Cangshan Kita 7” Kiritsuke

Kita knives from Cangshan are dramatic in appearance, superior in performance and a terrific value. Cangshan’s X-7 steel is formulated to be harder than German steel, as hard as Japanese VG-10 steel, but not as brittle as the latter. Layers of this X-7 steel are folded 67 times to create the “hammered” appearance and texture that minimizes food sticking to the blade when cutting. This “Damascus” process also results in beautiful knives, especially the Kita series, with the fiberglass octagonal sapphire-blue-and-black handles that are mated to the full tang blades and are enhanced by a single medallion rivet. Kita blades are hand-sharpened to a precise 16° angle and have a Rockwell hardness rating of 60 +/-2.

The 7-inch Kiritsuke Knife is a Japanese-style chef’s knife, uniquely suited for chopping vegetables in a quick and controlled cleaver-style motion, as well as thinly slicing meat, particularly fish. The nearly flat edge is ideal for quick up and down chops when prepping vegetables, while the sharply angled tip enables a clean, single pull-cut when slicing meat.