Knives-n'-Cabbages

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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

The weekly slaw rides again . . .

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Conehead Cabbage, Carrot & Myojin Riki Seisakusho SG2 Gyuto, 240mm

Not really a fair fight. This stunning knife handled the cabbage with steady authority. The first few cuts actually stuck in the board.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by Altadan »

Oh man, I'm dying

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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by Jeff B »

ronnie_suburban wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 2:10 pm The weekly slaw rides again . . .

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Conehead Cabbage, Carrot & Myojin Riki Seisakusho SG2 Gyuto, 240mm

Not really a fair fight. This stunning knife handled the cabbage with steady authority. The first few cuts actually stuck in the board.
Ronnie every time I see your post here I ask myself why I don't make slaw more often because I love it. I used to make it quite often in the past but it seems to have gotten lost in the chaos somewhere along the way but you have put it back on the radar!
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Jeff B wrote: Sun Oct 17, 2021 12:24 am Ronnie every time I see your post here I ask myself why I don't make slaw more often because I love it. I used to make it quite often in the past but it seems to have gotten lost in the chaos somewhere along the way but you have put it back on the radar!
Yeah, it's been a staple around here for a long time but only in homemade form for the past 18 months or so. And because we are very boring people, my wife and I were actually discussing today why it's become such a staple for us. We used to get slaw from a pretty weak but very popular local BBQ place. Their slaw is, by far, the best thing they make, which doesn't say much for their Q. In any case, during the peak of the pandemic, it became logistically difficult to get their slaw. So, because cabbage was cheap, plentiful and seemingly always available (I'm convinced that when groceries stores are empty, cabbage will be the last item on the shelves), we figured we should give it a whirl making our own. Since then, we've made all sorts of varieties and have dialed in a few versions we really like.

But cabbage is cheap and it stores well before and after you make slaw with it. Sometimes our batch of weekly slaw lasts ~10 days and while it loses something near the end (mostly in the color department), it's still crispy and quite tasty at that point. Slaw is infinitely variable, goes with a lot of things, is easy to make, transports easily (for lunches), allows us to always have a green vegetable on hand and ready to go and, as I just mentioned, has a relatively long shelf life.

There have even been times when we've used lightly frozen/frosted cabbage to make slaw. My farmer friends tell me that this actually makes the cabbage sweeter. I don't know if that's true but I do know that once salted and squeezed out (our SOP), those batches of slaw were no less crispy than batches made from cabbages that had never frozen. So yeah, in the boring world of The Suburbans, we hold slaw in high esteem and we've actually spent time discussing why. :D
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Another weekly slaw, this time with a Taiwan cabbage . . .

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Taiwan Cabbage, Carrot & Matsubara Blue #2 KS Nashiji Gyuto, 240mm

I really should have grabbed a 'before' shot of the cabbage. I'd never worked with one before. It was round (not spherical) and somewhat flat; shaped very much like a boule but with less of a dome. It was also somewhat fluffy and leafy in texture. Not very dense at all, similar to napa. Even though it was quite large, it felt lighter than it actually was. Still, after trimming, coring and slicing it up, the yield came in at just under 1400g. So, a pretty big batch of slaw this time around.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by Altadan »

excellent description, Ronnie, I know exactly the kind!
I like that it's called "Taiwan" cabbage. Over here they go by "Chinese" I imagine they have as much material, with less fluid in them to make them heavier 🙄
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Altadan wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 12:22 am excellent description, Ronnie, I know exactly the kind!
I like that it's called "Taiwan" cabbage. Over here they go by "Chinese" I imagine they have as much material, with less fluid in them to make them heavier 🙄
Yeah, that could vary by shop over here. I bought it at a small Chinese market near my office. My guess is that they're available at other ethnic-focused shops, probably with different names.

I've now cooked green, red, napa, savoy, conehead and Taiwan cabbage this year. I wonder what other varieties I can find.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by billk1002 »

I do like to make cabbage, but I would read this thread just for the knife pictures, you sir have some very nice knives!
And thank you for taking the time to post all of this.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

billk1002 wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 6:13 am I do like to make cabbage, but I would read this thread just for the knife pictures, you sir have some very nice knives!
And thank you for taking the time to post all of this.
Gotta thank Dan for starting the thread. It's one of my favorites.

