Santoku knives: iconic Japanese kitchen knives

A santoku uses a different cutting technique that deviates from that of a European chef's knife. The santoku doesn't 'rock' back and forth on the surface but moves diagonally from back-top to front-down. The knife constantly remains in a horizontal position.

You can recognize a santoku by its high blade where the spine of the blade only tapers towards the tip at the end of the blade. An advantage of the santoku is that they are usually lighter than European kitchen knives and therefore also easier to use. Santokus, with their blade length of approximately 18 cm, are generally smaller than European chef's knives with a blade length of approximately 20 cm. Some santoku knives have little dimples in the blade. These prevent slices of meat or vegetables from sticking to the blade. We have written more about all the differences in the following infotopic: chef's knife vs santoku: the differences.

Yes! According to many, this is also exactly what a santoku was designed for. It is precisely this versatility that makes the santoku such a popular kitchen knife.

First of all, make sure you always wash and dry it by hand. This will prevent rust from forming. In addition, it is important to keep your santoku knife sharp. Fortunately, because of its blade shape, a santoku is very easy to sharpen on sharpening stones.

A santoku knife is a versatile Japanese chef's knife known for its wide blade and balanced design. 'Santoku' literally means 'three virtues' in Japanese, referring to the idea that the knife is suitable for cutting vegetables, meat and fish. Others think the three virtues stand for this knife's ability to handle three types of cutting tasks: slicing, crushing and scooping.

No, there's a clear difference between a cleaver and a santoku. A cleaver is larger and heavier, and specifically designed to chop through bones. If you were to try this with a santoku you would break it. That's because a santoku is a more delicate knife than a cleaver.