Yoshimi Kato Aogami Super Kurouchi Santoku 165mm (6.5")

• Style: Santoku Knife
• Length: 165mm (6.5")
• Weight: 4.97 oz
• Special Feature: Stainless Kurouchi / Carbon Steel Core, San Mai
• Blade Steel Type: Aogami (Blue) Super / AS
• Handle material: Wenge Wood with Buffalo Horn Ferrule
• HRC: 64
• Bevel Angle Ratio: 50/50
• Cover: Not included

Yoshimi Kato knives are hand forged, ground, and finished in Takefu in Fukui, Japan by Yoshimi Kato who has been licensed as a certified craftsman. All Aogami super knives in this line are clad in mild stainless steel, which helps mitigate food reactivity. The alloying elements found in Aogami Super further reduce its reactivity compared to the simpler white and yellow steels. These knives are ideal for anyone who is enticed by the idea of carbon steel knives but is wary of the maintenance requirement.

All Yoshimi Kato knives have a rounded choil for a more comfortable grip, a nice distal taper with a thin tip for precision cuts and an excellent grind. We recommend thinning and treating the bevels on each side of the knife as you would a single bevel; sharpening them as you go to maintain the knife's geometry over time.

San-mai (lit. three sheets) is a style of manufacture common for Japanese knives. A more practical translation is "three layers", referring to the core hardened steel being jacketed with soft steel. These style of knives may seen being referred to as "clad" or "kasumi", which has some overlap with a similar style of manufacture called Ni-mai or "two layers". Ni-mai is commonly found in single bevel knives where the soft steel is only on one side of the knife with a small portion spilling over to the other side.

Yoshimi Kato knives are produced in Takefu knife village in Fukui Japan by a blacksmith collective headed by Yoshimi Kato, the son-in-law of Hiroshi Kato. Yoshimi Kato has stepped in to fill his father-in-law's shoes and has done so admirably, producing knives with a high level of attention to detail. Yoshimi Kato produces some of the most desirable carbon steel knives available in the United States today and we're excited to be carrying them.

Santoku in Japanese transliterates as "three virtues" so they are otherwise known as "three purposes" knives. A santoku is meant to fulfill three purposes: cutting meat, vegetables, and fish. Its diminutive size and unique shape have made it very popular at home not only in Japan but in the United States. More and more home cooks are finding its versatility appealing without committing to a larger or more specialized knife.