Not slaw but the start of tonight's side dishery . . .

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Red Cabbage & Saji R-2 Gyuto, 210mm
This pile started out as two cute little red cabbages. I really do love this gorgeous knife.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by Jeff B »

ronnie_suburban wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:22 pm I really do love this gorgeous knife.
And a gorgeous knife it is!
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Mainly leftovers for dinner tonight but another weekly slaw comes to life . . .

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Green Cabbage, Carrot & Nigara SG2 Tsuchime Gyuto, 210mm
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by Altadan »

Always appreciate the time you take to arrange and compose the photos, Ronnie
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Altadan wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:39 am Always appreciate the time you take to arrange and compose the photos, Ronnie
Thanks, Dan. Hanging out here has rekindled my interest in photography, so I've been enjoying that aspect as much as the cooking. I told my wife the other day that I wasn't sure if my food was getting any better but the pics are definitely improving. :lol:
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by Altadan »

ronnie_suburban wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:05 am
Altadan wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:39 am Always appreciate the time you take to arrange and compose the photos, Ronnie
Thanks, Dan. Hanging out here has rekindled my interest in photography, so I've been enjoying that aspect as much as the cooking. I told my wife the other day that I wasn't sure if my food was getting any better but the pics are definitely improving. :lol:
Hahaha!

But seriously, I really do believe that arrangement and composition - especially in food - constitutes and essential improvement, and not just cosmetic or aesthetic. The eyes really do eat, or put differently, perception matters
“If we conquer our passions it is more from their weakness than from our strength.”
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by jmcnelly85 »

Itto-Ryu
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Once again, weekly slaw . . .

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Green Cabbage, Carrot & Takeda Classic Kiritsuke, 240mm
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by XexoX »

Mr. Suburban, if you don't mind me asking, how do you like the Takeda Classic Kiritsuke? I searched your posts, but only found you mentioned it once, in this thread.

Thank you ever so much.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

XexoX wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 6:27 pm Mr. Suburban, if you don't mind me asking, how do you like the Takeda Classic Kiritsuke? I searched your posts, but only found you mentioned it once, in this thread.

Thank you ever so much.
Lovely, so far. But I happen to be somewhat of a fanboy when it comes to Takeda. I did have to be mindful/cautious when initially quartering the cabbage because the core was quite hard and this a relatively thin and flexible blade. After that -- and throughout the dinner prep that followed -- the knife was a delight to use, turning the cabbage into thin ribbons, and effortlessly chopping up a plethora of diverse ingredients that went into our curry, with virtually nothing sticking to the blade. This is not usually my preferred style of knife (I'm decidedly a gyuto guy and I only own 2 kiris) but I think this one and I are going to get along quite nicely.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by d_rap »

Just spot on. My NAS 240 gyuto, If it has a tiny weakness, it's in hard product because of thinness and flexibility and the ever so slight shoulder at the top of the high 0 grind. Barely an issue, but if we're looking to quibble...But his knives just slay cabbage, or collards, or watermelon, or leeks or garlic...

That classic kiri is gorgeous Ronnie.
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Re: Knives-n'-Cabbages

Post by ronnie_suburban »

d_rap wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 9:41 pm Just spot on. My NAS 240 gyuto, If it has a tiny weakness, it's in hard product because of thinness and flexibility and the ever so slight shoulder at the top of the high 0 grind. Barely an issue, but if we're looking to quibble...But his knives just slay cabbage, or collards, or watermelon, or leeks or garlic...

That classic kiri is gorgeous Ronnie.
It is a looker, for sure. Until I used a Takeda for the first time, I had no idea what I was in store for. Not only do they stand out aesthetically but they also provide the most unique cutting experience of any knives I own. All (my) knives all have some unique qualities and also share many similarities with other knives I own but the Takedas are the most distinctive and most dissimilar from all the others. For me, their differentiating attributes are useful, practical and, I think, fascinating. I know they're polarizing and I can understand why. But I'm squarely 'love them' camp.
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