![]() I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen or heard of a sushi chef putting down his yanagi and picking up a takohiki just to slice one octopus tentacle down for some nigiri. The benefit being for mass-processors of octopus that there’s no tip to snag on all those awkward curling tentacles. But in the end I’m very happy with my yanagi and couldn’t really justify buying another similar knife.Īs for takohiki, I always thought they were the same as a yanagi but without the pointed tip. Surely they would be even better for slicing salmon after all they are used to slice fugu so thinly that the pattern on the serving plate can be seen clearly (not to mention that fugu is chewy so needs to be sliced very thinly). I’ve always wondered about and have been tempted to buy a fuguhiki - a thinner version of a yanagi. Persevere and you’ll find that it’s the wonderful geometry that makes this kind of knife work. Just wanted to add, if the original poster is still reading and wondering what knife to get (conspicuous by his absence probably scared-off by now)? If he does opt for a yanagi he might be surprised at how thick they are and doubt that it could slice well at all. With the Granton edge, you have a series of vertical shallow grooves, as you draw the blade back, each groove introduces a little air and helps the slices from sticking to each other. ![]() You have a smooth knife and you have a solid item when you slice, little or no air is introduced inbetween to the two slices. Sometimes its the starch and sometimes its just a simple vacuum that makes the item stick to the knife. When you slice a raw potato or cheese, or any other moist sticky food, the potato sticks to your knife. The "Kulenschliff" or Granton edge is just a simple matter of physics: Smoked salmon is almost always sliced across the grain-as is all other meats, so that the eater does not encounter long fibres. Many European mnfctrs remove this before putting the salmon on the market, and many N. Thus the flesh goes through chemical and physical changes that differentiate it from plain raw salmon Smoked salmon will have a "skin" or a crust on the outside, as a result from the brining and smoking. But before it is smoked it is brined-as is graved Thing is, smoked salmon is not octopus, smoked salmon is smoked. Virtually all smoked salmon availabe now comes pre-sliced, interleafed, and vacuum packed. Must give my congratulations to your fish expert, it's not every fish seler that slices smoked salmon to order for customers. I don't know anyone who actually has one of these. Best of all are specialized Japanese salmon and sole knives (Glestain gets top marks Misono and Global are supposed to be good too). This last one surprised me, since its a double beveled knife. He thinks a takobiki (octopus knife) and even a very sharp sujihiki are better. He thinks a yanagi is indeed a little better than a western salmon knife, but that its thick spine (not its stiffness) makes it less than perfect for big slices along the grain. I checked with my fish expert, and he disagrees with me. But someone with serious yanagi experience will cut thinner, more evenly, faster, and leave a smoother, shinier finish on the fish. an old school cook with years of gravlax experience and a Euro slicer will do better than I would with a high end yanagiba. ![]() Skill is still more important than the knife. ![]() ![]() Symmetrical western knives (including ones like mine, or traditional grravlax slicers, or granton edge slicers) just don't work as well, no matter how well they're sharpened. If wielded properly, the bevel shape of a yanagi will slip through delicate fish with virtually no friction. And for thin slices of delicate fish, nothing comes close to asymmetrical geometry of a yanagi. However, for most cutting jobs, good technique does a better job than granton edges. The exception is Glestain, a Japanese company that has figured out a fairly extreme geometry for the cullens in the blade these knives seem more immune to sticking than other Western pattern blades. At best, their effect is minimal, maybe even psychological. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |