The other day. I was washing dishes in the kitchen and my wife was about to open a can of corned beef with a knife.
I knew from Philippine-related blogs that Filipinos open cans with a knife instead of using a can opener, but I never thought I would see it with my own eyes.
Most canning lids these days have a full open end, a notch called a score around the lid of the can, so I never had a chance to see Filipinos' specialty of opening cans with a knife, since they never use a can opener.
The can of corned beef that my wife was trying to open was opened by inserting an old-fashioned take-up key into a protrusion on the side of the can and cutting it off while winding around a portion of the can.
Apparently, it was difficult to open the can with that method, and she was executing the Filipino orthodox method of opening a can with a knife.
I think every Japanese household has a can opener on hand, and we even have one in our kitchen.
Still, my wife tried to open the can in the old familiar way.
I asked her to stop immediately because it was dangerous to watch and the tip of the knife could bend or spill
My wife replied, "Don't worry. We used to open cans like this all the time at home, and even if the knife was bent or the blade was chipped, my father, who was very handy, would fix it over the fire.
If it is a steel knife, it may be no problem if it is heated over a fire and struck again, but it is impossible with a Japanese stainless steel knife. Japanese knives are thin and sharp, but they are hard and weak against bending. Therefore, if you use it as a can opener in the Philippine style, it will break.
There are many Japanese immigrants who lament that the kitchen knives they brought from Japan were ruined by being used as can openers.
Please use a can opener to open the lid of the can, as it is dangerous.
