What is a Kiritsuke knife best for? The Kiritsuke is best for cutting vegetables and slicing fish, just like the Usuba and the Yanagiba. It can also be used to thinly slice or portion boneless proteins, such as chicken. However, it is not a substitute for a Chef's Knife or the Gyuto, and should not be treated like one.
The kiritsuke knife is a Japanese style slicing knife that is used mainly for thinly slicing fish, vegetables, and fruit, using push/pull cutting. It is traditionally only used by executive chefs because of its difficulty of use and significance as a symbol of status in the kitchen.
The single bevel knives have a ridiculously thick spine which makes using them more difficult due to the added heft. Also since the kiritsuke is a multi-purpose knife, the flat cutting edge can make slicing meats more challenging to the uninitiated.
All of these types of Kiritsuke have less blade curvature / 'belly' than the the typical Gyuto, making them less ideal for 'rock chopping', but better suited to 'push cutting' and 'pull cutting'.
The kiritsuke yanagiba is designed for three primary cutting methods: push-cutting , pull-cutting, and chopping. Push-cutting works well for thin slices of sushi-grade fish, while pull-cutting is ideal for long vegetables like cucumbers. Use chopping for denser foods such as root vegetables.
In Japan, the Kiritsuke is considered a multi-purpose tool suitable for most kitchen tasks including cutting vegetables or meats.
The word Kiritsuke means “slit open” in Japanese. The traditional version of this kitchen knife features a single bevel, straight edge blade and a flat, sword-like front end.
They feature a straight square blade, like a small cleaver and are ideal for vegetable centric cuts such as julienne, brunoise and allumette. Nakiri are ideal for precision vegetable cuts and is a great option for cutting into dense, hard skinned veggies like pumpkins, squash and root vegetables.
➝ Bunka has a shorter blade with a wider profile and a double-bevel edge, which means it makes for a great multi-purpose knife, suitable for a wide range of tasks and dishes. ➝ Kiritsuke is a single-bevel knife, specialized for the traditional preparation of raw fish and vegetables.
If precision and specialized tasks are your focus, a Kiritsuke might be the right choice. However, for versatility and everyday kitchen tasks, a Santoku knife offers ease of use and efficiency. Whether you choose the Kiritsuke knife or the Santoku knife, you will elevate your kitchen capabilities.
Which Knife Is Harder? The hardness of a knife is measured by the Rockwell scale. Harder metals rank higher up on the scale. When comparing Japanese and German knives, the type of steel used to construct Japanese knives is harder, scoring a higher number on the Rockwell scale.
Knife Blade's Thickness – 2.5mm.
Santoku / Multipurpose
Santoku, which means 'three virtues' in Japanese, are all-purpose Japanese chef knives with a taller blade profile than a gyutou. Its three virtues are the knife's ability to cut fish, meat and vegetables.
Deba is a traditional knife a chef uses to prepare a whole fish: anything from cleaning, filleting, portioning fish, removing fins and heads, to chopping through smaller bones. It can also be used for preparing poultry and other meat with smaller bones.
The Nakiri knife, with its thick blade and straight-edge design, excels where other kitchen knives might struggle, especially when you're dealing with dense root vegetables that require a bit more muscle.
A gyuto knife is a traditional Japanese chef's knife used for working with vegetables, meat, and other general-purpose activities. Gyuto knives are dynamic utensils as they allow for chopping, slicing, disjointing, dicing, and julienning.
The Kiritsuke is best for cutting vegetables and slicing fish, just like the Usuba and the Yanagiba. It can also be used to thinly slice or portion boneless proteins, such as chicken.
Kiritsuke Knife Uses and Versatility
Although it takes some practice when you first use the Kiritsuke, this multi-purpose kitchen knife excels at precision cutting, slicing thin slices, dicing, filleting and julienne.
Aogami(Blue) super steel
Aogami super is the highest quality carbon steel in Japan. It has extremely high hardness and is used for the high class Santoku and Gyuto knives. Depending on the manufacturing process, but most Aogami super knife can be said to be sharp.
The Santoku knife is an all purpose Japanese knife, adept at slicing, dicing, and mincing. The name santoku means 'three virtues' for the knife's ability to cut fish, meat and vegetables equally well.
The Kirisuke Yanagiba has a very similar blade profile to the 'regular' Yanagiba, but it has what is commonly known as a 'reverse tanto' tip, or 'clipped point', which is very useful for precision cutting.
The Bunka is a versatile general-purpose Japanese knife and a common variation of the widely popular Santoku knife. It is regarded as a multi-use knife that is adept at cutting, chopping, slicing, dicing and mincing foods such as meat, fish, vegetables and herbs.