How to Use a Sujihiki
The double-bevel Japanese slicer rewards one habit above all others: let the length do the work. Here is the grip, the draw stroke, the tasks it dominates, and the mistakes that shred a brisket.
One motion runs the whole knife: a single smooth pull from heel to tip, with almost no downward pressure.
A sujihiki (筋引, roughly "sinew puller") is a long, narrow, double-bevel slicer, typically 240-300mm. Hold it in a relaxed pinch grip, set the heel at the near edge of the protein, and pull through in one continuous stroke, letting the tip finish the cut. No sawing, no pressing, no board chopping. Because it is double-bevel, it sharpens like your other knives and works in either hand. If you can resist the urge to saw, you can use a sujihiki well on day one.
Hold it lightly
The sujihiki takes the same pinch grip as a gyuto: thumb and the side of the index finger on the blade just ahead of the handle, three fingers wrapping the handle. Our knife anatomy guide maps the parts if the vocabulary is new.
What changes with a slicer is the pressure. The blade is thin, the edge is acute, and the cut is powered by draw length, not force. If your knuckles whiten, you are pressing, and pressing crushes fibers and squeezes juice out of a roast.
The off hand steadies the protein without clamping it: flat fingers or a carving fork laid on top of a cooked roast, curled fingertips resting lightly on raw or cured fish. Never hold a slippery protein on the far side of the blade path. Stand slightly open to the board so your forearm can travel back freely; a 270mm draw needs elbow room.
The long draw slice, and its variations
The base stroke
- Place the heel of the blade at the near edge of the protein, where the slice should begin.
- Pull the knife toward you in one smooth, continuous motion, keeping the edge in the food for the full length of the blade.
- Let the tip exit and finish the cut; the slice should separate as the tip leaves.
- Lift the blade out. Do not push it back through the cut.
If the slice did not complete in one pull, the answer is a longer stroke or a longer knife, never a back-and-forth saw. Sawing is the single habit that separates ragged slices from glossy ones.
Carving cooked meat
Rest the roast first, find the grain, and take each slice across it with one draw. On brisket, the long flat stroke keeps the bark intact; a 300mm blade spans a full flat. On bone-in roasts, run the tip along the bone to free the meat, then slice boneless. The tip works around bones, never through them.
Slicing raw proteins
Portioning a salmon side, slicing chicken breast for even cooking, or pulling a sashimi slice at home all use the same draw. For raw fish, a freshly touched-up edge shows visibly in cut-face gloss; wipe the blade between slices so each cut starts clean.
Tip work
The fine tip earns its keep on trimming: anchor silverskin with the off hand, slip the tip underneath, angle the edge slightly up toward the skin, and draw along its length.
What the sujihiki excels at
| Task | How | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brisket and barbecue | Full-length draws across the grain | Arguably the best tool for the job |
| Prime rib, lamb, pork loin | One draw per slice, rested meat | Smooth cut face keeps juices in |
| Salmon sides and gravlax | Shallow-angle draws | Wipe the blade between cuts |
| Sashimi at home | Single pull, heel to tip | Close to yanagiba results, no single-bevel upkeep |
| Ham and charcuterie | Long low-drag strokes | The narrow blade releases cured meat cleanly |
| Trimming and portioning | Tip work and short draws | Silverskin, tenderloins, fillet squaring |
Every job is a protein and every motion is a draw. The sujihiki entity page covers where those jobs end and gyuto territory begins.
Where the sujihiki does not belong
- Bones and joints. Work around bones with the tip, never through them. Fish frames belong to a deba, poultry joints to a honesuki.
- Frozen or semi-frozen food. Never. The fastest way to chip a thin Japanese edge.
- Board chopping and general prep. The blade is deliberately too narrow for knuckle clearance; daily prep is gyuto work.
- Twisting and levering. A slicer cuts in a straight line. Thin hard steel does not forgive sideways flex.
- Hard boards. Glass, stone, and hard bamboo blunt an acute edge quickly.
One honest steer: if raw fish is nearly all of your slicing and you want the last few percent of cut-face polish, that is yanagiba territory, with the single-bevel discipline that comes with it. For everyone else the double bevel is the feature, not the compromise; our single vs double bevel guide explains why.
Mistakes and fixes
Sawing back and forth
Habit from shorter, duller knives. Fix: start the heel farther back, commit to one full-length pull, and slow down. Never reverse direction inside the cut.
Pressing down instead of drawing
Chef-knife habits. Fix: imagine the blade weighs nothing and only travel matters. If a cut needs force, the edge needs a touch-up or the task needs a different knife.
Carving meat straight out of the oven
Impatience. Fix: rest the roast until the fibers relax. Even a perfect draw cannot save unrested meat from bleeding out on the board.
Ignoring the grain
Grain direction turns across a brisket and many roasts. Fix: read the fiber direction before each section and keep slices across it.
Letting the edge fade
A slicer rarely feels dull because it seldom hits the board hard. Fix: a quick strop or touch-up before each carving session; cut-face gloss is the first thing a fading edge takes.
Keeping the slicer sliding
Board. Wood or a soft synthetic board long enough that the draw stays on it; a juice groove helps with roasts. No glass, stone, or hard bamboo.
Care. Hand wash and towel dry immediately; never the dishwasher. Store in a saya, blade guard, or on a magnetic strip, because a loose 270mm blade in a drawer is a hazard in both directions. Carbon-steel versions get wipe-downs during use and camellia oil before storage; the full routine is in our knife care guide.
Sharpening. Refreshingly ordinary: double-bevel, both faces evenly, roughly 12-15 degrees per side, as covered in our sharpening angles guide. Two slicer notes: divide the long edge into thirds and give each equal stone time, and finish finer than for a board knife, 3000-6000 grit, because draw-cut keenness is the whole product. Steel choice sets how often you visit the stones; compare options in the steel guide.
Sujihiki technique questions
How do you cut with a sujihiki?
One long pull stroke. Place the heel at the near edge of the protein, draw the blade toward you through the full length of the edge, and let the tip finish the cut. Minimal downward pressure, and never saw.
Can a beginner use a sujihiki?
Yes. It is the most beginner-friendly Japanese slicer: the double bevel sharpens normally, works in either hand, and cuts straight without steering. The only technique to learn is the single-stroke draw.
Can you cut vegetables with a sujihiki?
Occasionally, yes: melons, cabbage ribbons, long produce that suits a draw cut. As a daily vegetable knife, no; the blade is too narrow for knuckle clearance and board chopping is not its motion.
How do you slice brisket with a sujihiki?
Rest the brisket, find the grain of each muscle, and slice across it in single full-length draws at pencil thickness. Let length and edge do the work; pressing shreds the bark.
Can you cut sashimi with a sujihiki?
Yes, and well. One pull per slice with a freshly touched-up edge, wiping the blade between cuts. A yanagiba keeps a small advantage in cut-face gloss on delicate fish, but a sharp sujihiki satisfies almost everyone outside a professional sushi context.
Do you sharpen a sujihiki differently?
No special discipline, just double-bevel sharpening on a longer blade: 12-15 degrees per side, finished at a high grit, working the edge in sections so the middle gets as much attention as the heel and tip.
Know the motion, then master the knife.
This guide covered how to use the slicer. Geometry, sizing, steels, and buying advice live on the sujihiki entity page.
Read the Sujihiki Reference →