Last Wednesday, I hopped on a double decker Megabus and rode to New York in order to learn about knives. Many months ago, I’d gotten an email inviting me to visit Korin, a specialty shop that sells Japanese knives and tableware and finally the day had arrived for my trip. As a fan of good kitchen knives, I was incredibly excited to learn a little more about the breadth of knives available out there.
Located downtown near City Hall, Korin has been in the business of knives and tableware for 30 years. A family operation, the store was initially open only by appointment to the restaurant trade (they currently work with the likes of Nobu, Grammercy Tavern and Per Se) but in recent years, the shop has been open daily to the public as well.
In addition to selling an incredibly vast array of knives and tableware, they also offer sharpening services using a variety of Japanese water stones. They can sharpen and repair nearly any type or style of knife, save those with a serrated edge.
Having seen what they were able to do with some of my more beat-up knives, I am a true believer as to what a good sharpening can do. There is no one that I know of in Philadelphia producing this level of edge quality. Happily, you can mail your knives to Korin should you not live near enough to drop in for sharpening.
Korin sells Western-style knives, traditional Japanese knives and a Japanese-Western hybrid. The difference between these knives is in the edge. Western edges are sharpened so that they have a symmetrical edge. This offers a blade that is fairly durable and relatively easy to maintain. Japanese knives are traditionally sharpened on just one side of the knife. This makes for an incredibly sharp edge, but not as easy for the home cook to maintain.
Then there’s the hybrid knife. Made of thin, high-grade steel, the edge is sharpened to an asymmetrical edge that leads to a sharper, more durable blade. The only issue with selecting a knife with an asymmetrical edge is if you have multiple cooks in your household who have different dominant hands. These knives are sharpened differently for righties and lefties. Just something to keep in mind.
One of the things that my hosts stressed when showing me through the knives was the fact that in Japanese culinary culture, there are different knives for different tasks. The giant knife with the extended blade in this picture? It is designed for cutting soba noodles. Thicker blades are designated for butchering, while thinner ones are for making more precision cut. Blade shapes also vary depending on region and maker.
One blade that I fell particularly in love with while visiting Korin was the Petty knife. It’s seen as an analog to the paring knife, as it’s both light and highly maneuverable. However, as you can see (it’s pictured below), it’s got a longer blade that you typically find on a Western paring knife. Since introducing it to my kitchen a week ago, it’s rapidly become my favorite knife for quick tasks like slicing up an apple.
If you’re a knife nerd like me, make sure to visit Korin the next time you’re in New York!
As a professional chef, I don’t use a lot of gadgets and whatnot on a daily basis. When I cook at home though, my favorite thing is my grandmother’s wooden spoon. I reminds me of cooking with her as a little girl.
Favorite kitchen tool? I most often use my Cuisinart for pretty much everything from smoothie making to shredding to whatever else I can think of at the time.
My favorite tool is definitely my vitamix. I use it on a daily basis.
What a great giveaway ! Mine would be our new santoku knife. Haven’t had it very long but already in love.
My favorite kitchen tool is my small sanduku knife. I don’t know that I could cook anything without it.
My favorite kitchen tool is my one and only good knife: a Sabatier that was a present from my mom when I went to college many years ago.
I wouldn’t want to live without my kitchen shears.
My favorite kitchen tool varies. Sometimes I think it is my new Oxy food mill which allows me to throw chopped apples with skin and cores attached and potatoes too and then proceeds to help me make some of the best applesauce and mashed potatoes respectively. That being said, however, what is it that I really need in a kitchen? A knife. A kitchen without a knife would come to a screeching halt. Therefore, I vote for the kitchen knife and we could certainly use a new one around here!
Current favorite tool is either my cast iron skillet, my santoku knife or my big Dutch oven. I’d be hard pressed to choose between them in a desert island scenario.
My favorite tool is my le creuset dutch oven.
My favorite kitchen tool is my first japanese knife. I’ve sharpened so often that it looks more like a slicer than a chef’s knife these days.
I love my bamboo cutting board! It’s a staple in everything I cook.
Wow what a knife store! I’m a food stylist, and have been called “Captain Gadget” by peers…as my tool box is loaded with kitchen gizmos. But my favourite tool of all? a uniqe set of beautiful white porcelain platters made by my brother Ken, a gifted ceramic sculptor. When at home, I love plating my off-duty food ramblings on them; they invite creativity, and they even make a simple salad look like a crisp event.
My favourite kitchen tool is probably my checkered wooden cutting board made by my dad. It’s such a nice chopping block. For a tool, tool, I would say my best and biggest kitchen investment is my kitchen aid mixture. It has so many uses and works like a charm.
My favorite kitchen knife sadly went missing a few years ago. I don’t know where it came from or where it went, but it was a broad-bladed but fairly thin knife that was the best knife ever for slicing cheese.
Ah, I would have to say that my favorite kitchen tool is the towels! I could use the same 2 utensils for just about everything, interchangeably, but without the towels the place would be a total wreck.
