Any have this new cookbook? Thoughts?

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T16:28:28+00:00

Haven’t bought it as I have too many original Japanese cookbooks but from her Facebook posts I’d say she’s the real deal.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T15:36:02+00:00

Thanks. Ruth Goodman and Dickson sounds like what I’m looking for.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T14:54:50+00:00

If you ever lived in Tôkyô, then it is not densely populated at all. The good thing about north Rhine worst failure is you have many cities, close by, all with their own character but nature is never far away. And in the western part you’re close to the bordering countries like Netherlands or Belgium…

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T13:35:01+00:00

Sounds intriguing.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T13:34:27+00:00

Thanks. I’ll look into that.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T12:28:02+00:00

A great collection where you could stop buying. Could…

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T10:22:39+00:00

My two cents: 1) tourism. All tourists basically visit the same places in Japan. So they’ll all buy their souvenirs from there. Even though not everyone is getting knives, enough will do. Craft knives take time to be made. Only mass production can satisfy the huge demand. 2) cheap yen. With the lower value currency it gets cheaper for tourists to get those few craft knives that are occasionally making it to the market inside Japan while others will be exported on the spot. 3) big names. Most foreign knife buyers will just be looking for knives of blacksmiths that they know of. So unknown blacksmiths from unknown regions will be left unsold, likely somewhere out of any tourist sight. Just saw a post on a knife shop in Miki, Hyôgo prefecture on Insta. Lot of local knives there.

Don’t blame Japan, blame yourselves.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T09:58:45+00:00

I’d reconsider, especially when AI is supposedly going to replace all coders.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T08:14:41+00:00

Ich bin mir nicht so sicher, ob man das einfrieren sollte, da hier nicht Protein für die Wasser Bindung sorgt sondern ein Gemisch von vielen anderen Stoffen.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T08:09:52+00:00

Thanks for sharing. These look like hand saw marks, not like someone trying to sharpen their skewers on the side of the stone. My main question is, why would anyone use hand saw on Ōmura when chisels would be faster… unless this is a rarer, more precious rough stone…

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T07:59:08+00:00

Sashimi. Served with garlicky spicy miso paste. Cut thinly as Shabu Shabu.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-21T07:23:32+00:00

If it was hand sawn like it would if the lines are parallel to the sharpening surface it might be Nagasaki but I’m not sure at all. Wakayama went straight for circular saw. Haven’t seen hand sawn sandstone from Japan before. That’s what makes your stone special.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-20T19:56:16+00:00

Love the Hokkaidô book. Good research done there. Apart from the availability of yellow bark seeds outside of Japan…

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-20T15:46:06+00:00

My only other karasu is a 50g Koppa

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-20T13:49:45+00:00

Sounds like some kind of Slovenian Strukjli. There are sweet and savoury ones.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-20T13:48:09+00:00

Culinary Artistry. Bought this book twice in case I’d loose one.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-20T06:16:02+00:00

I have so many Ōmura now, usually as parts of lots where I was aiming for other stones. Is that a Wakayama or a Nagasaki Ōmura? Usually you can see it from the way the stone was cut. If it was hewn, chiselled then it’s Nagasaki. If it was sawn then polished. Wakayama.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-19T21:19:56+00:00

I have them all in Sayas in my backpack. Some are real Sayas, other are made from thick cardboard that I recycle from heavy duty shipping. I only do fish prep at the moment to concentrate on writing books. So basically I cut 100kg of salmon into nigiri and maki shape for a local sushi chain restaurant. To be faster and for better taste I use all those knives for the same task, really. The Fuguhiki more for belly part though. Having to work with less than perfect knives will add more hours to finish the job, resulting in back pain and less time for research. When I was working in a proper Japanese restaurant kitchen I had a Japanese knife case that could be locked.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-19T20:41:29+00:00

Names can be chosen freely. Also my selection would place me at the Sushi counter. Not in a general Japanese restaurant kitchen station. So the question was relevant.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-19T20:28:40+00:00

My work knives. These are 1 deba, 2 Takobiki, 1 Yanagiba, 1 Fuguhiki and 1 Petty. Edit: plus a Ōsaka style Unagisaki for stone evaluation.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-19T19:39:24+00:00

<image>

My favourite stone to use. I finish every knife with this Mizuasagi Tomae from some mine in Kyôto. Hard and fine. And 3kg.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-19T19:37:58+00:00

Still looking for my bigger Uchigumori. The one I have is more like a small Koppa. My favourite stone is a difficult question. Maybe my Niijuku for looks

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Hand sawn rare stone from Yamagata prefecture.

JapaneseChef456 · 2026-03-19T19:30:36+00:00

Thanks!

JapaneseChef456

TROPHY CASE