yes, I know... the looks is not what I'm supposed to be focusing on"
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.... okay, you knives are giving me difficult time. I'm going to move over to the petty section.
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"You know what. You guys are ALL cute and small."
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PS. I "forgot" to ask myself what my budget was for knives. My bad!
 
Sara, you had me at Sara "Hi... do you have knives?"

Great write up, and I didn't mind any mistakes. It showed that you are trying to be a real customer instead of never going through the process. Now try it from a Walmart or Target, and see how that goes. Just a suggestion.
 
What's wrong buying based on looks? :D I start with that and then winnow out the ones I don't like.

-AJ
 
Thanks! I'm really excited about this process too :) ! I did finally chose two knives, and I'm intended to try them out tomorrow :pirate1:

Tomorrow will be my first day to use the new knives, and I plan to sharpen them day after tomorrow... Kind of nervous about the sharpening part since I've tried knife sharpening only twice (perhaps 30 minutes total).

I will keep you guys updated on this :doublethumbsup:
 
So what knives did you end up getting?
 
Cutest post ever!
I'm not seeing that cleaver on your site, where is it?

:O thank you :O !

It's Gesshin Hide White #2 Chinese cleaver with momiji (Japanese maple) pattern... the details of momiji(s) are hand engraved, and they are really pretty. Unfortunately I already have carpal tunnel on my wrists, and I have never used Chinese cleaver in my life, so that didn't seem like a good fit for me.... one day it will be mine!
 
So what knives did you end up getting?

I will reveal my knives tomorrow :D They are nicely wrapped and waiting me in the kitchen. Very exited to use them... I will be cooking some Japanese dishes for dinner with my knives!
 
I think I saw that one in person at the food show maybe.
 
she wrapped one and i the other (just to see where my wrapping level was at)... she's strict :(
 
Looks like Sara is going the right direction :) Welcome to the darkside :) and burnt chestnut handles is just icing on the cake :)
 
Yippeeee ... quite like my sugimoto handle shape and look.
 
I'm getting to ready to cook for dinner.... I will take a lot of photos :) !
 
I will update how the cooking went with the two new knives, but here are photos of dishes I prepared... Please keep in your mind that I'm a home cook, and I'm much less than average when it comes to cooking :( So don't judge.

Daigakuimo (Sweet potatoes cooked with honey, shoyu etc)
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Mabo nasu (egg plants cooked with tobanjyan, negi etc)
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Chin jao rosu (Piman, pork, takenoko)
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Spicy sweet renkon (Rotus root)
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WHERE ARE THE PICS??

I'm going crazy over here!

What did you get?

I wrote a new blog about it :) ! You can read it here. Or you can also find it in our new thread, "cooking with my new knives" under JKI :doublethumbsup:
 
For those who just want to see the pictures...
I will update how the cooking went with the two new knives, but here are photos of dishes I prepared... Please keep in your mind that I'm a home cook, and I'm much less than average when it comes to cooking :( So don't judge.

Daigakuimo (Sweet potatoes cooked with honey, shoyu etc)
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Mabo nasu (egg plants cooked with tobanjyan, negi etc)
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Chin jao rosu (Piman, pork, takenoko)
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Spicy sweet renkon (Rotus root)
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