A Deba Bocho knife comes in two versions: one with a knife blade about 6 inches (15 cm) long, and a smaller version with a blade about 4 inches (10 cm) long. Both sizes of blades will be thick, and usually made of high carbon steel. The blades are sharpened on one side only.
The handles are made of wood or bamboo.
Deba Bocho Knives can be used for some of the functions that you would use both a cleaver and a chef’s knife for.
They are good for cutting through bone and skin. They can cut meat, fillet fish, and chop through fish bones. This is a knife that you would use to cut fish into large pieces, before switching to a finer knife to make thin sashimi slices.
The back of the blade can be used to crack crustacean shells or tenderize meat.
History Notes
Deba Bocho Knives appeared sometime between 1688 and 1704.