Impressed by this Handmade Korean Knife

A few weeks ago, I took a day trip up the Hudson Valley to a small town called Beacon, NY. The town is filled with small restaurants, funky coffee shops and several kitchen supply stores. I stumbled into one of them, Little King, and was impressed by their selection of cooking tools, specialty foods, and flatware sourced from all over the world. One knife caught my eye, so I decided to ask about it…

It is a small, but mighty petty knife from Master Shin’s Anvil - a 5th generation Korean knife making family. The family is based in Anseong - a South Korean city known for its brass, stone and iron implements, as well as a famous market of traditional craft and trade. The Shin Blacksmiths were established there in 1845 making them the oldest blacksmiths in Korea.

Right off the bat, the craftsmanship is impeccable. Yes, it is less delicate than a Japanese knife, but what it lacks in precision, it gains in sturdiness. The steel is hammered a thousand times to reach the thin and sharp edge, which keeps sharp longer than inferior knives. Master Shin’s knives do not have the angular beveled edge seen in Japanese and Western knives, which is the way his family has been doing it for generations. This means that the knife doesnt need to be sharpened for 2-3 years!

You feel this when you cut with the knife. It is razor sharp and has the weight to get through dense vegetables and bones with ease. I look forward to using this knife, and excited to add it to my collection.

Buy this knife from Little King - $120