I was in my local gourmet shop again the other day… just checking to make sure that I had all the latest gizmo’s and gadgets. I had to stop and admire the Miyabi case and drool over the Damascus bladed knives. I am fascinated by the whole process involved in making Damascus steel. It involves taking the steel and folding it back on itself several times. I have heard that this process can be repeated hundreds of times to produce a blade that is not only hard but also flexible. The hardness of the steel enables it to keep the edge but also means that it will take some time and effort to sharpen when it needs it. For the really fine knives the recommendation is to send it back to the factory for sharpening I would agree especially for the single bevel edged knives, since you are working with a blade that is razor thin and easily made more dull by incorrect sharpening efforts.

In an effort to understand the process involved in making Damascus steel I searched the net(what a concept) and discovered “One Man’s Blog” Besides all the other things it appears John is involved in, John is a certified “Blade smith.” In the post above he gives a brief explanation of the process of making Damascene steel and then includes the video below, which I have embedded here. The wavy pattern is produced by the folding process.

Next I went looking for examples of custom made knives. It didn’t take long to find this site with several different Japanese knife artisans represented. JapaneseChefsKnife.com has several different knife maker’s on it’s pages. This is true Knife lovers eye candy as in the shot below of a knife by Mr. Hiroo Itou from northern Japan. Spent a few minutes on this site, you will see some amazing creations. Notice also that the give the spec’s of the steel when they are able to get them. In the case of Mr. Itou the company that he buys his steel from will not release the content due to competition secrets.

Custom Japanese Knife

I have had this article floating around for some time and thought that here would be an appropriate place to include it.
How The Katana Sword Was Made

How was a katana sword made? This question is more of an inquiry into the physical build of the Katana but there was much more to it than that. Before the blade forging would begin, the sword maker underwent fasting and ritual cleansing. They would then do their work in robes of white, much like priests. These sword makers were held in very high regard.

As early as the 13th Century, Japanese swords were known to be far more superior than any made anywhere else in the world. Not until the development of contemporary scientific metallurgy in the 19th century, could steel be made that would face up to the superiority of that made by these Japanese 600 years earlier.

To fabricate their unmatched katanas, Japanese artisans had to conquer a problem that had baffled many others throughout the world. They could make swords that were very strong, but this would also result in them being very brittle and would snap easily. The Japanese defeated this problem by folding the steel over and over repeatedly hundreds of times to make it extremely hard yet durable. When it was honed to a sharp edge the metal resisted dulling and the soft steel kept the sword from breaking.

To produce their best blades the Japanese used a much more involved process. For the interior of the katana, they used a comparatively soft, laminated metal that would resist breaking. The blade’s exterior and edge were made of different kinds of hard steel welded together in a compacted form that was folded and hammered out as many as 20 times or more, giving it more than a million laminations! This outer coat of steel could be made even harder by first heating the sword and then quenching it quickly by submerging it in water. In the final step, the sword maker would cover the rough blade with a thick layer of adhesive material, mostly clay, leaving only the edge uncovered, and heat the blade until the glowing metal reached an extreme bright glow. The sword maker would then thrust the heated blade into water. This would cause the exposed edge to cool instantaneously while the rest of the blade, protected by the clay, cooled slowly and remained relatively soft.

The result was a blade of soft non-brittle metal encased in a very thin layer of hard steel. About one fifth of an inch of its edge was made of metal so hard that it held a razor’s edge during repeated use.

That is the legend of how the katana sword was made. To get your very own magnificent peace of history visit us at A Perfect Knife.

By: aperfectknife.com

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California Spring Roll

A few days back I got to do one of my favorite jobs in the kitchen, building spring rolls.  Just like every thing else you need to assemble all the ingredients first.  We have a number of different rolls on the menu, both vegetarian and with some kind of meat. Each recipe is different, our most popular is the “California” spring roll.

The California contains a piece of tender marinated roasted beef, leaf lettuce, red cabbage, carrot, jicama, cucumber, beet and cilantro all shredded and marinated in red wine, soy sauce and a hint of sugar.  The beef is marinated in chimayo powder, garlic, honey, orange, lime, jalapeno and scallions all floating in blended oil and soaking overnight to get the flavor thoroughly into the meat.

The keys to a good spring roll are many so here we go.  The vegetables should be shredded on a mandoline or something that will leave them thick enough to have substance but thin enough to be easily chewed.  We use a robo-coupe with a shredding wheel.  The beets should be thoroughly rinsed to reduce color bleeding.  Next you will marinate the veggies in red wine, soy and a hint of sugar.   This should only take a minute or so then put them in a strainer and press most of the liquid out of them ( if they are too wet the roll will dissolve or tear apart).

Spring roll wrappers are tough to find and when we do we will buy 2,3 cases at a time.  We generally get them from a Vietnamese specialty shop but they are not always in stock, so you may wait a while to get them.  Be sure that you get the wrappers that are made from rice flour and not wheat.  The rice wrappers are stronger and seldom have any holes in them. (Holes will tend to tear open as you attempt to roll them together, I have had a few frustrating experiences with the wheat wrappers)  Now you need to get ready to assemble them.

