YoshiThe Japanese boning knife is called a honesuki knife and this is a specialized knife for professional butchers.
A honesuki knife deals with bones, so the blade is really thick.
There are 2 kinds of honesuki knives.
One is “kaku-gata”.
Kaku-gata means a square shape in Japanese.
The other is “maru-gata”
Maru-gata means rounded shape in Japanese.
Keep reading and find out…
1. Have you ever wondered what a honesuki knife is like?
You might be wondering whether a honesuki knife is good for you or not.
If you deal with butchering regularly or cook meat a lot, a honesuki knife will be useful for you.
A honesuki knife has a cool-looking shape.
And it is really durable.
2. A honesuki knife is IG-11
If it is a Star Wars character.
Because they both are specialized in one thing, and do the job perfectly.
And they both have cool and unique looks.
3. Shapes of honesuki
As you read above,
There are two types of honesuki knives.
Kaku-gata honesuki knife and Maru-gata honesuki knife.
1. A kaku-gata(a square shaped) honesuki knife looks like this…
And…
2. A Maru-gata(a rounded shaped) honesuki knife looks like this…
Kaku-gata is more common in Japan but they both do the work really well.
They are both designed for butchering.
4. The size of a honesuki knife
The blade of the honesuki knife seems small. It is only 15 – 18 cm(6 – 7 in).
But it is the perfect size to slit the knife in between the spinal columns of beef and pork for chopping them off.
The blade is thicker than a gyuto knife for preventing chipping.
The tip is sharp so it is good at precise work too.
5. Can you use a honesuki knife for other ingredients besides butchering?
Yes, your honesuki knife will be good at…
Cleaning fish.
Some professionals at fish markets in Japan use honesuki knives for their work.
You can use your honesuki knife like a deba knife.
Because it has a thick blade.
It is also good at chopping hard ingredients like…
Black pepper seeds, lemon grass, pumpkins, crabs, and shrimp.
It is very useful, so if you like outdoor activities,
I recommend bringing one.
6. How to sharpen honesuki
Unlike other traditional Japanese knives, a honesuki knife doesn’t have a shinogi line.
So you need to decide the length of the bevel.
I recommend the length to be 5mm(0.2 in).
If the bevel is too broad, the knife will be sharp, but it also means the edge is not durable.
It will chip easily.
If the bevel is too narrow, the edge is strong, but it can’t be very sharp.
I recommend sharpening this knife as a single bevel knife.
So when you sharpen the back side, you need to sharpen the blade flat and get rid of the burr.
7. Are you thinking of buying a new honesuki knife for your kitchen?
Here are popular brands for honesuki knives…
I recommend considering Tojiro, Kaijirushi, Fuji Cutlery, Shimomura Industrial, Misono, and Aoki Hamono
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