Deba is the traditional Japanese fish knife — built for one purpose: handling whole fish from head to tail. With its heavy, single-bevel blade it makes clean work of removing the fish head, filleting the body, and handling bones in a way no ordinary chef’s knife ever could.

The blade is thick and sturdy at the spine and thin and sharp along the edge — a combination that gives strength and control at the same time. The classic deba comes in sizes from around 15 cm to over 30 cm, and size is typically chosen based on the type of fish being worked with.

There is also a ko-deba — a smaller and lighter variant used for smaller fish and more delicate work. Both types can also be used for poultry, particularly for boning and portioning.

The deba knives at Foodgear come primarily from Japanese smiths with deep respect for the traditional single-bevel technique. If you are new to Japanese single-bevel knives, you are very welcome to visit our shop, where we will help you get started.