Japanese Turning Vegetable Slicer

Have you ever noticed these very thin ‘angel hair’ spaghetti ribbons of vegetables which they use to garnish many dishes in Japanese restaurants? Ever wondered how they do it? The answer is with a Japanese turning vegetable slicer. At nearly sixty quid, this is a relatively expensive piece of kit but, in a domestic kitchen, they last for years if you take care of your blades.

It’s really easy to use. First wash and peel your daikon (or other vegetable) then insert it between the blades and the gripper and start cranking the handle. You can see it in operation in the photo above.

If you really care about the presentation of your food, it’s really worth getting one of these and it only takes minutes to turn a daikon radish or carrot into a plateful of beautifully cut thin ribbons.

You can use it for other vegetables too, such as potatoes and cucumber, and it doesn’t always need to be used for Japanese style food. If, for example, you used it to cut raw potatoes, you could make a nest, like rösti, to hold all sorts of tasty things. I can imagine making some small nests filled with bacon etc. to make a tasty starter. Now there’s an idea!

Mostly I use mine for garnishing Japanese style dishes such as my very simple salmon sashimi, which is sliced raw salmon on a bed of baby herb leaves served with ponzu dressing.

Nisbets currently has a vegetable turning slicer identical to mine, a professional standard Benriner for £59.95.

Nisbets only deliver within the UK. If you live outside the UK, or want to shop around first, why not have a look at Not Delia’s Amazon Cook Shops instead?
Not Delia’s Cook Shop: UK and EU (prices in £)
Not Delia’s Cook Shop: non-EU (prices in US $)