Choose Your Blade!

Other than your perseverance and “fighting spirit,” the most important thing that every aspiring chef needs is a sharp knife! (Of course, the QuinJa has sharp wit - that’s why you read, right?) After all, how is a ninja or samurai to garner victory in the kitchen without a proper katana?!

1. At a minimum, you only need two knives - a chef’s knife* and a paring knife! My favorite blade is my santoku (Japanese chef’s knife - it is a heftier blade!)
2. Always buy knives that have a full tang (e.g., the steel of the blade extends to the shaft of the handle). I went with German cold steel - Wustof Grand Prix II. Got a good deal from Amazon.

*How long? Size only matters to meglomaniacal warlords! Choose the knife that feels best in your hands - balance! It’s not the knife, it’s the wielder that holds the power! 

Since you only need two knives, do not skimp - your kitchen survival depends on it! I mean, without the scene below, do you think the movie would have been called, Kill Bill?



"You will never know how sharp a sword is unless it's drawn from its sheath"
— Confucius
Let’s all keep practicing!


OK, here’s a clip of the Secret - “Super Fingers Knife” Technique!

Measurements and the Ninja Way

As you see recipes, I will only give quantitative values as a rule of thumb.  Every palate is different (salty, sweet, spicy, etc) and you should cook to whatever makes you happy!  (Note: Baking is the exception as it is an exact science.)  Whenever possible, I will give measurements in the "common vernacular" (i.e., a can of beer, instead of 12 fluid ounces; why use measuring equipment - it's just another thing that you will have to clean).  Hey, the Cooking Ninja Way... you won't always have specialized equipment or the luxury of carrying such equipment when out in the field completing your mission.  Furthermore, in the field, you aren't always going to have foie gras, truffles, saffron or other exotic ingredients at your disposal.  Ninjas survive with what we got on hand!


Another selfish reason of why "estimates" are given... you can't expect a ninja to share all our secrets!  I mean, if I told you the exact location of the dim mak, or "death touch"... the ninja population may suffer and there may not be future blog posts!

Be Ninja!

On "typical" cooking shows, you get... chefs that always prepare perfect food, have pantries and fridges filled with all manner of exotic ingredients and kitchens stocked of every tool imaginable, and a James Cameronesque budget and production crew of Death Star proportions (shout out to Clerks).


At Cooking-Dojo, inspired by Les Stroud of SurvivorMan, you get to Be Ninja!  Through the marvels of modern technology, I give you the unpatented EYE-ago!  Yes, astute readers will find it a poor pun of the parrot from Disney’s Aladdin... however, in the aftermath of the epic Internet battle between Ninjas vs. Pirates, sometimes you gotta steal a good idea from vanquished foes!  (C’mon, this is Cooking-Dojo, not Gastronomic Galley!)  In early filming, I realized that my ”kung fu cooking was as fast as lightning” so the camera could not keep up! The good news is that through slow-motion videography, you can see my hands!



In regard to chopping and cutting, please be safe!  Last time I checked, women don’t date hobbits that are missing fingers even if you are sporting "my Precious" Bling!



Also, a ninja often operates alone!  This is a one-man production crew.  A ninja must always use whatever is on hand to complete the mission (sometimes you gotta work with a package of ramen) and survive in the harsh environment of the kitchen!
 
Don’t listen to AI... (Note: He was a fearless player in his prime and sacrificed his body on the court.)



I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.  ~ Bruce Lee

What you see here is real... failures are an opportunity to learn for both of us... thanks for sharing with my experiences!

So You Wanna Be a Cook?

Greetings and welcome to Cooking-Dojo!

It is here within these virtual walls that I would like to share my "Way of the Warrior", or rather, my "Course of the Chef."  Much like any martial discipline (shout out to yoga too!), good cooking is grounded in applying proper techniques (striking, grappling, alignment, braising, roasting, etc), lots of practice, and the heart of a champion to always get up when life knocks you down!

My journey began about a year ago when I began training in judo, taekwondo, and akido.  The goal was to get into great shape, work on getting belts, and to test myself against others in competition. During this intensive training period, I was invincible! There was no way that Johnny of Kobra Kai was gonna put this Quinja-san in a body bag!

After a few months of training, I got a cool work assignment and was sent to Oxford, England for six weeks... during a night of intense merrymaking (Apparently, there was this "futbol" World Cup going on at the time.)  I got accidentally knocked down and I realized, "I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up."  [look it up on YouTube]  It dawned on me... I was not invincible!  All the martial arts training had made me mentally tough - I simply blocked out all the pain!  Yes, size matters in martial arts... that's why they have weight classes!  (Granted in the Thunderdome early days of the UFC are an exception but the sport has gained rules during its push for mainstream acceptance.)


Coming back to the United States (and some would argue -- coming back to my senses), I realized that, coupled with my horrible breakfall technique, 50lb+ differential in sparring partners, and likely countless mini-concussions... I needed to try something different so when I heard about this class called "Knife Skills"...  Much to my chagrin, this was not a weapons class!


However, the Way of the Warrior changed to the Course of the Chef...


The mission of Cooking-Dojo is...
1 - A place where aspiring Chefs can practice and share their techniques!
2 - A place where we can all laugh... hey, so long it's not a mortal "flesh wound!"  [British accent]
3 - Hopefully, you will like and follow my blog as my goal is to audition for Hell's Kitchen, MasterChef or Chopped.  Why?  Back in elementary school, I had a childhood "friend," Mary Theresa... I don't know what her current situation is, but if she's watching... 






OK, so that's the storyline from Slumdog Millionaire... but hey, I had to give some love to my women readership out there!


No, the real reason is this... much like the guys on The Ultimate Fighter, I want the opportunity to test my culinary skills against the best... you could say... I want to be The Ultimate Foodie!


Shout out to BJ Penn and Hawaii...



Shout out to GSP and Canada...



I'll end this first blog with an inspirational quote for aspiring chefs... (Check out around the 20 second mark of the clip.)


"[Cutting] boards don't hit back."
       - Bruce Lee's comeback when the villain O'Hara tries to scare him, Enter the Dragon (1973)