Sashimi Cutting Styles — Professional Knife Techniques
Japan — sashimi cutting technique formalised in Edomae cuisine, Edo period
Professional sashimi preparation requires mastery of several distinct cutting techniques, each suited to specific fish textures, thicknesses, and presentations. The major styles: Hira-zukuri (平造り, flat cut): the most common method — blade held perpendicular to fish, drawn smoothly toward the body in a single pull stroke, producing rectangular slices of 8–10mm for medium-firm fish (tuna, yellowtail, salmon); Ogi-zukuri (扇造り, fan cut): thin diagonal slices fanned on the serving plate for visual presentation; Kaku-zukuri (角造り, cube cut): 10mm squares of very fresh firm-fleshed fish or tuna; Ito-zukuri (糸造り, thread cut): ultra-thin julienne strips of delicate flatfish or squid, served in a tangle; Usuzukuri (薄造り, thin cut): paper-thin slices of white fish (hirame, tai) held against the light for translucency; Tataki-zukuri: rough-cut chopped technique for spicy tuna preparations. Each technique requires the knife to do the work — using force or sawing destroys the cell structure of fresh fish.