Marinated beef cooked and cooled sliced in 1″ by 2″ thin slices, vegetables well drained, leaf lettuce ready to tear into small pieces to line your roll.  Next you need a wet linen surface to work on.  We use cotton/rayon aprons which will hold moisture but have no lint which could stick to the wrapper, a small sheet or clean pillow case would work at home.  Next get a chaffing dish and put very hot water into it; the wrappers will only get soft in very hot (160˚ +)water.

Now you are ready to make some fantastic rolls! Take the wrapper out of the package (With dry hands) and dip it into the hot water for about 3-5 seconds.   You can use a pair of tongs to do this but be careful to avoid putting a hole in the skin. (I just use my fingers and a bowl if ice water, putting my hand in the ice water for 10 seconds then dipping the wrapper)  Dip the wrapper, lay it on the linen or pillow case, it will soften in a matter of a few seconds after you lay it down.  Next add a piece of leaf lettuce in the center of the skin 2″ x 3″ or so.  Now add a small mound of marinated vegetables and top that with the beef slice.  Now you are ready to roll; take one side and fold it over the beef and the grab the other side and fold it over the beef.  Next take the back end (closest side to you  and fold it over the beef and roll it up away into a tight roll.

The pictures are taken with my cell phone and do not show the best detail.  I usually do about 25 at a time,  storing them on another wet linen folded over the rolls to keep them moist and soft.  If the rolls sit out at room temp the will dry out and get hard again if they get too wet they will stick together and or tear apart too easily. You may have to mess up a few to figure out the motion but once you get it down it really can go pretty quickly.  I have done as many as 100 in an hour.  Refrigerate until you are ready to serve them with a chimayo vinaigrette.  I will post that recipe in a day or two when I can cut it back to “makes a quart” instead of the current “makes a gallon”.

Lay them out on a Linen type cloth

Update:
I see that someone has searched for the dipping sauce that goes with the spring roll. There are several dips you could use. An out of the bottle sauce called Mae Ploy is pretty good. It is sweet and contains strong flavors of garlic and oriental pepper. We make our own and use chimayo powder to flavor a citrus flavored vinaigrette. Here is the recipe:

4 peeled oranges
2 peeled limes
1 bunch cilantro loosely chopped
4 scallions
2 ounces chimayo powder
1 ounce fresh garlic
4 ounces rice wine vinegar
salt, pepper to taste

Put all of the above in a blender and whirl until smooth. Now slowly drizzle 2 cups of good salad oil into the blending mixture to emulsify your dressing. Serve this in a small bowl on the side or put it into a squeeze bottle and draw a few lines over your rolls just at serving time. Enjoy!
Michael Brown

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Last Saturday we had a high end party serving fancy cocktail sandwiches and salads for a fund raiser that cost $$$ to attend.  Several hours were spent by many people in the kitchen as we assembled all of the ingredients for the buffet.  I personally spent time making crabcake mix to build 500 cakes 3″ in diameter, (30 cans of fancy Maryland crab claws) and numerous other projects.  On the day of the event my task was to assemble 40 pounds of jicama, carrot, poblano and napa cabbage slaw.   The carrots and jicama went fairly smoothly through my Mandoline and I had 20 pounds of that fairly quick.

The next step was to add 5 pounds of match-stick cut Poblano Pepper.  That is when the 10 inch chef knife comes out of the tool box.  This knife is and old Forschner chef knife that I have had for over 20 years.  I sharpen it once or twice a year but I steel it two or three times a day.  It is trusty, sharp well balanced and works easily on my knife callous.  (You can tell a working chef by the massive callous on his index finger)

Poblanos are smaller than bell pepper and it takes more of them to get the desired number of ounces.  Typical of peppers they are a lot of work for very little in terms of volume.  The other thing about peppers is that they don’t grow in nice uniformly round proportions.  Instead they come in convoluted shapes and must be seeded, squared off and carefully cut to make sure that you achieve a fairly uniform match stick. (julienne for you  “french” purists) As a result they take a bit longer to deal with than other kinds of vegetables.

I like the 10 inch chef’s knife because I can easily keep the tip on the cutting board and still raise it high enough to slide the cantankerous pepper underneath the heel end of the knife and slice all the way through the skin.  For all you budding new chef’s out there a word here is in order. Anything with a skin on it should be cut from the inside out! This means the skin side of the (Pepper, Tomato, Apple you get the picture) should be touching the board.  Why you ask?  Because the skin side up will bounce your knife back up  and over onto your other hand resulting in a few serious gashes in your non knife hand.  You have to use too much pressure to cut this way.  Another important point is to be aware of any random seeds that may have escaped as you clean the peppers.  You will be looking at the pepper as you cut and suddenly up by the tip of your knife a seed gets in the way of the blade.  This can also throw the motion off and make you slice into you knuckle as well.  The 10 inch chef’s knife provides just the right amount of length to keep the tip on the board and the heel where you need it for cutting. The 8 is too small and must be raised too high and the 12 leaves too much tip out there to find an errant object on the board to get you in trouble.

The final part was to go to the slicer and finish off with 15 pounds of napa cabbage and a head of purple cabbage for good color.  The slaw was dressed with an chipoltle orange cilantro dressing and I thought it was outstanding, but of course I made it so go figure.

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