Foodietopo

I just received the Maruyoshi folding santoku by express mail. The knife is massive! It's very well made and almost feel like a full size santoku. This knife is not street legal in Japan where the maximum blade length is 4.5 cm. The damascus blade is so pretty and it's scary sharp like most Japanese blades. I will post a mini review later tonight along with some pics.

Would you consider using Bacalhau (dry and salted cod fish)? This Portuguese fish could be made into so many delicious recipes and you would not have to worry about the freshness of the fish.

I don't know if this might help you in the quest for the perfect ice. But I saw a show on Japanese TV a while ago about ice made in a pond somewhere in the North of Japan. The ice was sold to bars in Tokyo for it's purity. This is an article about such an ice maker My linkhttp://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/photos/seasonal/lens239.htm

Gabriel, It's my third year on the Jet Programme and I can only recommend it strongly. I am also from Montreal so I know a bit about the way they conduct interview. There is very little chance you will get the placement you asked for. Don't ask for Tokyo or Kyoto, you won't get it. The Jet Programme is a big lottery, I ended up in the middle of the mountains in Hiroshima and a friend of mine ended up right between Kobe and Osaka. The Jet Programme is a great opportunity to live and work in Japan. I've been slowly learning how to cook washoku. I took lessons about udon making in Takamatsu, I've helped to prepare soba at the community center. I have no professional cooking aspirations so far, so cooking along side my Japanese mother-in-law as proven an amazing cooking experience. It's home cooking, but it's the real thing. The skills to work in a noodle shop and a kaiseki restaurant are very different. What exactly do you want to learn? As for the language, there is not a lot of talking in the kitchen from what I understand. My Japanese is far from perfect and I been just observing and trying to replicate a set of skills. Good luck in getting into the Jet Programme

A good deba is next on my list of knife to buy. The last time I used one, it was to break down a bunch of fugu before deep frying them. The fugu spine is really hard and the deba was the right knife for the job. My japanese mother-in-law knife had some small chips, but I removed all of them on a wetstone. What would be a good size for a deba? Is heavier better?

I ordered the santoku today directly from Maruyoshi. The knife is 14000 yen including shipping in Japan. The owner seem to read and write English really well. I am sending the money tomorrow by special mail, so I should get the knife early next week or maybe before the weekend. I've been looking for a knife like that for a while to replace my Opinel, so I was happy to see this link today on your post. I will report back on how the knife performs. I intend to bring it on road trip and use it to eat fresh veggies and fruits when I stop at local market along the road. Seems like the perfect knife for the job. My everyday knife is a Global Pro chef knife and a Aritsugu petty knife, this one looks a lot more practical to travel around.

Please keep us posted on the price, I could not find anything about this knife in Japan with my limited Japanese.

I sometime carry an Opinel, but I am seriously considering getting a Misono fruit knife. I know that these knives aren't folders, but they just seem very practical. The knife sheat fits very well. Here is the link to the Japanese website to give you an idea: http://www.misono-hamono.com/KNIFE/fruit.html I think you would not get in trouble carrying one of these since they are clearly cooking knives.