Honesuki – Japanese Poultry Boning Knife

The Japanese Poultry Boning Knife or Honesuki serves a similar function to that of the Boning and Fillet Knives. The Honesuki knife has a more wide, sharp triangle shaped blade with a pointed end.

Some Honesukis are ground on only one side of the blade and are flat on the reverse whereas others a ground on both sides. As the name suggests this type of knife is perfect for the deboning of chicken.

The sharp tip works along the bone in a similar fashion to a boning knife, and the thick heel is ideal for cutting through joints and bone. An added advantage to the Honesuki is that it has enough clearance between the handle and the blade to allow it to be used to slice on a chopping board. This is not the case with a fillet or boning knife and makes the Honesuki more versatile and allows it to be used as an all round utility knife as well.

Honesukis performance is limited when it comes to working with larger cuts of meat such as lamb or beef. The size and shape of the blade makes it more difficult to work within small areas which a boning knife excels at. If you cook a lot with whole chickens then the Honesuki should make life a lot easier.