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Santoku knife

Used santoku knives, modest appearance but molybdenum vanadium steel

The santoku bōchō (三徳包丁) or bunka bōchō (文化包丁) is a general-purpose chef's knife originating in Japan. Its unshouldered blade, which is typically between five and eight inches long, has a flat edge and a dull back which curves down near the point to a tip angle of around 60 degrees. The top of the santoku's handle is in line with the top of the blade, giving the chef's fingers plenty of room underneath. The word santoku means "three good things," a reference to the three cutting tasks it performs: slicing, dicing and mincing.

The santoku is much like a smaller version of the western chef's knife. The double beveled blade excels in areas where single beveled, (chisel ground) Japanese blades such as yanagis and usubas struggle, especially chopping and mincing, but also rough slicing. The thin blade and acute angles are ideal for precision cutting. They are poor if incorrectly used on bones or very hard vegetables such as winter squash, or waxed Rutabaga/Swede/Turnip. It is especially popular among people with smaller hands, and is commonly seen on television in the hands of female chefs such as Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart where a western chef/gyutou would be unnecessarily difficult to handle. Other general purpose Japanese blades include the funayuki and bannu patterns.

One of the uses of this knife is its ability to cut thin slices without sticky foods sticking to the blade, though a yanagi or usuba may be better suited to these tasks. A modern trend is include hollow recesses called grantons or kullens (among other things, depending on make) which create small air pockets between the blade and that being sliced to keep the food from sticking. These dimples are also available on most other knife patterns, but were popularized along with the santoku in the United States. Other techniques are also available to reduce sticking. These include piercings through the body of the blade, hand hammering with a similar effect and more rustic appearance, and kuro-uchi which leaves the rough black finish from the forge on most of the blade. Damascus, fold-forged steel is also debated to help release food from the knife.

The Australian company Füritechnics markets a modified santoku known as the East-West knife, which has the basic form of a santoku but a curved edge similar to a standard chef's knife. Rachael Ray is the primary celebrity endorser of this style, and uses such a knife (with a custom orange handle) on her 30 Minute Meals show.

• "Equipment Corner: Do You Really Need a Santoku Knife?". Episode "Bistro Classics." America's Test Kitchen TV show. 2005 Season. Viewed April 3, 2005.

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