The Kiritsuke: How to Use GLOBAL’s Versatile Hybrid Knife

To the everyday home cook, the name ‘kiritsuke’ may not be ringing many bells. But to the professional chef, this word means unique versatility in the kitchen.

The kiritsuke knife is a Japanese style kitchen knife with a long, flat blade reaching to an angled kiritsuke tip. Its unique design is excellent for precise slicing, chopping and all round food preparation. Despite the extra long blade, the pointed tip means a little more precision is required from the chef using it to provide effortless cutting and prep work.

The History of a Kiritsuke Knife

The kiritsuke is a traditional Japanese blade that dates back to before the Meiji era in Japan (before 1868). Unlike other Japanese style knives (e.g. Gyuto), the kiritsuke pre-dates the influence of Western cooking. This means it is designed for traditional Japanese cooking, with focus on the preparation of native Japanese ingredients.

The term ‘kiritsuke’ literally translates to ‘slit open’. The original design of the knife combined the features of the 2 most popular cooking knives at the time: the Usaba knife and the Yanagiba knife. Blending the straight edged Usaba with the long bladed Yanagiba, the kiritsuke became an all rounder knife suitable for slicing fish, chopping vegetables and dicing herbs.

How to Hold a Kiritsuke

We suggest using the pinch grip:

1.      Hold the knife handle with your dominant hand

2.      Place your thumb and index finger on opposites sides of the blade, just ahead of the handle

3.      Wrap your remaining fingers around the handle in a comfortable position

4.      Keep your wrist relaxed and took your elbow in towards your body

Your non-dominant hand should form a claw grip, with your fingertips curled back and your knuckles guiding the side of the long blade.

Chopping/Push Motion with the Kiritsuke

The long, straight edge works particularly well with the push-cutting motion:

1.      Position the blade just above the food

2.      Push the knife forward and down where you want to cut

3.      Lift and reset, rather than rocking the blade excessively

Make sure to use the long, straight section of the blade edge for larger ingredients, and use the pointed tip for smaller precise cuts. The blade works particularly well for julienne, brunoise and fine slicing.

Slicing with a Kiritsuke

If you’re after cleaner slices, using the length of the blade is a must, instead of repeatedly chopping with the tip. Draw the knife smoothly through the food, allowing the blades edge to do the work. Simple!

Using the Detailed Tip

The super-sharp, angular tip is one of the defining features of the kiritsuke knife perfect for:

• Fine detail work
• Removing vegetable cores
• Trimming meat
• Scoring food
• Starting cuts in awkward places (e.g. near bones)

The distinctive shape of the kiritsuke knife can be difficult to control for beginners using this knife. We suggest starting with vegetables such as carrots, cucumber and onions making sure to concentrate on keeping the blade straight and controlled.

Once you master the kiritsuke, you have yourself a kitchen knife capable of performing any and every kitchen task imaginable.

And you’ll never look back!