Yoshimitsu Kajiya Kiritsuke-bocho 195mm Shirogami #2

Once upon a time a gyuto ran away with a yanagiba and along came the kiritsuke. Or so the story goes.

Weird story, but in our experience not half as weird as some of the kiritsuke information floating around on the internet. The truth is that the kiritsuke knife has long been a popular multipurpose knife for Japanese cooking.

So how is Japanese home cooking different from, say, an Australian family meal or making dinner in Chile?

Slicing sashimi would be one point of difference, the kiritsuke being quite useful for slicing fish into shiny little slabs. But in truth that's not a Japanese mainstay (easy to buy it pre-sliced).

In Japan meat and vegetables are almost always cut with chopsticks in mind. We like a knife that's adept at both - some length, a thinnish blade and flat profile helps there. Kazarigiri - decorative cutting - is a common family food thing in Japan too and the pointed tip of the kiritsuke works well on that score. Who doesn't like an apple bunny? Or a sausage octopus? 

The kiritsuke is good for just about everything, animal or vegetable or fun blends of the two. Chicken parmy, caldillo de congrío or common dishes in your part of the world, you can bet Ide san's kiritsuke will be a great fit.