ADD THIS AWARD-WINNING KNIFE TO YOUR KITCHEN
A santoku is a Japanese all-purpose kitchen knife. Like a chef’s knife, the santoku is used for just about every cutting job in the kitchen. The name means “three virtues.” Depending on who you ask, the name refers either to the three types of foods it works well with—vegetables, poultry, and fish—or for the three types of cuts at which it excels—slicing, dicing, and chopping. Hollow-ground indentations on the blade help reduce friction so the blade glides through the food more easily. When we first introduced the Shun Classic Hollow-Ground Santoku to the market, it was named “Kitchen Knife of the Year” by Blade magazine. The Shun Classic Hollow-Ground Santoku is part of the Shun Classic line of tasteful and contemporary cutlery.
The Shun Classic line features beautiful Damascus-clad blades and D-shaped ebony PakkaWood® handles. Yet behind these handcrafted knives’ beauty is function: razor-sharp blades offering top performance. Shun’s VG10 steel, known for its incredible edge retention, is clad with Damascus stainless steel, then ground and bead-blasted, revealing the flowing pattern of the layered steel. The result is a line of knives that are sharp, durable, and corrosion resistant, as well as beautiful to behold. The Shun Classic line also offers you the widest assortment of both traditional culinary blade shapes and cutting-edge designs, so you can always find the right knife for the task.
A light and maneuverable all-purpose kitchen knife
Named 2005’s Kitchen Knife of the Year
Hand-sharpened 16° double-bevel blade (32° comprehensive)
Steel: VG10 cutting core, 32 layers (16 per side) stainless Damascus cladding
Handle: D-shaped ebony PakkaWood®
Blade length: 7 in. (17.8 cm)
Handcrafted in Japan
The Shun Classic line (Shun’s largest and most popular line of knives) features “D-shaped” handles. If you look at the endcap of a Shun Classic, you’ll see that the handle isn’t perfectly round. Instead, it curves to the right and there is a gentle ridge on the right-hand side. End-on, the shape resembles a capital letter “D.” This D-shaped handle is one of the traditional Japanese handle styles. There, the handle contour is referred to as a “chestnut” shape. Generally, traditional Japanese handles are either round, chestnut shaped, or hexagonal and come straight off the spine of the blade without the hand contour that is often found in Western-style knives.
The rounded ridge in a D-shaped or chestnut handle is intended to fit comfortably into the curve of the fingers as they curl around the handle when using a chef’s pinch grip. When combined with the correct grip, this slight contour helps ensure a stable grip and precise control of the knife.
For left-handers, Shun offers a selection of knives in our Classic line with a reverse grip; the D curve and ridge are on the left side of the handle and nestle into the curved fingers when used with the left hand. That said, many left-handed knife users find that “right-handed” D-shaped handles work perfectly well for them—many even prefer the right-handed D-shaped handle. In this case, the ridge doesn’t fit in the curve of the fingers, but instead provides a resting place for the fingertips when the fingers are wrapped around the handle. This position provides the same benefits of a stable grip and precision control.
So if you’re left-handed and didn’t think you’d find the correct fit for your hand, try Shun’s reverse grip handles—or even our standard grip. You just may find they give you the feel and control you’re looking for.
