Paring & Petty Knives

Paring and petty knives are the small blades that handle all the detailed work a big knife cannot. A paring knife is the little pointed knife most kitchens rely on for peeling, trimming, coring and any close, in-the-hand task, while a petty is its slightly longer Japanese cousin, a small utility knife that bridges the gap between a paring knife and a chef's knife. Between them they cover everything from hulling a strawberry to slicing a shallot, and a good sharp one is often the knife you reach for most. Our range spans makers including KOTAI, KAI, MAC, Miyabi, Suncraft, Kasumi, Tamahagane and Zwilling, as single knives and in sets.

The distinction between the shapes is worth knowing, because the names vary between makers and regions. A paring knife is short, usually 7 to 10 cm, with a fine point for precision work in the hand. In the West a small knife like this is often loosely called a "vegetable knife," since peeling and trimming veg is its most common job, though in Japanese terms the true dedicated vegetable knife is the flat-bladed nakiri. A petty knife, often called a shotoh by Japanese makers such as Miyabi, is longer at around 12 to 15 cm and works as a small all-rounder on the board as well as in the hand. Some ranges also include a dedicated peeling knife, a very short blade, sometimes curved like a bird's beak, made specifically for peeling and turning vegetables. All are ground thin and keen in the Japanese tradition, so they cut cleanly through delicate produce rather than crushing it.