Toshimi Saitou, chef of Yokohama Ramen Saito, suggested me to visit Kappabashi “Kitchen Town” in Tokyo. Lazy Penguin suggested to buy a good Japanese kitchen knife. So today’s mission: buy a knife in Kappabashi.
The street is close to Ueno Station, this blog has a detailed story about the location. Today is Labor Day, so most people are having a free day.
When I arrived at Kappabashi, half of the stores were open.
I found a knife shop (Kitchen World TDI Knife shop) and I was overwhelmed by all the Japanese knives.
The owner told me that any knife is good. The prices range from 4000 yen to 40.000++yen (30 euro to 300 euro). Probably even higher, but I didn’t dare to look at those.
My budget: 10.000 yen. I picked a knife which looked nice and was nice to hold and cut. The curly waves in the blade come from 37 layers of steel. It’s called Damascus steel. Wikipedia says: This “Modern Damascus” is made from several types of steel and iron slices welded together to form a billet, and currently the term “damascus” (although technically incorrect) is widely accepted to describe modern pattern welded steel blades in the trade.
I bought the 4th one from the left, a black handled knife with dimples. The dimples create air between the ingredient, so it will not stick to the knife. For example, when you cut a cucumber, the slice will fall from the knife easier.
I can’t wait to use it at home! Internet says it’s very sharp and it stays sharp for a ling time. When I am going to sharpen it, I will need to do some research to do it properly. So I won’t damage my precious. I will let you know the experiences by then!
Have a lovely day!
⬆ One of the kitchen shops
Thank you very much for introducing me on it. Oh, that’s nice you were there, Kappa basilicum will be there, too in this new year holiday.
I will show you how to sharpen up. You have got a nice one.
Thanks! I will drop by then.