This is a guest post from our blogger friend, Lita over at QuickEasyCook.com
It is extremely necessary to have the right cooking tools to make your cooking task a breeze. Whether you are an expert chef or a novice, you have to ensure that the food you are preparing is high quality. Therefore, you need some effective kitchen tools; the most important tool being a high-quality chef’s knife.
This will allow you to prepare your mise en place beforehand. Although there are many types of knives out there, you shouldn’t skimp on quality or it’ll affect your efficiency. One such knife is the santoku knife, which is one of the best chef’s knives for their quality, shape and versatility. Once you know the benefits of a santoku knife, you too will never be without one. To understand the full features and benefits of the santoku knife, read pop over to this article that goes into extensive details and reviews on various brands.
Contents
What exactly is a santoku knife?
Santoku is a Japanese term, which means three high calibers, such as dicing, mincing, and slicing. Of late, the santoku knife has become the most sought after kitchen item, used by modern cooks. The blade and the handle of the cutting tool are designed with an evenly balanced blade and handle weight. This will allow you to do your cutting tasks safely and easily.
How does a santoku knife differ from a traditional knife?
Most cuisines in Japan use the santoku knife for cutting fish, sushi, and vegetables to prepare different dishes. The uniqueness of this knife is that its blade is thinner and sharper than the traditional ones. This allows for precise handling. Moreover, the smooth edge of the knife prevents the food items and thin slices from sticking to the blade while cutting.
Unlike traditional knives that come in different blade shapes, the santoku knife comes only with a flat blade. This will allow you to use the slicing tool much faster and easier while cutting food items, while enabling you to cut them in a more precise manner. The smooth or the Granton blade edge of the knife will offer less friction while cutting damp and starchy vegetables, like potatoes and onions. This will make the food items drop from the blade automatically while you cut them. This is not the case with traditional knives.
Unlike bigger and heavier traditional knives, which are difficult to use, santoku knives are the best option to make your chopping, slicing and dicing tasks easier and quicker. Another beneficial feature of the santoku knife is that it is shorter and smaller than the traditional ones. This will offer you a comfortable and firm grip if you have smaller hands. The ideal size and the lightweight construction of the santoku knife will decrease your hand fatigue when prepping a lot of food.
Notable uses of the santoku knife
The Santoku knife is a multipurpose knife for meat, vegetables, and other hard food items. It is also an ideal tool for chopping, dicing, as well as for smashing garlic cloves.
Some of the notable uses of this slicing tool include:
- Slice thin vegetables and lean meat.
- Dice fatty meats and onions easily and quickly.
- The excellent construction of the knife will make your mincing task a breeze.
- You can easily push and scoop due to its versatile shape.
- Is a perfect knife for cutting sushi.
The real benefits of using a santoku knife
At present, the santoku knife is considered among the best knives available on the market. Most professionals as well as novice chefs use this type of knife. If you are a beginner, you will get versatility because the knife can cut almost any item with precision. Some of the other notable benefits of the cutting tool include:
- The santoku knife is a lightweight cutting tool, which offers less strain to your hands, besides allowing you to cut items comfortably and quickly.
- It is a multipurpose slicing tool, meaning it is perfect and handy for any sort of cutting job. Whether you want to cut meats that have no bones, fish or some difficult-to-cut vegetables, you can slice them effectively and precisely.
- This knife involves no rocking, meaning it offers direct cutting by restricting the rocking movement. This means that you can make thin slices quickly through a single cutting action. This will allow you to cut any food item quickly.
- Taking appropriate care will make the knife offer you better performance for many years to come.
The benefits of cooking at home
Great knives will help you make quality meals and especially make it easy for you to control your diet so you can save a significant amount of money and be healthy.
- Helps you lose weight
Often food that is rich in fat and calories, makes you very easy to gain weight. According to experts, by self-cooking meals for the family, you can actively control what you eat. For example, you can add fruit, vegetables, fish, lean meats and starches – foods rich in fiber, low in fat and longer digestion, help you curb your appetite. - Reduce the risk of obesity in children
Fast foods, which rarely provide enough nutrients and fiber, but are full of saturated fat, salt, and sugar, may not be good for children. When preparing meals for your children, you can balance the ingredients mentioned above and add fiber-rich foods to provide your child with a proper diet. - Family time
Making a habit out of eating meals together as a family will make you closer and happier. There will be more laughter, appreciation, love and understanding of each other. - Save money
Asia’s richest billionaire Li Ka-Shing says that one of the things you should do to help achieve life’s goals of buying a home and a car outright is to cook for yourself at home. But even if you do not have such a far-reaching goal, frequent home-based meals also help to tighten your purse strings and help you control your spending.
Research shows that eating in restaurants is costly compared to preparing home cooked meals. To cut costs, you can make a grocery list and menus for the week. There is freedom in spending less money on food and allowing you to put more money into savings.
About the Author Lita Watson:
Hi there! I’m Lita, a voice of QuickEasyCook.com and I’m absolutely in love with cooking blogs. I’m a beginner in cooking and I try my best to make it quick and easy. Even though, it’s not always quick and easy to keep up with fancy dinners… so I keep learning and blogging about quick and easy ways to create delicious and yummy foods for my two kids and a wonderful husband.
