Yanagiba: for culinary delights with fish

Sharpening a yanagiba is quite different from sharpening a sujihiki. You push the side with the cutting edge against a sharpening stone and sharpen it over the entire length until you feel a burr. Then you place the flat side on the stone and with minimal pressure gently sharpen away the burr. You will then grab a sharpening stone with a finer grit size and repeat the process until you are satisfied with the sharpness.

The right use and maintenance are very important for this type of kitchen knife. That's because the edge is very thin and hard. If you don't use it correctly, you could damage it. Only use the knife on a wooden or soft plastic cutting board. Every sideways movement should be avoided. So prying, rocking and chopping is out of the question! You also need to stay very far away from bones and frozen food.

If you fillet fish or meat often the sujihiki is the perfect knife. However, if you only work with fish, to prepare sushi or sashimi for example, a yanagiba is perfect. This knife is enhanced with a one-sided grind and will leave you with even thinner results because of it. This is also ideal for cutting carpaccio, for example.

A deba and a yanagiba are similar in that they are both used primarily for fish, and both are single-sided sharpened. However, a deba often features a slightly thicker blade and a thicker edge, with a shorter blade. This also makes it suitable for chopping. You should not try this with a yanagiba though: these knives are only for delicate work.

Yes, provided it is a left-handed yanagiba. If this is the case, you can see this in the specifications. The main difference is that the grind is then placed on the left side of the blade, and not on the right side as is the case for a right-handed yanagiba.