Milk Street: Nakiri
What if we told you there is a Japanese knife specifically designed for vegetable prep that will make your cooking safer, easier and faster? It is vastly better than the all-purpose European chef’s knife, which is clunky, heavy and too thick to precisely slice and dice onions, cut carrots into perfect coins or reduce chard into feathery ribbons. The solution is the Milk Street Nakiri. It’s light, thin and sharp, with a design that resembles a mini cleaver—2 inches deep with a squared-off tip. A very thin blade, just 1.6 millimeters at the top, tapers down even thinner toward the end so it slices through even tough ingredients effortlessly without bending. The broad blade shields your fingers when you chop and works as a bench scraper to transfer chopped veggies to the simmering pot. With the help of veteran industrial designer David Lewin, we added a few special touches. The blade is embossed with a nonstick file pattern that replicates the kourochi (blacksmith) or tshuchime (pear skin) finish to traditional nakiris, so sliced ingredients fall right off. A gentle curve accommodates fingers when choking up tight for control, and the handle has been designed to provide a nonslip grip.
Maalouf Authentic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Stone-milled exclusively from a single grove of small, slender Souri olives grown in North Lebanon, Maalouf's early-harvest oil possesses a potent green-yellow color and a buttery, rich flavor with hints of green apple and artichoke. It has a subtle peppery kick and addictively long, nutty finish. This is truly an all-purpose, extra-virgin olive oil without the overpowering bitterness that mars many other brands. We have a very limited inventory of this small-batch oil; once we're sold out, we can't get more until next year's olive harvest.
Milk Street Nakiri
What if we told you there is a Japanese knife specifically designed for vegetable prep that will make your cooking safer, easier and faster? It is vastly better than the all-purpose European chef’s knife, which is clunky, heavy and too thick to precisely slice and dice onions, cut carrots into perfect coins or reduce chard into feathery ribbons. The solution is the Milk Street Nakiri. It’s light, thin and sharp, with a design that resembles a mini cleaver—2 inches deep with a squared-off tip. A very thin blade, just 1.6 millimeters at the top, tapers down even thinner toward the end so it slices through even tough ingredients effortlessly without bending. The broad blade shields your fingers when you chop and works as a bench scraper to transfer chopped veggies to the simmering pot. With the help of veteran industrial designer David Lewin, we added a few special touches. The blade is embossed with a nonstick file pattern that replicates the kourochi (blacksmith) or tshuchime (pear skin) finish to traditional nakiris, so sliced ingredients fall right off. A gentle curve accommodates fingers when choking up tight for control, and the handle has been designed to provide a nonslip grip.
Topfi Pot Lid Holder
Most home cooks can relate to the annoyance of scrambling to find some counter space to put down a pot lid, all while dripping liquid all over your floors and counters. But with a bit of German engineering, this problem is solved. Topfi’s Lid Holder, made of pure stainless steel, attaches to virtually any pot to provide a convenient and sturdy spot to store your lid when not in use. Small but mighty, it was a hit during testing with everyone in our kitchen. It’ll keep your surfaces clean, is dishwasher safe and, once you put the lid back on, it doubles as an easy way to allow some steam to escape from your pot. Plus, it has attached silicone tips to protect your pot from damage. It may just become the most used tool in your kitchen!
Milk Street Precision Peeler
Most peelers do a lousy job. The blades are made of inferior steel so they do not peel easily and the peel itself is often too thick. The blades dull over time so you have to throw it out. Many designs have uncomfortable handles or the handles are awkward since they are not aligned properly with the blade. And when it comes to thick, tough skins such as butternut squash, you might as well give up before you start. That is why we just redesigned the peeler, using top-grade 420 stainless steel for the replaceable blade (why don’t all peelers have replaceable blades?) and a handle that is big enough for a firm, easy grip. Try it just once and you will find that it peels like cutting through butter. It’s that good!
