How to Season and Care for Your Yoshikawa Carbon Steel Wok or Pan

Jul 24, 2026 Upscale Living beginner
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You've just bought a Yoshikawa carbon steel wok or frying pan — or you're about to. Either way, there's one thing to understand before the first stir-fry: this pan has no coating at all. No Teflon, no ceramic, nothing to scratch off or wear out. That's the whole point. Treated right, a Yoshikawa Cook-Pal is designed to last a lifetime — the non-stick surface is one you build yourself, and it gets better with every use. Here's exactly how, based on Yoshikawa's own care instructions.

Before the first use: two steps, ten minutes

Step 1 — Wash it properly

Give the pan a thorough wash with dish soap and a scrubbing sponge or brush. This is the one time soap is not just allowed but required: you're removing the manufacturing residue and dust from the factory and the journey to your kitchen. Get every surface, rinse well.

Step 2 — The initial seasoning

This is the step that transforms bare steel into a non-stick pan:

  1. Pour in enough cooking oil to coat the entire inner surface of the wok or pan.
  2. Heat it over a low flame for about 5 minutes.
  3. Let it cool, and wipe out the excess.

That gentle heating bonds the oil to the carbon steel, forming the first natural layer of what cooks call seasoning — the slick, dark patina that gives carbon steel its non-stick behaviour. Once the initial seasoning is done, the pan is ready for real cooking, high heat included. Woks especially love a strong flame — that's what they're built for.

Your pan will change colour. That's the good news.

After seasoning and the first few cooks, you'll see the surface darken in places, show some marks, or even turn lighter and yellowish where the heat concentrates. All of it is normal. Carbon steel darkens with use, and the colour is your progress bar: the darker the pan, the better the non-stick. A well-used Yoshikawa wok heads toward black — that's not wear, that's the goal.

After cooking: the wash routine that keeps the seasoning alive

  1. Rinse with water while the pan is still warm. Rinsing at this stage carries away the excess oil and most food residue before anything can set.
  2. Scrub with the green side of a sponge, a brush, or a bamboo whisk. Stubborn stuck-on bits will come off. It's preferred to skip soap and steel wool here, since both take the seasoning layer off along with the grime — but there's no harm if you do use them. The pan itself is solid steel; just redo the quick initial seasoning afterwards and it's good as new.
  3. Dry it immediately — wipe with a dry cloth, or put it back on the stove briefly until the water is gone. While your seasoning is still young and thin, this is a good moment to repeat the quick oil-and-low-heat seasoning from step 2 above.
  4. Store it somewhere dry. Moisture is carbon steel's only real enemy.

That's the entire routine: rinse warm, scrub, dry at once, store dry. It takes less time than reading this paragraph.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a stainless steel spatula or turner?

Yes — any material you like. Because there's no coating, there's nothing to scratch. Metal turners, wooden spatulas, chopsticks: all fine. (This is where carbon steel quietly beats every non-stick pan you've owned.)

I washed it with soap (or used steel wool). What now?

Nothing to worry about — this happens to everyone, and the pan is completely fine. The seasoning layer will have come off, so simply redo the initial seasoning: coat the inside with oil, heat on low for 5 minutes, wipe out. You're back in business the same day.

Can it go in the oven?

The pans and woks with wooden handles should not go in the oven — prolonged exposure to extreme heat can crack the handle. On the stovetop, though, they'll take all the fire you can give them.

Why did the colour change while cooking?

Heat produces lighter, yellowish tones; seasoning produces darker ones. Both are normal chemistry, not damage. Over months of use the surface will settle toward a deep, even near-black — the sign of a pan that's been cooked in properly.

Which Yoshikawa should you season first?

Every pan in the Cook-Pal carbon steel line follows exactly the care routine above:

All of them are made in Tsubame-Sanjo, Japan's metalworking heartland — the same region behind much of the best Japanese kitchenware.

Questions about your pan? Message us on WhatsApp — we're happy to walk you through your first seasoning.

