The Nakiri may for all the world look like a small cleaver but it is a far more accurate blade, in fact more a precision instrument. Whilst fans of British TV cookery may observe chefs confidently applying the Nakiri to a multitude of meat and fish ingredients this would be totally anathema to the Japanese who reserve these thin fine edge blades for things like getting thin rolls of Daikon which are then minced to absolutely delicate angel hair vermicelli.

Japanese chefs and home cooks use the Nakiri to make powder of various herbs as well as transform onion or garlic with incredible efficiency into fine rings or fabulously even, meltingly small, diced pieces. Actually this shape truly lends itself to the process of properly cutting an onion from the halving all the way through to following the lines and then mincing. The rounded tip can be guided with relative safety against the finger tips to cut along ridges of halved fruit or vegetable; and as for tears with an onion, as with all well made Japanese knives, there is no way the user could possibly be reduced tears unless they have allowed the edge to dull after a lot of heavy use without the requisite polishing.

When Murata san started making Nakiri’s (Japanese fruit and vegetable knife) for us, western idea’s of Japanese knives were still, shall we say, a little backward. Now that we have a far greater empathy with the intricacies of Japanese cuisine and, more importantly, knife making, we have come to appreciate the many functions that this rather cool, oblong shaped edge can fulfil. Actually when used correctly a blade with its tip as a corner works very well, and the Murata Nakiri is a beautifully balanced version of this.

Made by Takeo Murata this blade has no points of comparison; it is quite simply amongst our ultimate knife recommendations and Murata signature hand made blade, when properly looked after, embodies all the characteristics required for an amazingly effective and gloriously comfortable tool.

Model Characteristics: 

Blade construction – typical triple layer laminate, with Aogami No. 1 or Yasuki steel laminated with soft high carbon steel on each side and then coated using ancient Kiruchi system or burning outer coating to give signature black external skin.

Handle construction – classic European style 3 rivets made with pakka wood; pakka wood is resilient to warping and general moisture damage.

Cleaning – NEVER WASH SHARP KNIVES IN DISHWASHER. Wash only by hand keeping sharp edge away from potential harm using any domestic washing up liquid. Rinsing with very hot water will facilitate the most essential thorough drying process prior to storing safely. Avoid leaving blade soaking in bowl of washing up. This can loosen blade from handle and more importantly is DANGEROUS. A very important extra point special to Takeo Murata’s exceptional blades is that when the outer skin does eventually (20 years domestic, 3 to 4 years professional or consistent scouring – NOT RECOMMENDED ) start to dissipate then the blade must be treated with vegetable or sunflower oil following every use and should be dried immediately after use.

Sharpening – Ideally sharpening should be performed with regularity so blade is simply polished before it loses effectiveness, just as edge is fading slightly. This can be done by simply stroking blade on newspaper – a technique known as stropping demonstrated on our sharpening video. The ideal sharpening systems are whetstones. We also sell a vast selection of fabulous steel rods as well as the exceptionally easy KC200 Water Wheel Sharpener which takes all guess work out of the process and is extremely effective. Please see SHARPENING SECTION for further information. Do not forget that JKC welcome the opportunity to provide you with a completely complementary first sharpening for Murata as well as the large majority of our stunning collections.

Storage – Those considering investing in 4 blades of the MURATA set should consider the LUXURY HAND MADE MAGNETIC BLOCK which represents the ultimate storage solution as it has only four sides which rotate seamlessly on a brushed stainless steel plinth. Sharp knives should always be stored so that the edge is not compromised; we sell a vast array of truly fantastic storage solutions including the Original Quarter Moon Magnetic Block and Luxury Hand Made Magnetic Block, these are the number one systems we recommend but we do have 4 other magnetic block models available to choose from. The truly luxurious way to store your new blade would be the hand made, hand embossed leather shield which can be embossed with message or crest of your own choice. Please go to STORAGE and BLOCKS sections on our site or even better call us.

Country of origin – JAPAN

Special notes – Keen edged blades should never be heavily banged on the board or used for edge stress creating tasks like twisting, prizing OR FORCING. NEVER USE FINE EDGED BLADES ON FROZEN FOOD OR FOR BONES.