Yanagi ba

Yanagi ba (front face)
Yanagi ba (back face)
(b) is angled on both sides, (a) and (c) only on one side, where (a) is for right hand use and (c) is for left hand use.

Yanagi-ba-bōchō (柳刃包丁, lit. willow blade knife), Yanagi ba or shortly Yanagi is a long and very thin knife used in the Japanese kitchen, belonging to the group of Sashimi bōchō (Japanese: 刺身包丁, Sashimi [raw fish] bōchō [knife]) to prepare sashimi, sushi, sliced raw fish and seafood.

In preparing sashimi and sushi, there are very important conditions that the sliced cross section be smooth, shiny and sharp in a microscopic view. Those conditions cannot be met by other usual knives. Yanagi-ba-bocho is especially designed to satisfy the conditions. Important design points for it are as follows:

The first two characteristics are particularly for yanagi-ba-bocho, and its name 'yanagi' is from long and pliant characteristics of a willow branch. The other characteristics are shared by all knives in Japanese cuisine. The important principle in using a yanagi ba to prepare sashimi is not cutting down but pulling with its long blade in a single motion.

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.