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!
My favorite is my food processor! LOVE IT!
I love my little strainer–the one that is about the size of a cereal bowl. I use it all the time for rinsing rice, washing produce for just one salad, etc.
Also not exactly a tool, I’m a huge fan of my huge wooden cutting board with the wonderfully nostalgic, incredibly memorable preparation scratches. It’s my foundation for so much of my health!
I love my immersion blender – it was always just a little dicey juggling hot liquids between the food processor and the pots. I also love my scraper for picking up chopped veggies to be stir fried. And then there is the microwave oven for small batch kumquat marmalade…. hmmmm…. immersion blender.
My favorite kitchen item/tool would be my immersion blender. That thing comes in handy for just about anything to do with making past sauce, hot sauce, soups, salsa’s, gravy and on and on. Easy to store and clean and I cant imagine how I would get along without today. Great kitchen tool!
I love my gaiwan for brewing loose leaf tea. Nothing brings a meal together like great tea.
Other than my knives that I bought in Osaka when I lived in Japan my favorite kitchen tool is the 2″ tall box grater I inherited from my grandmother. It is great for grating ginger and you can thinly slice garlic on the side slats. I also grate daikon on the pinhole side.
Currently, it’s my Microplane (ginger tea!) and Le Creuset mini spatula…
Large Teaball infuser – I use it to add flour to stocks to avoid clumps, sift seasoning (i.e. paprika) on meats and as a easy clean-up bouquet garni.
Well my paring knife gets used the most, hands down. But my kitchendaid mixer my be the current favorite tool. Or my mom’s wood rolling pin. I don’t use it often, but I love it.
By far, my favorite (altho not a “tool”) is my mother’s 50 yr old Oster Blender! Such a workhorse! At 13 speeds and multiple choppers, you can do 90% of the work of a food processor and it makes smoothies for a crowd!
Without a doubt, my favorite kitchen tool is my cast iron pan.
My favorite tool should be EVERYBODIES! If it were not for this tool – not any, single other tool would have a purpose anywhere! My hands. They with a bit of help from my eyes make ALL possible.
Thank You.
My cast iron skillet!
Not very original I know, but I’d have to say my favorite kitchen gadget right now is my KitchenAid (standing mixer). Maybe because it’s still new, maybe because it’s awesome. I really don’t know. I’m also taking a cake decorating class so my tips and piping bags are up there on the list as well.
This week, my favorite kitchen tool is my zester. Lemons are so nice in the winter.
thanks!
My current favorite kitchen tools are two wooden spoons given to me by my sister after a trip to Kenya. Apparently her local friend and the vendors were horrified that she didn’t want the more touristy spoons with carved figures on the handles, but the spoons locals use everyday. I love the useful so much more than I would have liked the carved ones.
My favorite kitchen tool is my 25 year old, well seasoned, square cast iron pan. It is perfect for bacon and paninis!
Always, my Grandmother’s garlic press and olive pitter. Many others, but that is the item I would grab on my way out the door in case of fire.
My favorite kitchen tool is my pasta roller that attaches to my mixer
My chef’s knife is my favorite kitchen tool, without a doubt. I use it everyday, and I recently bought a sharpening stone so it will never be dull.
Definitely my chef’s knife! And also a blender…it’s great for soups, smoothies, dips, sauces, etc.
Without a doubt, my favorite kitchen tool is my steamer basket! After getting an Allclad stock pot with basket for our wedding 7 years ago it was mostly banished to the cupboard for a couple of years since we only considered “the pasta pot” but with our dietary transition to as many greens and veggies as we could possibly cram into our mouths, it seems to be steaming away almost every night of the week. The very best part is it has nesting baskets, so I can do sweet potatoes and dandelion greens at the same time!
I love my Cuisinart Immersion Blender with the food processor attachment. I use it for EVERYTHING…and I will confess, I have to laugh at the fact that my husband can never remember the name of the gadget, so he has named it “the vibrator”. 😀
Tough to choose just one.
There are the obvious choices…Gram’s cast iron skillet, the fabulous enormous German nonstick my Mom gave me, my favorite knife or my immersion blender. Then there are the less obvious choices…a ruler, a Sharpie, my instant read thermometer, my Epicurian cutting boards. But the tool that wins in a thing which has become oddly indispensible in my kitchen…my Ipad! Blogs, recipes, substitutions, inspiration, it’s all there.
Oh, I just have to agree with the posts that mentioned the cast iron skillets! Love, love, love mine!
My favorite kitchen item? That’s tough… I guess my favorite is my knife holder, which is a mint green version of The Ex, but my favorite item to actually use? Probably the same cheap santoku knife I’ve been using since college ^^;;
My current favorite kitchen tool is my immersion blender. My son, who is a chef, has been trying to get me to purchase one for years. I finally broke down and got one, and it is fantastic! No more pouring hot soups into the blender to puree!!!
I love love love my mandolin. So fun and easy to chop veggies.
My favorite tool is my grandmother’s large cast iron skillet!
Hmmmmmm….My favorite tool is my kitchen knife. Can’t do anything without it. Thanks for the offer!
Gosh it’s so hard to choose. I love everything I have because I cook so much! I guess I would have to say my loving Husband because he helps me with it all and cleans up behind me as I go. What more could I ask for?
Okay well if I must it has to be my long, flexible slotted spatula from Crate and Barrel.
The most durable and often used thing in my kitchen… A cast iron skillet I found on a street curb!
I love my vitamix blender!!
I have a small Henkils chefs knife that I use every.single.day.
I love my immersion blender…. I use it primarily for soup and smoothies, and they turn out great! I live alone, so it’s really nice to be able to do up small batches of things with it, rather than dragging out a huge VitaMix. 🙂
Hi my favorite kitchen tool is…not sure if you would call it a tool but it’s my old solid maple butcher block from an old butcher shop. It weighs approx 350lbs and it is my most cherished kitchen item.
My Henkel chef knife – I use it daily. My favorite specialized piece of equipment are orange, lemon, and lime squeezers
Hi…Love your site.
My favorite kitchen tool is a Spiralizer. It’s great for making raw salads and raw pastas. It can turn carrots, zucchinis into noodles. It’s very cool and it makes eating salads fun.
I’m loving my marble mortar and pestle right now!
I couldn’t live without my 10 skillet. Useful for so many things.
My current favorite tool is my lemon zester!!! It adds such a fabulous scent and flavor to so many dishes. 🙂
My favorite kitchen tool is my chef’s knife. I love to chop!
Kuhn Rikon Vegetable Peeler, it’s my swiss army knife in the kitchen…
It is cheap and cheesy but my favorite kitchen tool is my $10 rice cooker. I can make a delicious risotto, but unless rice is the main dish I don’t have patience for it, so into the rice cooker it goes and soon there is delicious rice to go with dinner.
So who won the knife? I guess it wasn’t me ;(
My favorite kitchen tool is our cast iron griddle/grill plate. We use it so oven that it remains over two burners all the time.
My favourite tool (gadget) right now is my vitamix. It has been my lifesaver since I’ve been pregnant with horrible morning sickness, I have lived off smoothies for a month now LOL
I’ve not been cooking for very long (baking, yes – cooking, no), but I just LOVE my garlic press. I hate every knife in my house because they all suck. That will be changing soon.
Current favorite? Immersion Blender! It’s opened up many recipe possibilities for us. Also attaches to a mini food processor (we don’t own a food processor) to it makes some tasks easy for this busy mama.