Milk Street Limited Edition Premium Kitchin-to™ — Cocobolo Wood
Traditional European chef’s knives are big, heavy and awkward because they evolved from Middle Ages daggers, which were designed for personal defense, not kitchen work. There’s good reason its so hard to prep a tidy dice.
Our solution was to look toward Japan, where there’s a long history—and huge range—of smartly designed kitchen knives grown out of swordmaking. By design, Japanese knives are thinner, lighter and task specific—separate blade styles, for meats, fish, vegetables, etc. Based on these knives and our own cooking experience, we developed an all-new modern chef’s knife that’s remarkably easy to use. It’s the Milk Street Kitchin-to, part cleaver and part vegetable knife. It can handle small jobs such as slicing garlic but also makes heavy-duty jobs a breeze. With the Kitchin-to, you let the knife do the work!
This is a Limited edition, premium run of our tried-and-true Milk Street Kitchin-To knife. It features a high-end Japanese AUS8 steel blade specially treated with a non-stick “Tsuchime” hammered surface and a gorgeously grained cocobolo wood handle. And it comes with a custom saya, or knife guard, to keep your blade keen and protect it in storage. Consider it an heirloom-quality tool to pass on to the next generation.
Milk Street Kitchin-kiji
The one kind of knife missing from most Western kitchens is one of the most used in Japan—a midsized, multipurpose utility knife bigger and stronger than a paring knife but smaller and more manageable than a chef’s knife. Why Western cooks typically don’t have such a knife is beyond us, so we took months to design our own. The result is the Kitchin-kiji—the ultimate all-purpose utility knife that will speed up your prep. It’s perfect for all the “in-between” jobs, small enough for detailed handwork like slicing garlic and shallots, trimming mushrooms or cutting fruit. Plus, we designed it with a broad blade to be large enough that it won’t twist, and the larger handle fills the hand for a confident grip.
Milk Street Közmatik
When a recipe calls for charring vegetables, what do you do? Well, you can fire up the grill but that is a lot of work for just one eggplant or two bell peppers. In Turkey, however, they have a better solution called the Közmatik, a metal disk that fits perfectly over the burner of a gas stove. Evenly spaced holes allow heat to circulate around the vegetables, so you are truly roasting, rather than searing as you would on a skillet. The holes are close enough to hold even small veggies, like slender spring onions, and the disk is large enough to keep several bulbous eggplants from rolling off. It’s also less messy than charring directly on the burner: The Közmatik catches nearly all of the bits of charred vegetable skin and juices that would leak onto the surface of the stove. And, once cooled, it can be thrown in the dishwasher for easy cleanup.
Bisbell Universal Magnetic Blade Cover
Made from stiff polypropylene and fit with robust magnets, Bisbell’s matte black magnetic knife guards clamp tightly and securely to your blade. The pre-scored cover requires nothing more than stiff shears to cut, meaning you can customize the fit to each of your knives and safely store in your drawer. You’ll never again nick your fingers or chip your knife blades! Plus, they’re easy to clean and great for when you need to bring a knife on the road. Unfortunately, this knife cover does not fit our Kitchin-to or Kitchin-tan knives, however we will have solutions for these knives soon!
Milk Street Precision Rolling Pin
Unless you are a pastry chef, getting pie and cookie dough (even pasta dough) rolled out evenly to an exact thickness is perhaps the hardest skill to master in the kitchen. The Milk Street Precision Rolling Pin solves this problem so that even novice bakers can get it right the first time, every time. How does it work? Simply screw in the end caps for the desired height and roll out your crust or dough. (The ends are thicker than the middle by the thickness you want for the dough.) This system is extra-sturdy and easy to use and the pin is plenty long, 23 inches, to handle any width of dough. Plus, we added a laster-etched ruler to the length of the beechwood pin for measuring pans and ensuring your dough is just the right width. You can also use this pin without the end caps - it is 18-inches long and perfect for smaller, more delicate tasks.
