10 Best Tried and True Japanese Petty Knives in 2022 (Food Coordinator-Reviewed)

The term "petty" comes from the French word for small; "petit." Japanese petty knives are smaller western-style knives that are similar to paring or utility knives and are incredibly useful for situations where you don't need a big knife, like quickly cutting fruit or vegetables. Their small size also makes them useful in smaller kitchens or for more delicate work, like removing the eyes from potatoes, making them the perfect complimentary knife to have.

While petty knives are generally smaller than your standard kitchen knife or santoku knife, bigger ones certainly do exist and can cut through meat and fish with ease. Since they're so versatile, they also make great knives to have for those with small hands or for those who usually don't cook that often.

Additionally, Japanese filleting knives are often made with the same materials and production methods as Japanese santoku knives, so they're incredibly sharp and durable.

When choosing a Japanese petty knife, there are a few things to consider. We've got you covered in this buying guide below.

If you're looking for a knife to quickly peel vegetables or fruit, slice small ingredients, or just have a smaller knife to complement a larger knife, then consider a petty knife with a blade length of 4.72 inches or less. Petty knives with a blade length of 4.72 inches are easy to handle and are versatile, capable of doing most things.

However, if you want a petty knife as your main knife, consider one with a blade length of 5.11 inches or longer. If you have a knife with a blade length of 5.9 inches, you can not only cut veggies but even fillet smaller fish, making them a great alternative to a santoku or chef's knife.

Petty knives are available in a variety of materials. We've picked up the most common materials, so take this into consideration when choosing your next Japanese petty knife.

If you're a beginner cook, or someone who'd rather spend that much time maintaining your knife, consider stainless steel petty knives. They're the most common material used for knives, due to the fact that they're incredibly corrosion-resistant and easy to handle, which means they're perfect for domestic use.

However, just because they're corrosion-resistant doesn't mean they won't rust. Be sure to do at least the bare minimum maintenance, and wipe off moisture after you wash them.

Petty knives made from molybdenum vanadium steel are perfect for those who want a knife that stays sharp for longer, rather than a super sharp knife that gets dull quickly. 

This material is made by adding molybdenum and vanadium to regular stainless steel to make it harder and stronger, which enables it to hold a sharper edge, and for longer. However, because it's harder than your average stainless steel, it's also more difficult to sharpen.

Cobalt alloy is an incredibly hard material that is also easy to sharpen. if you want a knife that's sharper than stainless steel, yet still want something that's relatively easy to maintain, consider petty knives made from this material.

While they aren't as sharp as hagane steel, they are fairly corrosion-resistant and are great knives to have at home.

If you want a professional-grade petty knife, consider one made of hagane steel. Hagane is an incredibly tough material, and can easily slice through hard fish bones.

However, it's also incredibly prone to rusting, meaning that you'll have to take extra care with these knives. If you're not the kind of person that has the time or energy to be maintaining a knife, then consider a different material.

Stainless steel composites find a balance between ease of maintenance and sharpness. 

Stainless steel composite knives are made by taking hard stainless steel and sandwiching it with softer stainless steel. This not only makes it easy to take care of, since it's stainless steel but also makes it easy to sharpen since the sides are softer than the core.

The easiest type of knife to maintain are those that are made entirely out of stainless steel.

Since they're also usually made in a single-piece construction, they can be cleaned thoroughly without having any grime get stuck in between the different materials. On top of that, they can be boiled in hot water for sterilization, and are dishwasher-safe, making them incredibly hygienic.

If you want a petty knife that fits comfortably in your hand and is easier to grip, consider one with a wooden handle. Wood is less likely to slip when gripped with wet hands, so you might feel safer.

However, the section that connects the blade to the handle can often stay damp, making that area easy to rust. It's important that you wipe off any moisture after using or washing a petty knife with a wooden handle. Moreover, they often aren't dishwasher-safe, so be sure to check before you throw your brand new knife into the dishwasher!

If you want a petty knife that's as light as possible, consider one with a plastic handle. Compared to other materials, plastic handles are much lighter, making them perfect for those who aren't fond of heavy knives.

In addition to their lightness, petty knives with plastic handles are also often cheaper. These knives are perfect for when you want to quickly cut some fruit at the table, or when you need to take a knife for a picnic, making them a versatile tool.

Some knives are stainless steel all the way into the handle, while others have plastic or wood handles. If there are gaps where the materials join, water, dish soap, and bacteria can get in. Obviously, the solid steel types are the easiest to wash in this sense.

If your knife has a handle made of a different material, look for a steel cap where the handle and blade meet. This is called a bolster.

Knives with a smooth bolster that seamlessly connects the blade and the handle are easy to clean and are less likely to accumulate bacteria due to their lack of any gaps between materials. Additionally, bolsters can prevent water from getting inside wooden handles, preventing them from rotting.

Additionally, a bolster can improve the weight balance of a knife, making it more comfortable to use over extended periods of time.

We put each petty knife through a series of tests to check for the following:

1. How well does it cut?
2. How long does it stay sharp?
3. How easy is it to use?
   
4. How easy is it to maintain?

Then we gave each product a score out of 5 and ranked them all.

First, we tested the sharpness of each petty knife. We asked food coordinator Yuki Hirao to cut four kinds of food: tomatoes, skin-on chicken, a sushi roll, and apples and rated the sharpness on a 5-point scale.

No matter how sharp a knife is, they eventually become dull if you continue to use them. The longer a knife can retain its edge, the easier and safer it is to use.

In this test, we dragged each petty knife on a plastic cutting board 3,000 times under the same conditions to simulate a knife that has been used for roughly three months. We compared how well the petty knives cut in comparison to when they were new and gave high scores to the knives that maintained their edge and sharpness.

Next, we tested how each petty knife felt to use.

While actually cutting the food we prepared, we comprehensively evaluated each knife for how easy it was to grip, how well the food was released from the knife, and its weight.

We found that petty knives with a radius of 1.9 to 2.3 inches at the center of the handle were easy to grip, and that petty knives that weighed between 2.29 to 2.64 ounces were the most comfortable to use, being neither too heavy or too light.

Petty knives can be used daily, so it’s also important to keep them in a good condition. As the final test, we evaluated each petty knife based on its corrosion resistance and how easy they were to wash.

For corrosion resistance, we evaluated each petty knife's materials based on its listed product specifications. To evaluate how easy they were to wash, we checked to see if the knives had a bolster or not, their shape, and whether they were dishwasher-safe or not.

In our tests, we found that petty knives that were fully made of stainless steel were easy to wash, and were also usually dishwasher-safe.

On the other hand, Aritsugu's Petty Knife With Alloy Bolster struggled in this test. While we tested, maintained, and stored all petty knives under equal conditions, this was the only knife that rusted after we used it. If you're not able to maintain it frequently, we suggest choosing a different petty knife.

Now that you've gotten a Japanese petty knife, you may be keen on getting a bigger Japanese knife, or other high-quality cooking utensils. Don't worry, we've got you covered in these other articles below!

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