Sushi chefs of reddit! Am I slicing this hamachi the correct way? To use for nigiri

8 comments

1. for that part of the hamachi yes i would say so. belly part on the other hand it’s different.

2. When I made Japanese food course. My teacher told me that I needed to put my knife with a angle.
   You can use from three to four finger as reference to your cut with angle.
   I needed to train a lot.
   Good training!

3. Yes generally one would cut from the other side of the fish for nigiri. That side would be used for sashimi at a more acute angle. Cutting first from the tail side would also help you put the final angle on the top of th fish to help guide the soy away from the rice

   However your slice motion is pretty solid!

4. Nice knife.

5. Going by the way I was taught, you got it backwards. If you are right handed, and also using a right handed yanagiba, the edged side should be facing towards the majority of your saku block. So by the video, you should be starting on the other side (the side farther from the camera).This way once you get good you can go rather fast just by using the same motion and without repositioning anything. The way you have it you are giving yourself less and less space as you progress through the block because your knife arm is coming closer and closer to your body.

   To start the block you can either lop a chunk off, or drift your initial cuts to gradually make a more trapezoidal starting point. At which point it becomes the usual way of cutting for nigiri with the left side face of the block looking like a trapezoid and having the longest length from corner to corner (of the face/side) being about the width of your palm (someone else mentioned this too)

   Kinda wordy but hope it helps

6. No. You are cutting for sashimi.

7. It’s fine for sashimi but generally a complete vertical cut isn’t used for nigiri due to texture and space. You can get a lot more surface and width if you cut it at angles, meaning you our knife tip is directed toward an angle and the knife’s “face” should be angled upward. If that makes sense. Meaning right now you’re cutting at 90° angles

   Also I just noticed you’re holding your knife handle way too far away. That little groove should be where your middle finger rests. And your pointer finger shouldn’t be pointing. Just let it grip. Pointing is an ergonomic no-no (trust me and my ganglion cysts on my finger joint). It’s called a pinch grip. Right behind the heel. Get comfortable with your yanagiba

   I’m left handed so it took me a while to realize, but since you’re right handed you should be cutting on the opposite side. Where you’re cutting is what I’m used to seeing as a left hander lol

8. Need more axe