October 10, 2006

my first hōchō

High-quality Japanese kitchen knives are forged from the same materials and handmade using the same process as Japanese swords. Back in the days of the samurai, the same craftsmen who produced katana, swords, also made hōchō, Japanese kitchen knives. Just as a samurai's sword was considered the embodiment of his soul, in Japan a cook's knife is viewed as the symbol of his skill in the kitchen. When a cook begins working in a new restaurant, his own hōchō moves with him and in the new kitchen the head chef may inspect the knife, noting the maker (engraved in the metal) and how well it has been maintained, forming an opinion about its owner accordingly.

As much as I'd like to carry around a well-made Japanese sword as a symbol of my soul and general toughness, I just don't think it would work with my current lifestyle. A well-made Japanese hōchō, however, would suit me just fine. So I attended the annual Sword and Cutlery Festival in the nearby town of Seki this weekend with a mission: to find the perfect knife.

A twenty-fifth generation swordsmith at work.

Seki, a sleepy town near the center of Gifu Prefecture, is known for its history of sword- and knife-making, and every year vendors gather during the first weekend in October to sell their knives, scissors, garden implements and nail clippers; people crowd the streets; and sword makers give a public demonstration of their craft. You can also buy your very own katana, if you have the cash.

After briefly checking out the forty-plus booths selling all manner of sharp and pokey objects, I narrowed down my criteria. I knew I wanted a nakiri-bōchō in the Tokyo style, not too big or heavy, handmade with an interesting-looking metal. With kanji on it. (Admittedly, many of my criteria were cosmetic, but I don't think a Japanese chef would protest my desire for something beautiful in the kitchen.) I would pay up to 5,000 yen, or a little under $50.

Nakiri-bōchō are vegetable-cutting knives, thin and usually double-edged, unlike most other types of hōchō, which are sharpened on one side only. There are two styles: Tokyo, which is rectangular, and Osaka, which has a rounded front end. (You can see a picture of both here.) Both styles are hard and sharp yet light, so they can do heavy jobs like chopping through kabocha as well as delicate work like cutting cucumber into paper-thin slices.

I finally found my knife at a booth fortuitously close to the jaga-bataa (butter-soaked steamed potato, one of my favorite festival foods) stand. It met all my criteria and was priced at 4,800 yen, but when we had stopped by the booth earlier the cheerful salesman had announced in English, "Discount OK!" and I intended to test this rare offer. (Bargaining is seldom done in Japan.) After some back and forth, we arrived at 4,200 -- but when he gave me my change, he threw in an extra 200 yen and a smile, which I promptly used to buy a jaga-bataa. The 200 yen at least.

Back at home, I had to test out my knife, even though it was nearly midnight and I was exhausted. My expectations were high -- this was the knife to embody my very soul, perhaps for the rest of my cooking life! -- and even then, I almost gasped when I made that first slice through a thick carrot. It was like cutting through butter. Or maybe jaga-bataa. Something incredibly soft and yielding, anyway. If it hadn't been so frighteningly sharp, I might have hugged my new nakiri-bōchō right there. After a lifetime of insufficient, poorly-made, flimsy, dull and ugly knives, I've finally found something worth taking care of.

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