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Which Japanese Knife Shape Should You Buy First?
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Gyuto, santoku, bunka, kiritsuke — a plain-English guide to the four shapes that matter for your first Japanese knife, and an honest answer on which to pick.
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Gyuto or Santoku: Which One First?
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Hi — let's talk about the two knives almost everyone considers first. If you've spent any time looking at Japanese knives, you've already met them: the Gyuto (Japan's take on the Western chef knife) and the Santoku (the friendly multi-tasker). They show up in every brand's catalog. They cover most of the same tasks. They cost similar money. So: which one first? The honest answer is "it depends on how you cook." This post is going to make that depends-on actually useful instead of cop-out vague. In one paragraph A Gyuto is a long (210–240mm), curved Japanese chef knife designed to do everything a Western chef knife does, with thinner steel and a finer edge. A Santoku is shorter (165–180mm), flatter, and squarer — it's faster on a small cutting board and more confident on vegetables, but loses range on big proteins. Pick a Gyuto if you cook in real volumes or break down meat at home. Pick a Santoku if your kitchen is small, your hands prefer something lighter, or vegetables are most of what passes under your knife. Side by side Feature Gyuto Santoku Length 210mm or 240mm 165–180mm Edge profile Curved (slight belly) Mostly flat Tip Pointed, ready to break down a fish or chicken Sheepsfoot — drops down, no real point Cutting motion Rocks happily; pushes well Pushes; doesn't rock Best at Long meat strokes, big vegetables, mise for many Quick veg, small proteins, dense kitchens Weak at Cramped boards Big roasts, breaking down a chicken, long fish fillets First Japanese knife? If you cook a lot If you cook compactly Length is destiny The single biggest thing that separates them in real life is length. A 210mm Gyuto is long — it eats cutting board real estate, it slices through a watermelon in one stroke, and on a small kitchen counter it can feel like swinging a sword. A 165mm Santoku just fits. If your cutting board is smaller than 35cm, a 240mm Gyuto will frustrate you. A 210mm Gyuto is borderline. A Santoku is at home. If you regularly cook for six or do real prep — breaking down a whole chicken, slicing a brisket, making a stir-fry from a mountain of vegetables — the Gyuto's reach is a different category of pleasure. Edge profile matters more than people say A Gyuto has a curved belly — the cutting edge dips down, then sweeps back up to the tip. This is what lets it rock. (Rocking = tip stays planted, heel goes up and down. Western chef knife motion.) A Santoku is almost flat — the edge is mostly straight along the bottom, then takes a sharp drop into the sheepsfoot tip. You can't rock it. You push. (Push cutting = lift the heel, drive forward, slice through, lift again.) This isn't a small thing. If you grew up rocking a Wüsthof and you buy a Santoku, you'll fight it for a month. The knife is not broken — it's asking you to learn a different motion. (And once you do, you'll cut faster.) If you don't want to relearn how you cut: get the Gyuto. The "small hands" myth, mostly People sometimes say "Santoku is for smaller hands." That's half-true and half-not. What's true: a 165mm Santoku is lighter and shorter than a 240mm Gyuto, so it's less tiring in a small hand over a long session. What's not true: a 210mm Gyuto isn't unwieldy for a smaller person. The handle is the same size as a Santoku's. It's the blade length that's different, not the grip. If you have small hands but love long blades: get a 210mm Gyuto. Don't talk yourself into a Santoku you don't want. Who each one is for, plainly Get a Gyuto if you: Cook proteins regularly (whole chickens, big steaks, fish fillets) Have a generous cutting board (40cm+) Like rocking through onions and herbs Want one knife that does almost everything Get a Santoku if you: Cook mostly vegetables and quick weeknight food Have a small kitchen and small board Already have a Western chef knife and want a second-knife contrast Want to learn push-cutting (Japanese style) from scratch Skip both and get a Bunka if you: Want the Santoku's flat edge and the Gyuto's tip in one knife. (We wrote about Bunkas here.) What about steel? Both shapes come in everything: stainless VG-10, carbon Aogami, powdered SG2, you name it. Don't let steel choice override shape choice. Pick the shape that fits how you cook, then pick a steel that fits how you maintain. (Aogami vs Shirogami here.) A practical pick If you're new and budget-curious: Tojiro DP Gyuto 210mm or DP Santoku 170mm. VG-10, stainless, honest geometry, won't punish a learner. If you want to step up: Hatsukokoro Hayabusa Gyuto 210mm or Sakai Takayuki Ginsan Santoku 180mm. Real Japanese geometry, real Japanese steel, real difference in feel. Browse all Gyutos → Browse all Santokus → — The Upscale Living team
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