Petty knife, Aogami Super with stainless steel cladding, Kurouchi Nashiji finish - Mutsumi Hinoura

A fantastic knife from Mutsumi Hinoura, a prominent blacksmith from the Sanjo area. The demand for his kitchen knives is very high and they are incredibly hard to get hold of. Luckily, we got to meet him on one of our trips years ago and have stocked his work since. His knives never struggle to take a keen edge. He has recently branched out and started his own forge, Tsuchinone.

SHAPE: Petty. One of the smallest knives in a chef’s arsenal and good for well small things.

STEEL: Aogami (blue paper) super steel. This is very similar to white paper steel but with tungsten and chromium added to it which helps with edge retention and slows down rusting. The super part indicates the highest amount of carbon steel - at up to 1.5% - out of the blue series steels. This has then been hardened to 63-64 rockwell making it very hard and capable of retaining an edge for a very long time. The blue steel core has then been wrapped in stainless steel making maintenance easy.

FINISH: Kurouchi. This is a traditional, rustic finish achieved by leaving the furnace scale from the forging process on the blade rather than polishing it off. It has the advantage of reducing the reactivity of the surface of the knife and gives the blade a stylish, matt black finish. 

Nashiji or pear skin finish. This matt and mottled finish helps with food release and looks very rustic.

HANDLE: Octagonal Ebony Handle with Black Pakkawood Ferrule.

BLADE LENGTH: 90mm and 150mm. 

MAKER: Mutsumi Hinoura  - Sanjo, Japan

BEST FOR: A great knife connected to a long history of knife making in the Hinoura family

SAUNDERS SAYS: "Anything made by the Hinoura family would be more than welcome on my knife rack"