This is my only review in years of using Amazon. This needs a review! I love to cook, and have owned many knives in the last 39 years. This is by far the most versatile knife I have ever used. Back to buy 2 more as gifts. Virtually the only knife I now use except when only a much smaller blade will do. Still sharp after a year of constant use, slice, dice, smash, carve. Yes, a set of specialty knives will do a little better, but not much. Oh yes, its great for cutting sushi as well!
I just was back to get another as a present and saw the questions and review. A quick update from my usage. I am not any sort of knife expert, but an accomplished practical family cook with about 35 years experience. The bottom line is that its still the only knife larger than a steak knife I use. I have actually thrown out given the rest away. I have had to sharpen it two times with a inexpensive stone picked up locally, and I was surprised how well that worked. Its last major task was Thanksgiving when it chopped, diced, and carved up a meal for eight. I find the shorter size, and I believe slightly heavier blade than some sushi knives, helps to make it such a good all purpose knife. May not be the best at anything, still very good with everything I have tried. I am not easy on my tools and it has held up very well.
The blade on this one is 8.5 inches and it does look like the less expensive Seki Ryu brand yanagi bocho as mentioned. Since the one I purchased has different markings, an almost worn out komodo dragon engraved in a circlular pattern on the blade, I cannot be certain its the same as this or the other one pictured it arrives. I originally paid about and shipping, so either way it is the same or less as 2 years ago.
I normally spend more time with my purchases before writing a review but in this case I want to make other shoppers aware of the fact that this very same knife is available on Amazon at a substantially lower price. Shame on the vendor for passing this off for something other, and tacking on a higher price, with no value added. In fact, the opposite is true, not only from the higher price, but from the misleading product name. They did not even bother to repackage the product--that is how I found out the original brand name. Now that I have the knife in my hand, I see that it is actually a Seki Ryu brand yanagi bocho.
For starters, this is *not* a Santoku and cannot be classified as a Chef's knife (gyutou) either. This is a yanagi-style sashimi knife. Blade length is 210 mm (8 inches) from choil to tip, which is very short for a yanagiba. The principle behind this type of knife is that from the sharpness and length of the blade one is supposed to cut fish meat with one clean stroke, no sawing back and forth, or the texture of the flesh gets ruined. Total length is 330 mm, and weighs in at about 77 grams! Spine thickness at bolster, about 1.78 mm. In any case, this is still a good buy, considering that the truly professional-grade yanagibas can cost up to a hundred times as much, or more.
The handle is wood, D-shaped and because of this, plus the single-bevel edge, is definitely not meant for the sinistral user. I doubt if you can find a left-handed version. The bolster is plastic, instead of the traditional water buffalo horn--but what can you expect at this price? Fit and finish is fair, a tad blade-heavy (balance at about 30 millimeters north of the choil).
To find the "cheaper" version of this product, just do an Amazon search for "sekiryu sashimi." I cannot determine what kind of metal they used for the blade, but for a single-bevel edge, it does not seem to be that sharp. Don't get me wrong--out of the box, it is still very sharp--sharper than any traditional western-style knife out there. The metal seems to transfer very easily onto a ceramic steel (soft?). I will see for myself how well it will sharpen, and how well it can hold its edge. Bevel angle seems to be greater than 15° (probably to protect the edge from the "average" user?), so it should sharpen to a much keener edge after I'm done with it. Despite the short blade, this knife should do very well for almost anything that your traditional slicer kitchen knife is used for, just not as rugged.
For the budding Japanese-knife enthusiast, this makes for an ideal "practice" knife. So, in spite of all my complaints, I can still give this item four stars!
Buy Stainless Steel Sushi Sashimi Knife Now
Not a bad deal for the price. It has a semi-rudimentary handle but it is Japanese and very sharp... I'd reccomend it.
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I purchased this knife because I wanted a dedicated sashimi knife for the sole purpose of slicing sushi rolls and ingredients for sushi. Japanese knives, such as this, are usually sharpened at a much sharper angle than traditional knives, so they are very sharp, and this knife is no different. It is very sharp, and has maintained its edge after 2 months of use. It is very inexpensive, but the actual blade seems to be of a sufficient quality to handle fish. The knife has a D-handle, which means the handle is in the shape of a "d" so that it is flat on one side and curved on the other, to fit into your palm. This means that the knife is designed for right-handed people and will feel odd in the left hand. The handle is very cheap, however it has held up and I don't really have a problem with it since I only use it for one purpose. The knife is sharpened on both sides of the blade. Traditionally, a knife like this for sushi should be single-ground (sharpened on one side), which it is believed makes cleaner cuts and doesn't tear the nori on the sushi. I have used this for dozens of rolls and don't have a problem with it tearing and not making clean cuts, provided I dip the blade in water first. I should mention that unlike the manufacturer's picture of the knife, the tip of the blade is rounded and not pointed at all.
If you're not looking to spend a lot of money on a sushi knife, I would recommend this knife. However I do not think it should be used as an everyday knife and shouldn't be used for cutting things like beef or tougher foods which might dull the blade.
EDIT: 6 Dec 2011 Have to change my review from 4 stars to 1. After maybe one hour total use with the knife, the blade has separated from the handle (see my picture). Closer inspection of how the blade is designed to attach to the handle leads me to believe that this is likely to happen with other knives, since the piece that connects to the notch is just not long enough. I always washed this knife by hand and took care of it. It still has a decent blade, but that won't mean much when it breaks off while you're slicing. Buyer beware.
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This is not a 5 star knife at any price, but for the price point it's pretty damn nice. If you're looking for a quick almost disposable blade, it's sharp, it's thin, and it cuts through fish like butter. The blade does not hold an edge for very long of course, but if you hone it before and after each use it will last you for a good amount of time. Handle leaves a -tonto be desired.
But let's be honest, the best knives range from 100 dollars to the moon in price. You get what you pay for to some degree, but if you'll only use this knife once or twice a month, and know how to hone it, go for it. Can't beat it for 15 dollars.
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when this arrived. A *plastic* knife for cutting cheese? Give me a break! We eat a lot of extra sharp cheddar hard to slice. A plastic knife will break right? WRONG! This little gidget is terrific! Even with my seriously arthritic hands, I can slice my own cheese without it hurting my joints! This is the best invention since well sliced bread! (Or should I say cheese!) It is worth every single penny. In fact, I'm ordering another one just for me to use. Gonna put my name on it in permanent marker! Whoever invented this is a genious!
