Yasuhiro Mineno shares his cutting-edge knife skills

We've just featured Yasuhiro Mineno who is the chef-patron, together with his partner, Shinya Ikeda, of Yashin Ocean House and Yashin Sushi Bar. He is the ex-head chef of Ubon by Nobu and is famed as having the best knife skills in Europe. He gave us his top knife tips along with some videos showing the man himself in action. Top five tips to improve your knife skills:

1. Buy three sharpening stones

Medium, fine, super fine; sharpen them every day. Even If you buy the best knife, without knowing how to sharpen and practice, it is just a waste of money.

2. Look after your sharpening stones.

Make sure the stone is flat all the time. There is no point sharpening knives using a sharpening stone with an uneven surface.

3. Do katsuramuki (slicing white radishes) every day.

This

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is the most basic skill for Japanese chefs.

But somehow no commis chefs in Japanese restaurants in the UK do this except at Yashin Ocean House.

4. Knowledge of variety of knives.

If you know and use a variety of knives, your dishes will be better. Watch the video below about the variety of knives.

Making sashimi relies on using the correct knife. If you don't know how to choose the appropriate knife, even using the sharpest knife, it will literally be a piece of fish instead of sashimi.

5. Show gratitude to your knife

Love it more than just as a tool. This is Japanese philosophy and the background of Japanese cuisine. If you appreciate knives, then naturally your knife skill will be better for sure. Read more about his philosophy and Yashin Ocean House here.