BLiS Gourmet Barrel Aged Fish Sauce
This bourbon barrel-aged fish sauce is mellowed by seven months of sitting in oak, so the earthy, meaty funk that one expects from any fermented fish product is beautifully balanced by a complementary sweetness. BLiS's product is also rounded out with soft notes imparted by the seven-month aging process: warming spices, vanilla, and fruit woods, as well as a subtle smoky depth.
Aux Co. Ltd. Japan Sukueru Knife
This unique serving spoon-knife combo tool is a must-have for serving. Right at the table (or the picnic blanket or the potluck), you can use the serrated edge to cut out your perfect portion of food and then use the dipped bowl of the spoon to easily scoop it into your plate. The concave shape and wider width actually lifts up the food and holds it there—it won’t go tumbling back onto the platter like it would with a classic narrow, triangular server. The blade is sharp enough to cut through pizza crust and it’s ideal for slicing through gooey lasagna without lopping off that top layer of chewy cheese trying to slice and serve. Plus, it’s made from durable, dishwasher safe stainless steel with a satin finish, which is great for camouflaging scratches after frequent use. (And we promise you’ll be using this tool quite a bit.)
Colonel Pabst All-Malt Amber Lager Worcestershire Sauce
This sauce’s profile is unlike any other we’ve tried. While Worcestershire can typically have a reputation as being tart and tangy, we love how this one leads with sweet and malty notes. It’s brewed in small batches before it’s carefully strained and bottled. And it begins with award-winning Milwaukee amber lager from Lakefront Brewery—mellow, yet rich. Made from a family recipe, it has far more noticeable layers than the typical grocery store variety, but still offers that special flavor boosting quality Worcestershire is known for. Indian tamarind, molasses and Demerara sugar offer a unique sweetness, while madras curry, peppercorn and cinnamon yield a balanced warmth. We especially love the use of tomato paste here, which is relatively uncommon, and the classic umami base that comes from classic anchovy paste and soy.
Marna Silicone Piggy Steamer Lid
Designed for steaming food, the Marna Piggy Steamer from Japan is a silicone lid that forms a tight seal over pots and containers, vents excess steam through its snout and is easy to lift by its ear-shaped handles. Use it for perfect stovetop steaming, splatter-free microwave cooking or even refrigerator storage in place of plastic wrap. It's more compact and flexible than metal pot lids and fits any vessel less than 8.5 inches in diameter, with the silicone locking in moisture for effective steaming; smartly designed holes in the pig snout act as vents to avoid built-up pressure. When you're done using it, you can throw the lid in a kitchen drawer for storage without worrying about finding a spot on the shelf.
Angkor Food Lemongrass Paste
Angkor Food's Lemongrass Paste is an all-purpose curry paste made with bright and aromatic lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal, balanced out by earthy garlic, onion and turmeric; fish sauce gives the paste a savory and complex boost.
Turkish Dish Towels — Set of 2
You asked, we delivered—Turkish dish towels without tassels! Turkish textiles are famously absorbent and efficient at drying and these are made from 100% hand-loomed Turkish cotton. Soft and surprisingly lightweight, these dish towels dry remarkably fast after absorbing water and spills. They’re yarn-dyed for true colors that will stay fast, and each towel comes with a loop to hang it with. Available in a set of two.
Aux Co. Ltd. Gassiri Tongs
Though upon first glance Aux Co. Ltd’s Gassiri Tongs seem just like any other pair, our kitchen team was blown away after testing them. The rounded shape makes it easy to pick up spherical items like meatballs, eggs or potatoes that may run away using a normal pair of tongs. But the sides of these tongs are what really set them apart—one is designed with slits and the other with a scoop that can hold about a tablespoon of liquid. Use the slotted side to strain out unwanted liquid, like when rendering bacon, or use the scoop side to add pasta water to your sauce. Sturdy stainless steel construction—complete with a sufficient handle length—also makes these tongs strong and safe so you can pick up heavy, hot ingredients without any problems. However, they can still be used delicately—they work just as well picking up a strand of spaghetti or a soft boiled egg.
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