A is a traditional Japanese kitchen utensil, similar to a wood plane or mandoline. It is used to shave, dried blocks of skipjack tuna .[1]
The technique used to prepare the cooking ingredient is pulling and pushing a block of across the blade in the device in a back-and-forth movement. The resulting shavings are captured in a wooden drawer at the bottom of the instrument, and retrieved by opening and emptying the shavings that are roughly sorted into two sizes for different uses.
The shavings are a staple of Japanese cuisine.[2] Larger, thicker shavings, called, are boiled with to make . Smaller, thinner shavings, called, are used as a flavoring and as a topping for many Japanese dishes, such as .
Today, many Japanese households no longer use the, opting instead to buy packages of already-shaved or at supermarkets.