150 mm petty knife. Jaap Driest / flickr / 2017 / Public Domain
A petty knife (aka petit, aka petti naifu. Japanese: ぺティ) is a Japanese paring knife.
It is used for various fine tasks with vegetables and fruits such as peeling, slicing and shaping.
The blade is sharpened on both sides.
It is somewhat longer than a Western paring knife: “Petty knives commonly have a blade length of between 120 mm and 180 mm, and are larger in size than Paring knives, but smaller than the similarly shaped Gyuto.” [1]Petty. Seki-City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan: Kencrest Corporation. Accessed October 2019 at https://japanesechefsknife.com/collections/petty
The handles are usually of wood. Both Western and Japanese style handles are available (see: Japanese Knife Handles.)
Videos
Language Notes
The Japanese got the word “petty” from the French word for small, “petite”.
References
| ↑1 | Petty. Seki-City, Gifu Prefecture, Japan: Kencrest Corporation. Accessed October 2019 at https://japanesechefsknife.com/collections/petty |