Sujihiki or yanagiba

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Cmcmurphy
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Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by Cmcmurphy »

My 16 yr old son wants to become a sushi chef. Should I get him a sujihiki or yanagiba for his first knife?

I’m thinking the sujihiki is more versatile.
taz575
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by taz575 »

A sujihiki is more versatile as a general slicer, but the Yanagiba is designed for the type of cuts sushi chefs are doing. If he is going to work at a restaurant, they may have their own requirements/knives they want people to use?

What knives does he (or you) own currently? How are his general knife and sharpening skills? If he is just getting into this, maybe a 210mm gyuto to practice sharpening and cutting? https://www.chefknivestogo.com/hag3gy21.html

If he wants to practice sushi cuts, I would go with the Yanagiba like the Tojiro: 240mm https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshya24.html or 270mm https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshya27.html. He will need to learn how to sharpen these as well, so I would go with something inexpensive for him to practice using and sharpening. These are carbon steel blades, so he can learn about knife care, sharpening and the cuts at the same time. Tojiro also has a stainless Yanagiba that is inexpensive as well, but most yanagiba are carbon steel.

Usuba are often used in sushi restaurants for prepping garnishes, so that may be another option as well. Single bevel knives are a bit different than double bevel, so it may be good for him to practice on those? https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshus18.html
Cmcmurphy
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by Cmcmurphy »

Thanks for the info!

I think that’s a good plan. Getting him those two knives and a stone set to learn sharpening skills.

We already have a couple of gyutos at home.

What stone set should I get him?
Qapla'
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by Qapla' »

Is your son righty?

I'm with Taz on this one; the restaurant staff (e.g. your son's boss) might have their own requirements regarding knives/tools/etc. to be used there.

For the yanagiba, I'd recommend the 270mm over the 240mm unless he knows he'll be very cramped on space.
silylanjie
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by silylanjie »

I think 240 is a good size for a yanagi, that's a more commonly used size I see when I used work. The sushi bars that I had worked for is such a tight space and we always need to move at fast pace, 240 would be more comfortable.

At home I do prefer a 270 yanagi more than a 240.
Last edited by silylanjie on Mon Dec 05, 2022 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wilson - Just an retired sushi chef
Rembo
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by Rembo »

I just purchased the tojiro 240 because of the recommendation from taz and it is a wonderful knife at the price you just cannot beat it.
Cmcmurphy
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by Cmcmurphy »

What about a wet stone set? Should I get a combo stone to start with?
ex1580
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by ex1580 »

Cmcmurphy wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 9:31 am What about a wet stone set? Should I get a combo stone to start with?
I prefer Shapton Glass stones because they seem to just work on whatever steel a knife in my kitchen may have. That doesn't mean that you need Shapton Glass or that another stone wont work just as well. If you are traveling with them the Shapton Pro stones have cases for example. Stones can be quite a rabbit hole.

If it were me, I would start with the Shapton Glass 500 extra thick and the 1k. You will need a few accessories such as a flattening plate to keep them flat and a holder of some kind. Down the road you could add a 4k and 8k and then you will be able to sharpen most any knife in your kitchen as sharp as you reasonably want it. Here are some links...

500 grit: https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shglst500grx.html
1000 grit: https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shgl10gr.html
Flattening plate: https://www.chefknivestogo.com/140grdistflp.html
Deburring Felt Block: https://www.chefknivestogo.com/harohadefebl.html
Stone holders (any of these will probably work fine, I use the Shapton Field Holder which is not adjustable but it is convenient for traveling with a few stones): https://www.chefknivestogo.com/stoneholders.html
Learn about strops with a strop kit: https://www.chefknivestogo.com/haamstkit.html

There are a few sets and they are all great but the Shapton is the only one in stock right now.
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shstse.html

If you aren't so sure about sharpening and just want to try it out then this combo stone is great: https://www.chefknivestogo.com/imtwosi1kst.html
Sam
salemj
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by salemj »

I think you can get a lot of value out of a combo stone. Given that this is an intro set-up, a combo stone can also work better as a stepping stone (a lot of people use combo stones when travelling, or when sharpening someone else's knives during a trip or visit, etc., even after they have outgrown using the combo stone for themselves).

Given that you bought a white steel blade that is coming sharp and that it is single bevel, to be used for cutting sushi, I would probably suggest a higher-grit combo stone, which is rare for me to suggest! He'll want to keep his knife very sharp at all times, and this means he'll rarely need to go below 1k.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ceraxcombo1k3k.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/imtwosi1kst.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/na1ksust.html

Of these three, I would probably recommend the last one as the top choice. I haven't personally used any of them, but I have used Naniwa stones and I think they are great...they also have the advantage of being closer to true "splash and go," which I think is especially handy with a combo stone. Lots of people recommend the Cerax stones regularly on the forum, and Naniwa, formerly Chosera, were considered some of the top stones in the industry for a while, so these are by no means "budget" combo stones.
~Joe

Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and own mostly Konosukes but have used over a dozen brands.
RedSnapper
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Re: Sujihiki or yanagiba

Post by RedSnapper »

Cmcmurphy wrote: Sun Dec 04, 2022 9:33 am My 16 yr old son wants to become a sushi chef. Should I get him a sujihiki or yanagiba for his first knife?

I’m thinking the sujihiki is more versatile.
If he's really set on becoming sushi chef, I think he should start with a 300mm stainless yanagiba. As the knife would be for learning, I think starting with the standard professional size would be helpful. The quality of the steel for yanagiba really matters because if deburring the steel is difficult it would be a pain in the butt to sharpen and maintain single bevel knives especially for uraoshi (backside) sharpening. When buying yanagiba look out for the quality of the grind, thin kireha (blade road/bevel) starting at the heel and wider as it gets near the tip. For the back side of the knife you want to look for thin uraoshi, and a urasuki (hollow grind) to be consistent and subtle and not wonky.
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