Have you ever heard of unagi, the Japanese freshwater eel?
Eel is not eaten as commonly in Europe or North America as it is in Japan, so some people may find its long, snake-like appearance rather unusual. In Japan, however, eel has been enjoyed for centuries and is regarded as a traditional delicacy, alongside other premium foods such as bluefin tuna.
One of the best-known eel dishes is unagi kabayaki, a classic Japanese dish enjoyed by people of all ages.
The eel is prepared, coated with a sweet and savory sauce, and grilled until beautifully caramelized and aromatic. Kabayaki is one of Japan’s most popular traditional dishes.
Eel was once considerably more affordable than it is today. However, declining stocks and changes in fishing regulations and distribution have caused prices to rise dramatically. There is even an appropriate Japanese expression for this: “unagi-nobori”, literally “eel climbing,” meaning that something is rising rapidly. Today, good-quality unagi has become a true luxury.
Recently, I was asked to sharpen a traditional Japanese knife made specifically for preparing eel: an unagi-saki.
Different Regions, Different Eel Knives
The way eel is prepared differs from region to region in Japan, and the knives used for the job have developed accordingly. In particular, eel knives from eastern and western Japan can look completely different.
The knife I received this time was a Kanto-style unagi-saki, traditionally used in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto region.
Among the various regional styles of Japanese eel knives, the Kanto style has a particularly unusual shape.
It has two straight cutting edges that meet at an angle near the tip. This distinctive geometry makes it much more difficult to sharpen than an ordinary kitchen knife.
The back of the blade also has a special hollow-ground shape, similar to many traditional single-bevel Japanese knives. Because of the unusual shape of the Kanto-style eel knife, maintaining the correct geometry on both sides requires considerable care.
When Sharpening Becomes Restoration
This particular knife had another problem.
It had been used and sharpened repeatedly for many years, gradually changing its original shape. Once a knife reaches this condition, simply sharpening the edge is not enough. The overall shape of the blade must also be corrected as much as possible.
In other words, the job becomes less like ordinary sharpening and more like restoration.
Normally, I would hesitate to accept a knife in this condition because completely restoring its original geometry would be extremely difficult.
However, the owner understood the limitations and asked me simply to do as much as reasonably possible.
So I decided to take on the challenge.