I\u2019ve always marveled at my dad\u2019s knife skills.\u00a0 Some days it seems like I can give him a dull butter knife and he\u2019ll end up carving a Christmas roast.\u00a0 I\u2019m not so talented.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll admit that I love knives.\u00a0 I have fond memories from my childhood of my father sharpening his knives on a sharpening stone.\u00a0 Some nights he\u2019ll work on all his knives.\u00a0 One after the other he\u2019d sharpen\u2014testing it for reliability, uniformity, and sharpness.\u00a0 Stroke after stroke he\u2019s grind away at each blade until it was in perfect condition.\u00a0 Or maybe it\u2019s my infatuation of ninjas and their sacred acts when it comes to their blades.\u00a0 But like a ninja, my father knew how to take care of his knives.<\/p>\n
I used to drool at the site of knife block sets\u2014knives to slice, dice, chop, trim, fillet, and mince\u2014but now I have reduced my arsenal to a select few.<\/p>\n
Here they are: Cleaver, Chef, Santoku, Yanagi, and Paring.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how I use each of them because they each serve their own purposes. Chef<\/strong> \u2013 For some reason this knife, a random German brand, has stayed sharp in my kitchen for the past 10 years.\u00a0 I use this knife to dice, slice, and mince.\u00a0 It has a great balance and can get the job done.<\/p>\n Santoku<\/strong> \u2013 I was introduced into Santoku knives from one of my friends who lives and dies by it.\u00a0 This Santoku is the pride and joy in our kitchen.\u00a0 It is a Shun Elite Santoku Knife available from Sur La Table which is the knife of my choice when I reach for my knife block.<\/p>\n Paring <\/strong>\u2013 A great chef must have a paring knife.\u00a0 My paring knife is related to my santoku knife.\u00a0 It is a Shun Elite Paring Knife, 3\u00bd” which is also available from Sur La Table.\u00a0 This knife is small and has a great handle to help maneuver through small vegetables.\u00a0 Also, it’s well balanced.<\/p>\n Yanagi Sashimi<\/strong> \u2013 This is my knife which I use to cut fish into sashimi pieces.\u00a0 It is 270mm long and can slice through fish like butter.\u00a0 Okay, I’ll admit that this knife is purely for show.\u00a0 I’ll take this knife out when I have guests who come over for sushi.\u00a0 It’s definitely all for the wow factor.<\/p>\n When it comes down to majority of the cooking I do I stick with the santoku and the paring knife.\u00a0 These two knives are essential to a easy adventure in the kitchen.<\/p>\n Don’t forget to sharpen and take care of your knives!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve always marveled at my dad\u2019s knife skills.\u00a0 Some days it seems like I can give him a dull butter knife and he\u2019ll end up carving a Christmas roast.\u00a0 I\u2019m not so talented. I\u2019ll admit that I love knives.\u00a0 I have fond memories from my childhood of my father sharpening his knives on a sharpening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[122],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-food","tag-knife"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nCleaver <\/strong>\u2013 I use my cleaver to hack away at large chunks of meat, to press garlic, hammer through frozen foods and cut through bone.<\/p>\n