Stop stabbing and pinching your meats like a savage and get acquainted with saibashi, Japanese cooking chopsticks. Like bamboo extensions of your fingers, a pair of saibashi is the perfect tool for delicately handling your food as it cooks.
Saibashi are different from regular chopsticks, or hashi, in two key points: length and material. Hashi are made of various materials and are generally not much longer than 20 cm (9 in), whereas saibashi are usually made of bamboo or wood and around twice as long as hashi. The heat-resistant bamboo/wood and added length make saibashi well suited for handling food during high-temperature operations such as frying and simmering. Tempura chefs can often be seen using saibashi to pluck their fried delicacies out of pots of scaldingly hot oil and gingerly plate them in Japanese fashion.
These giant Japanese chopsticks are commonly used when preparing dishes that involve a lot of heated liquids and fire. Saibashi are especially good for vigorous cooking in non-stick frying pans since their wood construction and rounded tips won't scratch the coating. Also, if you're a granola-munching naturalist, you can rest easy knowing that no creepy chemicals will be leaching off your 110% bamboo saibashi.
Really, saibashi are just two wooden sticks with tapered points. The number of uses for such a simple tool are only limited by your imagination. Put a sponge on the end of it and you can use it to clean the inside of narrow bottles. Pinch the ends together and use it to squeeze toothpaste out of the tube. Hide all the metal tongs at your next barbecue and replace them with saibashi to prevent any buttinskies from taking over the grill. Sometimes I use mine to scratch my back.
You should be able to find saibashi anywhere Asian cooking supplies (woks, fancy Japanese knives, etc.) are sold. If not, or if you live in the middle of nowhere, Amazon.com is your friend. A solid pair of saibashi shouldn't cost you more than $5. I bought mine from a 100 yen store a year ago and they're still going strong. Get a pair with ridged tips to make handling slippery foods much easier.
Saibashi are different from regular chopsticks, or hashi, in two key points: length and material. Hashi are made of various materials and are generally not much longer than 20 cm (9 in), whereas saibashi are usually made of bamboo or wood and around twice as long as hashi. The heat-resistant bamboo/wood and added length make saibashi well suited for handling food during high-temperature operations such as frying and simmering. Tempura chefs can often be seen using saibashi to pluck their fried delicacies out of pots of scaldingly hot oil and gingerly plate them in Japanese fashion.
These giant Japanese chopsticks are commonly used when preparing dishes that involve a lot of heated liquids and fire. Saibashi are especially good for vigorous cooking in non-stick frying pans since their wood construction and rounded tips won't scratch the coating. Also, if you're a granola-munching naturalist, you can rest easy knowing that no creepy chemicals will be leaching off your 110% bamboo saibashi.
Really, saibashi are just two wooden sticks with tapered points. The number of uses for such a simple tool are only limited by your imagination. Put a sponge on the end of it and you can use it to clean the inside of narrow bottles. Pinch the ends together and use it to squeeze toothpaste out of the tube. Hide all the metal tongs at your next barbecue and replace them with saibashi to prevent any buttinskies from taking over the grill. Sometimes I use mine to scratch my back.
You should be able to find saibashi anywhere Asian cooking supplies (woks, fancy Japanese knives, etc.) are sold. If not, or if you live in the middle of nowhere, Amazon.com is your friend. A solid pair of saibashi shouldn't cost you more than $5. I bought mine from a 100 yen store a year ago and they're still going strong. Get a pair with ridged tips to make handling slippery foods much easier.
About the Author:
There is a reason why Tokyo has more Michelin stars than Paris. Kitchens in Japan are a fascinating product of centuries of culinary heritage. If you want to learn more about Japanese Kitchens, recipes, and techniques, check out my blog at fareastcoastkitchen.com.
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