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.
Use a pair of saibashi anytime you need to handle hot food both delicately and quickly. It's easy to switch from plucking to stirring to flipping with saibashi. Once you get comfortable with them, they function as an extension of your fingers.
Don't limit yourself to using saibashi as a replacement for your spatula and tongs. There are a million different uses for two foot long wooden sticks. If your back is itchy, just your saibashi to scratch it. If you can't reach the bottom of a thermos with a sponge to clean it, use your saibashi to get at that spot. Throw a pair in your bag when you go camping and use them to cook over an open fire (you can also use them for kindling in a pinch).
Saibashi can be had at any kitchenware store with an Asian section. Failing that, Amazon.com has a decent selection as well. Needless to say, you shouldn't pay more than $5 for a pair of saibashi, and even that's a tad expensive. I picked up 3 pairs from my local supermarket for less than 300 yen.
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.
Use a pair of saibashi anytime you need to handle hot food both delicately and quickly. It's easy to switch from plucking to stirring to flipping with saibashi. Once you get comfortable with them, they function as an extension of your fingers.
Don't limit yourself to using saibashi as a replacement for your spatula and tongs. There are a million different uses for two foot long wooden sticks. If your back is itchy, just your saibashi to scratch it. If you can't reach the bottom of a thermos with a sponge to clean it, use your saibashi to get at that spot. Throw a pair in your bag when you go camping and use them to cook over an open fire (you can also use them for kindling in a pinch).
Saibashi can be had at any kitchenware store with an Asian section. Failing that, Amazon.com has a decent selection as well. Needless to say, you shouldn't pay more than $5 for a pair of saibashi, and even that's a tad expensive. I picked up 3 pairs from my local supermarket for less than 300 yen.
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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