The Bunka knife Australia is a western-style Japanese knife. The knife is a general-purpose knife and a common variation of the popular Santoku kitchen knife. It is a multi-use knife that is adept at chopping, cutting, dicing, slicing, and mincing foods such as fish, meat, herbs and vegetables.
The Bunka knife, along with the Santoku and the Gyuto, is often recommended as an alternative to classic western knives. Compared to western kitchen knives, Bunka knives are shorter, thinner, lighter and use harder steel to retain their edge for longer.
The knife shares some features with the Santoku knife e.g., a wide blade and a straight cutting edge. However, Bunka kitchen knives are different from Santoku knives. It has the signature of the k-tip point. This pointed tip makes it superior at doing precision work such as scoring vegetables and brunoise cuts. It is also great at getting under the sinew and fat of meat when performing butchering work.
The Bunka kitchen knife has a flat profile that is well suited for push-cutting or tap-chopping techniques but limits the rock-cutting motion because it doesn’t have a curve at the front edge of the blade. The knife is a double bevel knife. Here are some features to look for in a Bunka kitchen knife.
Size
The knife is relatively shorter than other standard western chef knives. Most blades of the Bunka knife range between 120mm and 180 mm in length. This is about the length of an average woman’s hand. The Bunka knife has a compact length combined with the blade’s thinness and this makes it lighter and smaller than chef’s knives. It is an ideal choice for people with smaller hands or for reducing fatigue and strain when using it for extended periods.
Professionals recommend a 165mm blade for both professionals and home cooks and it is a comfortable size for handling most types of foods while keeping the knife easy to wield and compact.
Shape
Bunka kitchen knives are characterised by their predominantly wide blade, straight cutting edge, and a sloping and straight spine that leads to its k-tip point. The Bunka has a flat profile that makes it great for downward chopping and for tap-chopping, pull cutting and push cutting techniques. However, the knife does not have a curve on its straight blade so it does not allow rock-cutting motion.
Edge
Bunka kitchen knives feature a double bevel blade but it maintains the signature sharp edge of a Japanese kitchen knife as the blade of the knife is ground at a more acute angle than those of western chef’s knives. Both left and right-handed chefs and cooks can use this knife because it is a double-bevelled knife.
Handle
The handle of the Bunka knife Australia can be categorised into western-style handles or Japanese WA-Handle. The most common types of Japanese WA-Handle shapes include the oval, D-shape, or octagonal. Whilst some people prefer the ergonomic grip of the octagonal handle or the D-shaped handle, the choice of the handle is a personal preference.
