First Sharpening Experience

I sharpened a knife for the first time in my life (I don't count the other 3 times that lasted only for 3 minutes due to my impatience).  

I have to say not too bad...  Yes, as many of you expected, I had some "moments" with Jon, but other than that, everything went well.  It seemed to me that having a good idea/image of what I'm supposed to do helped a lot, even though it was really the first time for me to take a serious step to learn about sharpening.  There were some problems that I struggled with - they were the tip adjustment and feeling for the burr.  

First of all, I had to take off all of my cute little things - no watch, no bracelet, and no ring!

Booooooo!

Yes, you want to take them off too when you are sharpening a knife.  Jewelry can be scratched while sharpening...  So yes, it was hard, but it was just a temporary bye-bye.  

So sharpening... here we go.

I initially thought I wouldn't even need Jon to guide me through every process.  WRONG.  I didn't know which side of the knife I have to start sharpening.  And there was no way I could shoot a video at the same time; hence this photo with a sad face (I was setting a stone btw, not crying in the corner).

As a beginner, I had to use a magnum Sharpie so I could have a visual guide, and see if I was actually reaching the edge and also holding the knife steady at a good angle.

 

Jon forced me to have my right leg stepped back so I have a better range of motion, and wouldn't be punching in my stomach every time I swing my arms.

Yes, I naturally had my left hand fingers on the center of stone while pressing the knife (where sharpening was taking place).  Fingers that press a knife always look funny to me.  I have this irresistible urge to have a smiley mark in between the middle and index finger so it looks like running or doing the side-to-side steps.

Jon was impressed (or he might made it up so I would be happy/patient enough to continue with the sharpening at 9PM).  

Really though, the tip part was kind of tough.  But it took me just 5? maybe 10 minutes to understand what I was supposed to do.  Lifting up a knife a little bit and avoid over-rotating when doing a tip, and bring down the knife as I pull the knife closer to me.  And yes, I had nice line along the entire edge (thanks to the Sharpie, it was visible). 

The one thing I struggled with more was to feel for a burr.  I really couldn't feel for one for a long time.  It felt like a week till I developed a good sense in feeling them.  Jon told me "this place is weak, this part is strong, and blah blah blah".  Yes, I got very frustrated.

But my first time sharpening was, all in all, not as difficult as I thought it would be.  I was able to hold the knife at a fairly consistent angle (no wobbling etc).  Some difficulties with a tip area did not bring me down!  I know a lot of people, including professional chefs and cooks in Japan or else where, have difficult time with it.  I need some more practice, and that's all.  

Okay, I think some of you might be angry with me for not sharpening my first two knives (Gesshin Ginga Wa-Gyuto and Wa-Petty).  It wasn't me, but Jon got cold feet.  He thought it was a bad idea to start my first sharpening with the knives I loved so much.  You will see the full report on that sharpening session too when I sharpen my Gesshin Ginga lovely knives.

.... I must admit that I only sharpened one side of the knife.  

I will resume my "first" time sharpening later this week.  Hopefully I will have better muscle memory and ideas about what I'm supposed to do.

A lot of our friends encouraged me to give sharpening  a shot.  Thank you so much for the moral support :) !  I will continue my sharpening journey, and will give you a full report! 

Sara

 
 

Cooking with My New Knives #2

Cooking with my new knives was really fun, and I think I paid more attention to details - not only for cutting, but also for the way I cook and work around the kitchen.  I was more careful about how I stir pots and how much salt I added, etc.   I enjoyed cooking so much more.  Naturally I ended up having a really good end-result = tasty food :) ! 

With my new knives, I was totally ready to cook (okay, this photo was taken last year)!

I know some people are curious to find out what knives I picked...

My new knives are a Gesshin Ginga 240mm White #2 Wa-Gyuto and Gesshin Ginga 150mm Stainless Wa-Petty.  If you read my blog post about "My First Sweet Knives", you will see what I was looking for from my new knives.  In short, I wanted two knives that were good at multitasking and were skill-level appropriate (or something that I can grow into).  Both knives have a great balance of an ease of sharpening and an edge taking ability.  

When I picked up these two knives, of course we had to wrap them up, just like every other knife from JKI.  I wrapped up my 240mm wa-gyuto, and Jon wrapped the 150mm wa-petty.  Here are some photos.  I guess the corners are little hard for Jon to make crisp and straight...  you can easily tell which one is mine and which one is Jon's.  But I greatly appreciated the effort.

Opening up my new knives :) <3

じゃーーーーん！(tada!)

I prepared 5 main dishes - chin jao rosu, mabo nasu, daigaku imo, spicy and sweet renkon, and goya chample.  

Takonoko (bamboo shoot), renkon (lotus root), peppers, egg plants, potatoes, negi, ginger and garlic were really easy to slice as I expected.  I was scared a little bit when I learned goya has tough seeds inside :(  But I didn't twist the blade or anything that would create pressure along the edge of the knife, so it was just fine.  

My knives are thin and sharp.... really fun to use.  I think it's more dangerous to use dull knives and cut food (and more crying happens with dull knives when cutting onions etc).  With my new knives, I didn't have to use any force, but rather I could  just let knives do their job.  

What I was most impressed about was cutting meat.  Well, actually I was most impressed by myself.  Till yesterday, I had this unspeakable fear of touching raw meat of any kind...  If I even look at raw meat too closely, I usually loose my appetite for it.  To avoid the raw meat monster, I usually make Jon cut the meat, or buy sliced meat.  Yesterday though, I picked up pork and sliced it by myself!  I made sure to wet my knives so the meat wouldn't stick to the knife too much.  I made 3-4 mm slices.  Look!  I totally won.

A lot of people hesitate picking up a carbon knife, but I speak from my experience that it's not bad at all.  As long as you are aware of acidic foods and make sure you don't leave your knife wet or dirty, it should be pretty easy.  You should be working clean in the kitchen anyways (otherwise I'd be concerned about food safety!).  In a professional environment, the choices you make will be different depending on your working environment, but for a home cook like myself, I think it's great to take advantage and try carbon steel.

Now I need to sharpen my knives, and this might be the hard part.  I have to cut my nails tonight to prepare myself for a hard day!  

PS - Having a White #2 (carbon) makes me a proud home cook!

Cooking with My New Knives

Cooking with my new knives went well :) Last night I only used my 240mm wa-gyuto though. I'm bringing my new knives to work as well, and will use 150mm there as well.

I need a little more time to write up about it, but here are some dishes I made last night.


Chin jao rosu (piman, takenoko and pork)


Mabo nasu (egg plant and negi)


Spicy and Sweet Renkon (rotas root)


Sweet Potatoes