I used to think I was a pretty good cook. My mom taught me how to cook when I was about 10. I learned the basics of Chinese cuisine. My recipes expanded to other continents as I got older and I thought I had a pretty good grasp of flavor concepts. However, it was quite humbling when I started watching more videos of home chefs’ prep work. My knife skills were paltry at best when I compared myself to them.
After getting my first Japanese knife, I wanted to get better at slicing and mincing. I would always have uneven slices and my mincing seemed to take twice as long as my mom. I tried several methods I found online: push cutting, rock chopping, pull throughs, etc. I struggled and struggled (and still struggle). But through it all, I found it FUN to try getting some semblance of proficiency because of how my knife glided through the food. I was no longer struggling with accordion strips of green onions.
The knife in the picture is a Nakiri style knife (rectangular) made for cutting up veggies mainly. It is forged by Shindo-san and made out of a material called Aogami #2 (blue steel #2).
I included an affiliate link to an Amazon listing for highly recommended Nakiri knife by Yoshihiro.