HOSHANHO 9 Inch Kiritsuke Chef Knife, Japanese Hand Forged 9 Layers 10Cr15CoMoV High Carbon Steel Kitchen Knife, Professional Chef's Knife with Ergonomic Rosewood Handle

Below is my review for the HO series. The last knife I purchased is the kiritsuke. I am very impressed by the Hoshanho HO Series knifes. I bought and tried the first knife (a gyuto) a few weeks ago and I was very impressed by everything about the Hoshanho HO Series knife, so I expanded my collection and now I own the nakiri, santoku, deba and kiritsuke, all of which are the HO Series. All of these knives are made in a very consistent way, high means that the good things and the not so good things are present in all of them in extremely similar ways. The two main pros about them are the excellent price v quality balance and the sharpness. They are undeniably cheap knives when compared to any of those Japanese knifes such as Shun and even some other high end Chinese maker such as Cangshan. However, the quality of the knives is surprisingly high and very consistent as I mentioned before. They are relatively lightweight and fit very well in my hand. Really comfortable to use them. As all high carbon knives, they obviously require great care both when using it (prone to chipping if misused and to oxidation if not immediately cleaned, dried and - I do this one - very lightly oiled for storage until next use). Having said that, the sharpness right of the box is amazing and after several times I used them they have maintained the sharpness. It feels like all not-so-hard vegetables are like butter when I cut and slice them. I haven’t tried it with a pumpkin for example, so I can’t tell how they’ll handle the harder veggies. The only con I can think of is that the handle, although very comfortable and balances, is not perfect. The finishing touches are not excellent but, let’s be fair here, I knew it wouldn’t be perfect for this price. All in all, I’m an extremely happy customer, so much so that I started with the gyuto and rapidly expanded my collection to several other Hoshanho HO Series. I wished I was sponsored by them but I am not LOL. I also wished to buy the yanagiba/sashimi knife but as of now it is not available in my region. I do recommend this knife as long as the buyer keeps two things in mind: they require really good care and the finishing touches on the handle reflect the low price. All else is excellent.

I really like my Shun Santoku, so I wanted to try a Kirsituke chef knife next. It looked like it would be a versatile slicing knife. I then went online to read about this type of knife and was told differently. I was told that this is a specialty knife only good for certain things like slicing sushi and intricate vegetable work. I was also told that this type of knife is only used by the Head- master chef who specializes in Japanese cuisine. As if it's some type of dangerous weapon that you have to be specially trained for. That's when i started taking a closer look at this item from Hoshanho. This knife from what i could see looked like it had a slight curve on the belly instead of just a straight edge as with some other Kiritsuke knives. It was also a little longer than the more common 7 to 8-inch models you see. On top of that it was on sale for $37.99 so I figured why not. I'm happy to say that my instincts were right and what I read online about this being a non-versatile specialty knife wasn't true for me at all. This knife really is great for slicing and dicing meat and vegetables. Great for julienne cuts as well, but because of the slight curve on the belly you can also rock chop. Also, I think a 9-inch blade is the all-around perfect size for me. It's Good for larger items but also good for things like shallots and small peppers. Using this knife was a fun, interesting and refreshing experience for me. Although it's true that this knife excels at the down/ forward slicing movements, it's also good on the vertical side cuts and is not a bad rock chopper either. There's nothing that I can do with an 8-inch chef knife that I can't do with this. I would say a chef knife is a better rock chopper, but the Kiritsuke is better for slicing hands down. This Hoshanho blade is between a 12- and 15-degree angle making it very sharp. You are also getting good steel for what you are paying. I should also point out that I cook very little Asian cuisine. Mainly Mexican, American, Italian and some Indian.

Parfait

What a good quality knife. Really sharp. Cuts perfectly. Easily to handle because knife is not heavy. As i am a chef myself it’s really one of the best knives i used before. So far no disappointment. I can recommend this knife to everyone.

- First Japanese knife I’ve purchased, very happy with the product. Knife packaging was surprisingly amazing. The knife itself is excellent, love the look, comfortable grip, lightweight and blade was exceptionally sharpe out of the package.

Schnelle Lieferung und gut verpackt. Das Messer gleitet mühelos durch Fischhaut und Fleischfasern, ohne zu reißen oder zu zerdrücken. Beim Filetieren von Fisch erzielt man damit wirklich perfekte, saubere Schnitte – ideal für feine Arbeiten und präzises Portionieren. Auch das Parieren von Fleisch funktioniert hervorragend. Sehnen, Fett und Knochen lassen sich problemlos und exakt entfernen, was vor allem bei größeren Fleischstücken wie Rinderfilet oder Lamm sehr hilfreich ist. Der Griff liegt extrem angenehm in der Hand. Das Messer ist gut ausbalanciert und ermöglicht eine sichere, kontrollierte Führung – auch bei längeren Arbeiten. Es fühlt sich wertig an und sieht dabei auch noch sehr edel aus. Ein echtes Profi-Werkzeug zum fairen Preis. Wer gerne mit frischem Fisch oder hochwertigen Fleischstücken arbeitet, wird mit diesem Filetiermesser viel Freude haben. Dieses Messer liefert durchweg professionelle Ergebnisse und ist aus meiner Küche nicht mehr wegzudenken. Scharf, präzise und handlich – klare Kaufempfehlung!

I'm pleased to say that this HOSHANHO 7 inch Nakiri knife has exceeded my expectations. The sharpness is excellent, making quick work of even the toughest vegetables and meat. Edge retention is also impressive, holding its edge well even after heavy use. The handle is a beautiful piece of rosewood, comfortable to hold and providing a secure grip. It's clear that attention was paid to detail when crafting this knife. That being said, I do have one minor issue - the black oxide finish on the blade isn't uniform, and it's starting to fade slightly. However, this doesn't detract from my overall satisfaction with the knife. If you're in the market for a high-quality Japanese-style nakiri, I'd definitely recommend giving the HOSHANHO 7 inch Nakiri a try. While not perfect, its strengths far outweigh its weaknesses.