Sabatier Idéal 2-piece Santoku Set

100 mm (4.0") Paring Knife

The paring knife is best suited for paring fruits and produce due to its short, agile blade. The knife’s narrow point also makes it useful for tasks such as deveining shrimp, coring fruits, and precisely removing spots.

170 mm (6.7") Santoku

The santoku bōchō (三徳包丁) is a Japanese chef’s knife that combines the best features of the gyuto, the Western-pattern chef’s knife, and the nakiri, the Japanese vegetable knife. Its name, which means “knife of three virtues,” can refer either to its ability to cut meat, fish, and vegetables, or to the three functions of slicing, chopping, and dicing. The broad blade and gently curving edge, much like the nakiri, allow it to chop and dice produce more easily and comfortably than the gyuto. The downward-curving tip, a compromise between the square end of the nakiri and the narrow tip of the gyuto, facilitates fine cutting without sacrificing any chopping power.

Sabatier Idéal blades are forged from N4116 Nitro+, a nitrogen-infused stainless steel with a hardness of HRC 58-60. This relatively hard, highly corrosion-resistant medium offers a middle ground between hard but brittle Japanese steels and tough but soft German steels. As such, Sabatier knives can hold a fine edge through moderately hard use and can also be easily maintained with a honing steel between sharpenings.

The handle is made from black POM (polyacetal), valued for its hardness, rigidity, and dimensional stability. The black scales are secured to the full-tang blade with three stainless steel rivets.

Wash your knife by hand with warm water, soap, and a soft sponge or dish towel. Avoid prolonged exposure to heat or moisture. Remember—there's no such thing as a dishwasher-safe knife!

To prevent edge chips, avoid impacts with hard surfaces. Don't chop bones, shells, or frozen food, and cut only on a wood or bamboo cutting board. Don't leave your knife where the edge might come in contact with something hard, such as in a sink or a drawer with other knives.

Store your knife so that the edge is protected from abrasion and impact. We recommend a magnetic stand, but you can also use a knife block with horizontal slots. If you must keep it in a drawer, use an edge protector. See our storage options here.

We recommend sharpening on a whetstone at an angle of 20-25° per side and finish at a grit of at least 1000. Pull-through sharpeners can be used, although they leave a rougher finish and cause additional wear on the blade. Electric sharpeners should be avoided.

Alternatively, you can have your knives sharpened professionally. Seattle Cutlery offers a state-of-the-art, mail-in sharpening service for our own customers, but other services may be available to you locally.

You can maintain the edge between sharpenings with a honing steel or touch it up with a high-grit sharpening stone or a ceramic sharpening rod.

All Nakiyo, Tojiro, Sabatier, and SeaCut products sold by Seattle Cutlery are covered by our lifetime warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. If you follow our care and maintenance advice and your knife ever fails during honest use, we will gladly repair or replace it. Our warranty does not cover regular wear and tear or damage due to misuse, but we may still be able to help in some cases.

Any item in original, unused condition may be returned within 30 days for any reason. Shipping charges are non-refundable. Read our full refund policy here.