Browsing the fish marked in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo (as one does), I was fascinated to watch the fish mongers taking a a small tuna fish (or Bonito?), about 60cm long and 15..20cm in diameter, with one hand, and a pretty large cleaver-shaped knife in the other hand.
In one single swift motion, they would cut the fish straight down the middle, from the tip of its nose right thought the centre of its spine and all the way to the tail. A single cut. I could hardly believe my eyes.
It didn’t take me long to decide that I wanted one of these knifes.
I bought two (click picture for larger image). Neither is true handcraft made in Malaysia unfortunately, but I think they might still do the trick.
The one with the wooden handle is made from stainless steel and has two cuts: a broad, cleaver-like cut in the third close to the handle, and a razor-sharp knife cut in the front two thirds. Ideal for carving poultry.
The second one, with a black plastic handle, is made from ordinary steel. It has a single cut that is frightening even to look at, and given that it is made from ordinary steel, it will be easy to keep it dangerously sharp for a very long time to come. I tried it last night and -oh boy!
Both knifes together cost me £9 (60 RM). The only regret that I have is that I should have bought more. I take it as a good reason to return to Malaysia.
I guess you didnt have any trouble at the airport transporting it back to UK?
Well… I did the sane thing and put the knifes into the check-in luggage, but having seen the marvelous Malaysian security checks on the smaller airports like Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu, I am not sure if this was necessary.
There were more thorough checks in Kuala Lumpur, though.
I have one of those knives inherited from Col’s mother.
It made a very good job of hacking a lump out of our worktop once, when my aim wasn’t too good. Whoops.
Yeah, I imagine Col’s mother would have been familiar with the Bonito-in-one-cut trick. Or worktop, as it happens.