Japanese Culinary Essentials: From Chopsticks to Knives

To learn more about Japanese cooking, you need Japanese cooking tools. You likely know about chopsticks and may even have a pair or two, but there's so much more to explore. Even a basic setup requires special pots, pans, and knives.

Chopsticks

For decorative chopsticks, two sticks are made of anything from bamboo to other wood to plastic, metal, and even fiberglass. Japanese chopsticks are rounded and tapered at the business end, and the upper quarters or halves may or may not be decorated. Some chopsticks have rings carved into the pointed ends to help grip food. They may take a little time to learn how to use them properly, but they're rather simple and very elegant. One of our favorites are the Yamachiku Sustainable Bamboo Chopsticks.

Rice Cooker and Paddle

Rice cookers come in a few variations, from basic pots with loose lids to locking versions to "smart" or "fuzzy logic" versions that let you make jam and bake cakes in the same cooker. These have an advantage over using a regular pot-on-stove method to cook rice; they keep the leftover rice warm for a few hours or more (this varies by model and type). A plastic paddle is used to scoop out the rice without damaging the sides of the cooker's interior.

Donabe

Donabe pots are clay pots (the name means "clay pot") used for soups and stews. The clay has glazing on the outside but not inside, and it distributes heat evenly. This is perfect for slow-simmered dishes that need consistent heating. It can double as a serving pot.

Sukiyaki Pot

A Sukiyaki pot is a fairly shallow but wide stew pan that you can use for grilling meat and vegetables and then creating the stew known as sukiyaki. The pots are usually cast iron and are placed on a butane grill at the table.

Tamagoyaki (Omelet) Pan

This is a rectangular (occasionally square) non-stick pan that allows you to create the rolled omelets that you find in a lot of Japanese meals. Add a thin layer of seasoned beaten egg, let it cook a bit, and then, with a special spatula, roll the egg layer into a small and slightly flattened cylinder. Push that to the far end of the pan, pour in another thin layer, let that cook, and then roll the egg back so that it picks up the new layer of egg. Keep repeating that until the beaten egg batter is used up, or make the omelet as big as you want.

Knives

Japanese knives are among the finest and can help you prepare food more accurately regardless of your cuisine. Nakiri bocho and usuba bocho are two basic types; Nakiri bocho knives are good for chopping and slicing vegetables and are relatively easy to sharpen. Usuba bocho knives are great for very thin, delicate cuts. 

Both of these look like slightly narrower cleavers. Deba and santoku bocho knives look more like Western "chef's knives"; deba is used for fish cutting and descaling, and santoku is an all-purpose knife. There are a lot of different varieties of Japanese knives that have special purposes, too.

Oroshi (Japanese-Style Grater)

Japanese graters aren't like Western graters, which have several sizes of grating holes. These graters have a field of tiny, raised grating wedges around holes that produce finely grated foods like daikon, garlic, and ginger. Some graters might not have very big holes; you may see only the sharp peaks.

If you want to buy any of these Japanese culinary essentials, contact Rikumo. With sustainable bamboo chopsticks and other kitchen tools, you can start cooking more authentic dishes and preparing ingredients in a way that looks more like what you'd find in a Japanese kitchen. Browse a selection of Japanese chopsticks and Japanese cookware to find exactly what you need.