To cut sushi or to be cut, that is the question

Cafe Society
1

Hello all,
Perhaps this belongs in CS. I’m not so sure, so I rely upon the benevolence of the moderators once again.

My question is this: I am a trainee sushi chef. My main task is to produce makizushi, otherwise known as “rolls.” I can spread the rice, I can place the ingredients, and I can even go so far as to succesfully roll the sushi, but I can not for the life of me cut it professionally.

My boss will not allow me to use work materials to create “practice rolls” for the purpose of cutting. He has told me starting today: “you have 7 days to learn how to use the knife well, or I must fire you.”

I am at a loss. I dont know how to practice my knife work at home, or what I should focus on doing. If I dont show improvement soon, he will have no choice but to fire me. I am good at everything else in the sushi making process except for the knife-work. I strongly desire to keep this job.

Any input is appreciated,
Experience is everything,
Autolycus

2

The fact that you’re employed at a sushi place means you’re light years beyond me in all kitchen skills. But to get the discussion going: could you make practice rolls at home using nothing but sushi rice? Then start experimenting?

What are you not doing that you need to do? Not uniform enough? Not quick enough? Not clean enough?

3

Your boss sounds like a bakatare. Why doesn’t he just tell you how to do it? OK, I’m no sushi chef, but I’ve tried to make California rolls 3 or 4 times. I had heard that the key was to moisten the knife each time before slicing to keep the knife from sticking. I seem to recall that this worked well.

This site says to “Wipe the knife with a wet cloth before slicing sushi.”

4

I have food-service experience, but not sushi, but I’ve tried it a couple times. I’ll say that I’ve heard you need a very sharp knife, and you must cut in one movement. Don’t saw at it, and don’t squish it by pressing down. One fluid movement, with little pressure, otherwise you end up with a ragged, oval piece of sushi.

5

Sharp knife, single swift cut, wipe blade to get rice gunge off for each stroke. My book called for the cloth to have some rice vinegar in it as well as water.

It’s probably the confidence that comes with practice. How about buying some nori, rice and mats and having a go at home? And maybe going to another sushi joint and watching the chef cut rolls.

6

Cafe Society will probably be the better place for this.

samclem GQ moderator

7

As has been stated above, the knife needs to be razor sharp, check your knives to see how sharp they are first…

the most common informal sharpness tests are;

The Thumbnail drag; using only the weight of the knife, lightly draw the knife across your thumbnail , keep your thumb pointing towards the floor, at around a 45 degree angle or so, as you pull the knife across the thumblail, it should “bite” in and feel slightly “draggy”, if it slips off your thumbnail or feels smooth, it’s not razor sharp

The paper slice (draw cut); take a standard 8.5x11 sheet of paper, hold it so a corner is sticking out, and rapidly slash-cut through the corner of the paper, a thin sliver of paper should flutter to the ground, alternatively, if you’re not comfortable slashcutting paper, perform a simple draw-cut (pull the knife towards you), the weight of the knife should be enough to draw it through the paper

The arm-hair shaving test (BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS ONE); place the knife flat against the top of your arm, and very gently, once again, using only the weight of the knife, push the knife STRAIGHT down your arm, DO NOT pull to either side, or you will cut yourself, you want the knife to move in a straight line

if the knife is sharp enough, you will see your arm hairs POP off your arm as they encounter the blade, if you don’t pop hairs with the knife flat against your arm, try again slightly increasing the angle

once again, be very careful with this last test, as it’s very easy to get cut…

i have a Spyderco Delica 4 Wave that will pop hairs flat against the skin, it’s amazingly, scary-sharp

if your knives don’t pass these tests, then they will need to be resharpened, once you’ve got them hair-popping sharp, maintain them at that level with a “Crock-Stick” style “V” sharpener (Spyderco Sharpmaker or Lansky Crock-Stick), the easiest way to keep your knives sharp is to never let them get dull in the first place, a few swipes on the ceramic rods should be all you need to keep them Scary Sharp

the times i’ve made Maki rolls, i’ve found that when my “Sushi Knife” (Joan Chen Sushi knife) gets dull, it tends to squish the Maki as it cuts, when it’s sharp, the cuts are clean, my new Sushi knife though, is my H-1 steel bladed Spyderco Pacific Salt, H-1 steel is completely rustproof, and can be sharpened to an almost Monomolecular sharpness, the Pacific has never squished a Maki roll, as i keep it Scary Sharp…

8

Oh, sweet Jeebus. I mis-read the thread title as “cat sushi”. Almost lost my lunch.

9

So he’s telling you to Cut Bait or Go Fish.

10

You should go to a decent sushi place, sit at the Bar and ask the Chef making it what brand of knife he uses and question him about the motion. It’s really not that hard to draw people out.

11

IANASushi chef, but IME, the advice about having a sharp knife and wiping the knife with a wet cloth are spot-on. It helps to have a bowl of warm to hot water, with a cloth, next to you as you work. With each cut, wipe the knife with the cloth, making sure the cloth is wet. Having a very, very thin layer of water on a super-sharp knife helps a lot.

If you draw the knife through the sushi quickly and decisively, in a single stroke (or maybe one curve away from you and then towards you) you’ll find you can cut through the pieces quickly and cleanly.

Maybe this tutorial would help you.