In Japan, many people think that 牛刀 (Chef’s knife) is a knife only for cutting meat because it has the character”牛” in it.
But this is not true.
Reading more:
What is a chef’s knife? Recommend Chef knife for beginner and cooking lovers.
Chef Knife (Gyuto) is a Western all-purpose kitchen knife, so it is also used for cutting vegetables.
However, the shape of the blade is obviously different from Santoku knife, so there is a difference in usability depending on the food.
Especially when you cut vegetables, you can see the difference.
Is chef’s knife only for cutting meat? Is it difficult to cut vegetables?
As we mentioned at the beginning, a chef knife is a universal knife, so it can be used for not only meat but also vegetables.
So, what is the difference between Chef knife with Santoku knife? There are
– Japanese all-purpose knife → Santoku knife
– All-purpose kitchen knife born in the West -> Chef’s knife
There is one classification.
The historical background is that Santoku knife was born when the Chef knife was introduced to Japan.
Kitchen knives change their shape according to the local food culture.
For example, “出刃包丁” or “柳刃包丁” is a kind of knife which was born because of Japanese food culture.
In other words, by knowing the history of a country’s food culture, you can understand what kind of food the knife will perform best on.
Why is it difficult to cut vegetables with Chef’s Knife?
As a fact, Chef’s Knife is more difficult to cut vegetables with than Santoku.
Once you get used to cutting vegetables with a chef knife, it’s not a problem, but if you’ve been using Santoku knife for a long time and change to a chef knife, you will feel so.
You can see the difference especially when you cut vegetables into strips, most people cut vegetables by putting the knife straight down vertically to the cutting board.
Because the blade of the chef knife is curved, there is a part that doesn’t touch the chopping board. In other words, the part which is not cut comes out.
The reason is that, in the past, meat was the main food in the West, so many knives were made for meat.
Why Santoku knife is easy to cut vegetables?
Unlike the Chef’s Knife, the Santoku knife has a straight edge. So you can cut vegetables smoothly by pushing through.
Because Japan’s food culture was based on vegetables and fish, many knives were created to specialize in cutting non-meat ingredients.
They are the same all-purpose knives, but
– Japan (Santoku knife): vegetables and fish were the main food culture.
– Western (Chef’s knife) knives were used for meat.
This is the reason why the ease of use of the knife is a little different.
If you are accustomed to pushing cutting, a Chef knife may be difficult to handle.
So, if you are used to using a santoku knife, the Chef’s knife may be difficult to use at first.
The Chef’s knife shows its true value when it is slid in a large curve.
However, as we said earlier, this is very much a matter of familiarity.
Once you get used to this way of cutting, you will be able to cut food quickly and easily. The cross-section will also be more beautiful.
The edge of Chef knife is also sharper than Santoku knife, so it is more useful than Santoku for those who are used to it, isn’t it?
If you are particular about your cooking, you will not regret buying a Chef’s knife.
