Honesuki is the Japanese boning knife with characteristic extremely sharp triangular pointed tip. The angular knife shape is designed for cutting through the cartilage and tip for separating meat from the bone in nudging movement. The honesuki is great for breaking down chicken, deboning chicken, trimming beef and pork tenderloin and butterflying leg of lamb. The branded honesuki knives are pretty expensive:
- Misono Swedish Carbon Steel Honesuki 5.6″ (14.5cm) – Right
- Al Mar Ultra-Chef Honesuki
- Shun VG0011 Blue Steel 4-1/2 Inch Honesuki Knife
Upon some inspiration I got an idea of remaking my old Ikea santoku knife into honesuki. This is the Ikea 5-inch SLITBAR vegetable knife that I used a raw material for this home project.
I ground the rounded tip of santoku knife into the straight upper edge of the future honesuki and sharpened the upper edge. Here is the result. While my self-made budget-version of honesuki does not conform to strictest standards of the Japanese boning knives, it does the job of breaking down chicken.
