Gyuto, Nakiri, Santoku or Petty: which to choose

Four blade shapes, four jobs. How to build your set around what you actually cook.

Gyuto (20 cm): does 80% of the work

The Japanese “chef’s knife”: a long blade with a gentle curve to rock on the board. Meat, fish, large vegetables, herbs. If you’ll only have one, this is it.

Nakiri (18 cm): the vegetable specialist

A straight edge and a wide blade. It touches the board along its whole length, so every cut goes all the way through: julienne, brunoise, paper-thin slices with nothing left attached. If you cook lots of vegetables, you’ll use it more than the Gyuto.

Santoku (18 cm): the light all-rounder

“Three virtues”: meat, fish and vegetables. Shorter and lighter than the Gyuto, with a rounded tip. The easiest to master if you come from Western knives, and the one we recommend to anyone cooking for two every day.

Petty (9 cm): precision in the hand

Peeling, removing seeds, turning, details. Everything a big knife gets in the way of. It’s the natural partner to the Gyuto: between the two they cover almost any recipe.

How to build your set

• Getting started: Gyuto + Petty (Essential Set). One big, one small; you cover 90%.
• Cooking every day: Gyuto + Nakiri + Petty (Complete Set). The one we recommend to almost everyone.
• The whole kitchen, or a big gift: all six: Gyuto, Nakiri, Santoku, Bunka, Kiritsuke and Petty (Master Collection).

Every set saves compared with buying separately and all include sheaths. The Complete Set and the Master Collection are over €150, so they ship free.

Still unsure? Take the 30-second quiz or read Gyuto vs Santoku.