Serious Eats rates nakiris

[RonB]

Are you looking for a veggie knife?

https://www.seriouseats.com/best-nakiri-knives-6931056

[Old Glory]

I like a thin blade for most things, but a thicker spine works better for squash and other hard veggies. That is where a Western chef knife shines.

[Attjack]

I saw that and am tempted to get the top pick. I'm still bummed that I ruined my Chinese cleaver trying to chop a dog chewy in half. That was my veggie chopper.

[texastweeter]

I use an Mac Santaku

[rickgregory]

Tojiro? No. I mean, they're fine but BEST? No. That said I think the idea of 'best' in something like a knife that's pretty personal is kind of silly at all. Full disclosure... I had one made for me in Japan, so a little obsessed.

For those talking cleavers... it's neither a western or chinese cleaver replacement. Japanese knives are stupidly specialized and the nakiri is purely a veggie cutter and not really for large squash, etc. You don't really need one if you have a sharp gyuto (chef's) or santoku. It's purely for fun unless you're chopping a LOT of veggies.

[RonB]

I think they said best cheap knife. And they meant best according to certain parameters they thought important. At any rate, I'm gonna make a nakiri - some day. Right now I'm having too much fun making stuff out of wood. Of course, the knife will have a wood handle. Hmmm

[rickgregory]

RonB - assuming you can source the wood knife geeks like, there's actually a good business making handles for Japanese knives. A good handle by itself (not installed) will go for $50+.

[RonB]

rickgregory - I have a number of hardwoods available now. A few are macassar ebony, bubinga, and wenge as well as domestic woods. I have one small piece of Ceylon satinwood, (Ceylon is now Sri Lanka), I bought 40 years ago from pre ban stock before Ceylon banned the export 40 + years ago to allow the species to recover. I have not kept up, it may be available again.

[Michael_in_TX]

It seems to me that one of the characteristics of a nakiri is that the "front" is squared off, more or less. I first heard of a nakiri knife from Sam the Cooking Guy, but when I went looking for them, the ones I found looked nothing like the knife he calls a nakiri.

Sam's nakiri looks more like a santoku than a nakiri.

[Mosca]

I have the Global nakiri that is referenced in the article. It is a beautiful knife that works well.

But is it worth it to have a nakiri in addition to a chef’s knife? No freakin’ way. I never pull it, nor the santoku, off the knife strip. Ever. I use my chefs knife for everything. They are all equally sharp and equally balanced; all Global knives feel the same, actually. 99% of my knife usage is chef’s and paring.

[rickgregory]

I actually think that if you want to get into the specialized Japanese knives, you almost need to NOT have a chef's/gyuto around since those do pretty much everything well. That is, you need to want to have a nakiri for slicing veggies, a deba for breaking down fish, etc. and to enjoy using a specialized tool. But for most of us, a good chef's knife does just as well, especially for the volumes of food and style of cooking we do at home.

[Mosca]

rickgregory Every time this comes up, I intend to start using the other two knives. And, honestly, nothing handles vegetables like that nakiri, especially onions, tomatoes, and garlic.

I’m left handed, and I have the chef’s knife (gyuto, for those keeping track) at the left of the knife strip. I’ll move the nakiri over there next to it, have some fun!

[texastweeter]

I DID get a Dalstrong Gladiator breaking knife from an employee for Christmas, forgot about that.

[Mosca]

It seems to me that one of the characteristics of a nakiri is that the "front" is squared off, more or less. I first heard of a nakiri knife from Sam the Cooking Guy, but when I went looking for them, the ones I found looked nothing like the knife he calls a nakiri.

Sam's nakiri looks more like a santoku than a nakiri.

Here are nakiri and santoku compared:

[Michael_in_TX]

Ah, okay, his is indeed a nakiri. Just with the tip "stretched out" a bit more, but it is indeed still different than the santoku.

It is still odd to me that the blade curve between the two styles is so similar. However, you can clearly see in your photo how the handle is angled up more on the nakiri, keeping your knuckles way above the cutting board.

[rickgregory]

That Global is still not a traditional shape since it has a slight curve to the blade. This is the nakiri I have (the pic is from the knifemaker) and is more traditional. The blade should be straight since you use this to chop up and down and to slice but not to rock chop.

[rickgregory]

Mosca - I think it's because US cooks (and perhaps western cooks in general) tend to rock chop things which isn't a motion traditional Japanese cooking uses. This is a decent short video from one of the best J-knife shops around.

[Mosca]

Good video, thanks! I have never liked the rocking motion, I much prefer the thrust cut. And, I tend to use the heel of the blade more than the tip.

[Michael_in_TX]

Great video! Interesting! I've been using a santoku for two decades (simply because I thought it looked cool and I like sushi). I naturally do this type of thrust-cut, more or less. That is most certainly why using a traditional western chef's knife feels weird/odd to me. Going to try to tip of angling my body as suggested in the video.

[Alan Brice]

Christmas present. Just need to learn to use it.

[Mosca]

Saweet.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

It is a very good article; however, I have been really impressed with the Gunter Wilhelm knives that I bought in last year.

[Old Glory]

My favorite knives are K Tip Bunkas and Gyutos. Love the pointed tip for fine work.