Deba

Debas are thick Japanese kitchen knives, stout knives traditionally used in Japan for filleting fish.

Some users adopt the edge of these knives to other kitchen tasks such as parting out poultry or for use as a vegetable cleaver but the knife is designed to excel in the preparation of fish.

Most Debas are single bevel – the knife is ground on one side only and the back side of the knife is flat. Single bevels knives have more acute angles on their edges that excel at cutting softer, a thinner product like fish but in return require a different skill set to use and sharpen.  There are some “Western Debas” which are ground on both sides, but single bevel ones give better performance.