About COOK-PAL

COOK-PAL is a special collection of carbon steel cookware manufactured by Yoshikawa Corporation. The company is an established supplier and maker of metals and metal housewares since 1952, located in Tsubame City, an industrial area in Japan, well known for metal crafting. They have become one of the leaders there and contribute to the preservation of traditional metal works.

High Heat Cooking

With China-Japan relations dating back centuries, the introduction of Chinese cuisine followed naturally. The cultural exchange of food resulted in a new method of preparing dishes with high heat using iron cookware. You can see this today, where plenty of Chinese restaurants are scattered all over Japan.

However, for the household cook—especially inexperienced ones, they remain intimidated or put off with iron cookware due to the seasoning step required to prevent rust—a common and legitimate concern with all iron products. Should we discard iron cookware altogether and leave it to professional cooks? The practical benefits of high heat cooking—stir-fry, deep fry, steam, and boil—outweigh this simple inconvenience. That’s why this form of cooking still persists today.

Care for Iron Products

There are plenty of choices for iron pans and woks in the market and every one is coated with a material to prevent rust while waiting to be sold. This coating must be stripped or “burned-off” before use—an extra step prior to seasoning. Seasoning should be done 2-3 times for best results and iron products should be oiled after use.

For the novice, this can get overwhelming; only one who cherishes their tools as much as they do cooking will appreciate the upkeep.

Why COOK-PAL?

The COOK-PAL collection is Yoshikawa’s solution to make iron cookware more convenient to use so high heat cooking will be more accessible to everyone. What sets COOK-PAL apart is nitride processing—heat blasted with nitrogen—on the surface of the pan to make it more durable and resistant to rust.

 This is evident with the gray finish—there’s no coating applied that can peel over time but only the oxidized surface that is hard to rust and 5x harder than regular steel.

The result is a pan that requires little maintenance—there’s no burn-off step, seasoning takes only 5-7 minutes instead of 20-30 minutes, and no oiling required after use.

COOK-PAL is the ideal cookware for beginners looking to step in the world of high heat cooking, while equally suitable for experienced cooks who relish the performance of carbon steel less the tedious steps.

COOK-PAL is a quality export product of Japan.