YoshiIf you are left handed, and thinking of buying a single bevel knife,
You need to get a knife for left-handed people.
But wait…
1. You don’t have to worry if you are looking for gyuto, santoku, or sujihiki
And other double bevel knives.
These knives don’t choose their owners based on whether you are left-handed or right-handed.
2. This is because the edge is symmetric like this picture
In addition, the handles are usually symmetric,
So everyone can cut ingredients without stress by using this double beveled knife.
And use it comfortably.
3. Here are double bevel Japanese knives…
Gyuto knife
A Gyuto knife is the Japanese interpretation of a chef’s knife.
It has a pointier tip compared to a santoku knife.
When you use this knife, you usually move it back and forth to cut.
Usually its blade length is over 180mm(7in).
Long gyuto knives are especially good at cutting meat.
Santoku knife
A Santoku knife is a mixture of a gyuto knife and a nakiri knife.
You can use a santoku knife for meat, fish, and vegetables very comfortably.
The tip side blade has the characteristic of gyuto, and the heel side of the blade has the characteristic of nakiri.
A nakiri knife is a knife that was widely used for cutting leaves.
When you use this knife, you push straight down.
This is the same usage as a nakiri knife.
Santoku knives are better at cutting vegetables than gyuto.
Because the edge of the santoku can cover a longer cutting area.
Sujihiki knife
This is a Japanese slicer knife.
Originally it was designed for trimming a large meat block.
The shape of the sujihiki knife looks like a narrow gyuto knife.
Besides trimming meat, it comes in handy when you slice roast beef, hams, and sashimi.
Petty Knife
This is a Japanese pearling knife.
The word petty comes from the French word “petite”.
A petty knife has almost the same shape as a gyuto knife and the difference between them is the size of the blades.
The size of a petty knife’s blade is 80 to 150mm (3 to 6 in).
While a gyuto knife’s blade is over 180mm (7 in).
Nakiri knife
This is a Japanese traditional knife but it has double edged bevels while other Japanese traditional knives have a single edged bevel.
Nakiri means cutting vegetables in Japanese.
It is great for cutting vegetables, peeling skins of root vegetables, trimming the edge of vegetables, etc.
Honesuki knife
This knife is a specialized knife for professional butchers.
A honesuki knife has a cool-looking shape.
And it is really durable,
Because It deals with bones, so the blade is really thick.
If you have used only the double beveled knife…
4. You wouldn’t ever have thought of the existence of knives for dominant hands
Typical single bevel knives are deba knives and yanagiba knives.
Other than that, there are usuba knives, sushi kiri knives, and funayuki knives.
Did you know?
5. These traditional Japanese knives have evolved from a fish-oriented diet.
When you filet the fish using a single bevel knife,
The edge tends to cut toward one side.
This is good because you can separate the fish meat from the bone with less waste.
In addition, the cross section of the food looks better.
It looks more fresh and beautiful when you are using a single bevel knife.
6. A single bevel knife looks like this
A single bevel knife that is for left-handed has a face in the left side on the blade,
And for the right-handed one, the face is on the right side of the blade.
It is completely opposite.
Just remember:
When you hold the knife, the bevel comes on the side of your dominant hand.
7. But wait, you have to keep this in mind…
If the description doesn’t refer to a dominant hand, usually this knife is for right-handed people.
So if you are doing some online shopping for a new knife,
Use the keyword “left-handed”.
8. I am left handed, but can I use a knife for right handed people?
No, you can’t. It will be really difficult to use a knife for right handed people.
This is because the angle is different.
You will end up messing up the fish meat.
Let’s see what will happen if a left-handed person uses a knife for a right-handed person…
9. This is right handed person with a right handed knife
Hold the knife along the bevel and start cutting towards the left.
You can easily separate the fish meat from the bone.
10. This doesn’t look right: Left handed person and right handed knife
The angle is the same as above, and moves towards the right.
This doesn’t look good because the angle of the bevel is too high.
You will go against the blade,
And end up destroying the fish meat.
11. This doesn’t look right either: Left handed person and right handed knife
So this is the pattern that you have the same edge angle towards the fish meat.
It looks like it is going to work.
However:
The blade part that touches the fish meat is too big.
It is too difficult to separate the fish meat from the bone,
Because it is hard to move the knife.
The conclusion is if you are left handed and looking for a single bevel knife, you need to look for left-handed knives.
12. Do you know want to learn how to use this kind of knife?
When you learn how to clean fish on Youtube or other video platforms,
You need to do the opposite of these instructions.
This is because almost all the videos are designed for right handed people.
13. Are all Japanese pro chefs right handed?
A lot of Japanese chefs who are actually left-handed hold their knives in their right hand.
That means they use right-handed knives.
Do you know why?
This is because…
How they present sashimi on the dish.
It is actually an unspoken rule that you start placing sashimi from the top left corner,
This way, your customer can pick the slices easily.
In order to do so, holding your knife with your right hand is more efficient.
Slicing with your right side and placing the slices from the left.
*This placement rule is for right-handed customers. For left-handed customers, you place sashimi from the top right corner. Skilled chefs observe their customers and change the presentation of the food by their dominant hands.
