Overview:
The "Nakiri" is a Japanese knife used primarily for preparing vegetables. In Japanese 'na' means leaf, and 'kiri' refers to cutting and is intended to cut greens.
The Nakiri Knife is a great knife to have in the home kitchen, especially when you love salads and vegetables and soups. A nakiri knife, also known as a nakiri bocho, is a Japanese-style knife used for chopping vegetables. Characterized by its straight blade edge and squared off tips, the nakiri knife allows you to cut all the way through to the cutting board without having to use a horizontal push or pull.
The nakiri knife is sharpened from both sides and are often ground thin to optimize performance and they benefit from a refined cutting edge. It is an incredibly light and delicate knife small and with a wonderful feeling of control and flexibility
The square tip makes the knife feel more robust and secure than the pointed santoku and gyuto knives, as well as allowing it to cut dense ingredients at the tip. This knife usually has a flat edge. Some varieties of a nakiri knife have a slight tilt to the blade profile toward the handle. This is to make the grip more comfortable which makes the hand tilt up slightly and uses the muscles under the forearm.
The nakiri knife as well as the usuba have a similar flat blade profile, with neither having any belly. This flat profile lends itself to accurate push-cutting and chopping on the board and controlled fine cutting in the hand.
If you'd like to see the knife itself you can view our collection on Nakiri knives here.
