What do you cut with a santoku?

Author: Buster Morissette V  |  Last update: Sunday, March 23, 2025

A santoku is super versatile. A real all-rounder! You can use it to cut vegetables, meat and fish. Although we think a santoku knife particularly excels at cutting vegetables.

What foods do you cut with a santoku knife?

The best uses for a Santoku knife
  • Cutting meat.
  • Slicing cheese.
  • Slicing, chopping or dicing fruits, vegetables and nuts.
  • Mincing meat or herbs.
  • Scooping food off a cutting board due to wide blade.
  • Creating fine slices, particularly useful for vegetables and seafood.

What is a santoku knife best for?

The Santoku knife is particularly useful for cutting and chopping vegetables, fruit and meat, and can also be used to slice fish. Its Japanese name refers to its "three virtues" or main uses: cutting, slicing and chopping.

What is a santoku knife used to cut?

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.

Can I use a santoku knife for everything?

Santoku' in general are really nice style of knives and super versatile. Great for vegetables, fish, meat. Just obviously don't recommend it for cutting bones, frozen items, and fruit seeds. You can't really go wrong with the santoku.

Master Your Santoku - Knife Skills for Beginners

What is the best knife for everyday chopping?

  • Wüsthof Classic 8-Inch Chef's Knife. ...
  • Mercer Culinary 8-Inch Millennia Chef's Knife. ...
  • Misono 8.2-Inch Molybdenum Gyuto. ...
  • Mac Knife Hollow Edge 6.5-Inch Santoku. ...
  • Tojiro Fujiro DP Cobalt Alloy Steel Split with Base Deba Knife. ...
  • GLOBAL 7 Inch Vegetable Knife. ...
  • Victorinox 3.25-Inch Swiss Classic Paring Knife.

Why are santoku knives so popular?

The Santoku knife is a multipurpose knife because of which it must have a tall and clean edge. The higher edge creates more space between the food and the blade, resulting in cleaner and more defined slices. You can effortlessly use santoku knives for slicing sushi and vegetables.

What is the principal use of a Santoku knife?

Santoku knives are Japanese knives primarily used for slicing, dicing, and chopping vegetables, fruits, and boneless meats. The word "santoku" means "three virtues" or "three uses," referring to the knife's ability to handle three types of cutting tasks: chopping, slicing and dicing.

What is the best knife for cutting meat?

The heavy-duty Mercer Culinary 12-Inch Granton Edge Cimiter is my top pick, thanks to its low cost, large size, and sharp blade. It's a versatile knife for boning, slicing, and chopping almost any type of meat.

What's the difference between a chef's knife and a Santoku knife?

the santoku, both serve as multi-purpose tools in the kitchen, however, there are some advantages to using one over the other. The Western-style chef's knife tends to be thicker and heavier, making it the workhorse for your kitchen, while the light-weight Japanese-style Santoku is perfect for fine, delicate slicing.

What knives does Gordon Ramsay use?

Gordon Ramsay

Ramsay likes Henckels knives. This is a German brand known for their toughness and bulky blades.

What are the three virtues of a Santoku knife?

Understanding the “three virtues” of the Santoku is a good start: chopping, slicing, dicing. Unlike the Chef's knife, the Santoku makes it easier to slice using a single downward cut, as opposed to a rocking cut.

What is a santoku knife best used for?

Santokus are most often used for chopping, dicing, and mincing. Because of their precision edge, they're especially useful for julienning thin slices of vegetables and meats. The wide blade associated with a santoku also makes it useful for "scooping" food off of a cutting board in place of a bench scraper.

What should you not cut with a kitchen knife?

Never Cut On Stone Or Glass

The true enemy of sharp knives everywhere are glass cutting boards and countertops. Not only does cutting on them quickly dull and ruin the sharp edge of your blade, but they are also very unsafe.

Why do santoku knives have dimples?

What are the dimples on a santoku knife? Also known as a hollow edge or Granton edge, the dimples help food slide off the blade after each stroke. Our favorite knife from Mac has this edge, which helped it glide through food without anything sticking.

What knife do most butchers use?

The Cimeter Knife

A large, curved butcher knife, the cimeter is important to any butcher's lineup of knives. The blade is heavy and wide with the ability to cut larger pieces of meat into smaller portions. An example would be cutting a slab of meat into steaks to be sold at retail.

What knife is best for cutting vegetables?

While single-bevel knives can be great for meat and fish, double-bevel knives are ideal for up and down cuts and for cutting vegetables. Blades are made from different types of metal, too, often steel. Choose something easy to sharpen and clean unless you want to spend time polishing.

What knife is best for cutting chicken?

Sure, you can conquer a chicken with a chef's knife—but a boning knife is specifically designed for the job. The long blade can cleanly slice the breast off of the ribs in a few strokes, and the sharp tip can be inserted into the joints to separate the legs and wings. Of course, a boning knife is not only for chicken.

What foods is a santoku knife used for?

Seafood: A Santoku knife is arguably, used most commonly for slicing and chopping seafood (particularly raw fish). Fruits: Santoku knives can be used to slice and chop a variety of fruits, such as apples, pears, and mangoes. To make precise cuts, try using a rocking motion with the knife as you slice.

Do you need to sharpen santoku knives?

It has a flat edge and a sharp point, making it ideal for precise slicing, dicing, and mincing. Edge: The cutting edge of the Santoku knife is where the blade meets the cutting surface. It is crucial to maintain the sharpness of this edge to ensure efficient and effective cutting performance.

What size santoku knife is best?

What size Santoku knife should I buy? We recommend the most popular 165mm blade length as the best size for a Santoku knife. To help make your decision, you should consider factors such as the size of your workspace, the size of your hand, and the size of your most commonly used ingredients or produce.

What can a santoku knife cut?

A santoku is super versatile. A real all-rounder! You can use it to cut vegetables, meat and fish. Although we think a santoku knife particularly excels at cutting vegetables.

What food is a serrated knife used for?

A serrated utility knife will also be your go-to for slicing salami and thick-skinned citrus like oranges and grapefruit. Bakers love it for slicing tender cakes and quick breads, like banana bread, and leveling cake layers.

What angle do you sharpen a santoku knife?

Asian-style knives, such as santoku knives and nakiri knives, typically have an angle between 10-15 degrees. Brands like Shun, MAC, Tojiro, and Global G-48, for example, have an angle of 15 degrees.

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