I can’t even imagine how much fun it must have been to see and learn about all those special knives. My dad used to make all the knives for our kitchen growing up, but they were rustic and funky and never very good–leagues apart from Korin!
I have so~so knives – my favorite kitchen tool is called a *flessenlikker* (spelling?) – a very long-thin handle with a small rubber scrapper on the end to scoop/scrape out jars of all sizes of the very last bits. 😉 From the Netherlands – where they’re proud to be frugal. 🙂
Thank you for the opportunity!
ek
My favorite kitchen tool is my giant silpat. I use it for kneading bread and rolling out cookie dough and NOTHING sticks to it.
Though my chef’s knife is a close second.
My favorite kitchen tool is a set of 1 cup glass prep bowls, from the pampered chef. I use them for EVERYTHING!! They come with lids too! Love love love them.
my new stove! it’s fantastic
My favorite tool are good heavy duty restaurant service grade stainless steel tongs. While great for the grill, they also replace spatula, stirring spoon and often a hot pad/towell for picking up hot pans.
My JA Henckel chef knife is next favorite. From years of using sani-safe cheap and other cheap knives, using a real knife makes a big difference. It’s amazing how much you can do with just one really good small to medium sized chef knife.
My fave kitchen tool is my food processor. I use it all the time to dice veggies, make salad dressing, dips, bread dough, etc, etc, etc. It’s so very useful, I love it!
Sadly, I do not yet have a knife that I’m in love with.
Since getting my immersion blender last year, I can’t imagine what I did without it!
Easily my chef’s knife. I have lots of things that get used often, but not nearly as much as my favorite knife.
My favorite little gadget is my small Lamsonsharp offset spatula. It has outlasted it’s dollar store counterparts and I use it for a million things. It’s the best crepe flipper around!
My favorite tool is my All Clad omelet pan, and I’ve threatened anyone that even thinks about touching it that scratching it would be a felony offense. My second favorite tool is my santoku knife, it’s wonderful.
my favorite kitchen tool is my short serrated knife, it is small and maneuverable and can slice tomatoes like a dream!
My favorite kitchen tool is probably my cast iron skillet. I love that thing.
My favourite kitchen tool is definitely my chef’s knife. My mom gave it to me when I went off to college, but the handle is starting to break now. How fitting that this giveaway is a knife!
My dutch oven! I use it for canning, soup, roasts, and many other dishes. 🙂 But this knife looks pretty great!
My favorite kitchen tool is my microplane grater/zester. I use a lot of citrus zest, and that item is the bee’s knees.
No question. My dishwasher. I adore all my tools, but I wouldn’t bother using them so often if I had to wash all the dishes by hand.
No question. My dishwasher. I adore all my tools, but I wouldn’t bother using them so often if I had to wash all the dishes by hand.
My favorite kitchen tool (at least around this time of year) is a teeny tiny grater I use for grinding nutmeg. Just the smell of freshly grated nutmeg makes me feel better on a cold day!
My favorite kitchen tool is my great-grandmother’s wooden spoon. It is hand-carved, thick and uneven and nothing like the smooth, machined wooden spoons we buy today.
My favorite kitchen tool is my computer. I use it constantly to check out recipes and drool over food pics. Recently retired and getting back to cooking and canning from scratch – which I love!
My all-time favorite kitchen tool is my KitchenAid stand mixer. It’s white. It’s beautiful. I love it and couldn’t imagine my life without it!
my favorite kitchen tool? two boys! they clean, they carry, they stir, they crack eggs (and make some of the best egg salad ever)…….and I get kisses for letting them help! what more could I ask for?
Can’t go wrong with the good old wooden spoon! It’s probably the thing I use most in the kitchen.
My favorite kitchen tool is my 9″ chef’s knife. The petty looks like a smaller version of the same!
My favorite kitchen tool is my Microplane zester. I am somewhat addicted to citrus zest.
my favorite kitchen tool is a cast iron pan – I use it for everything!
My favorite kitchen tool is a stainles saucepan that I use everyday. This store looks amazing, I will check it out the next time I’m in NY!
My favorite kitchen tools are my chef’s knife and a big ol’ All-Clad skillet (I know, that’s two!). I can do just about anything with these two things.
My favorite is my chef’s knife. I am learning much from your website. Thanks!
My favourite kitchen tool is my garlic press. I grow tons of garlic in my garden and use tons of garlic when I cook. I also love my VitaMix, but wasn’t sure if that counted as a kitchen gadget. 🙂
My favorite kitchen implement is my grandma’s glass measuring cup. It is square with spouts at three corners and a thick handle. The weight is reassuring, I use it almost every day, and it reminds of grandma and the ruggaleh she used to bake.
My favorite tool is actually one of my knives! Would love to have another great knife in the kitchen.
my fav kitchen tool would probably be my food processor. I use it for everything and just stick it in the dishwasher when I am done.
My favorite kitchen tool is an awesome small chef’s knife – a gift many years ago!