The Shun Dual Core Kiritsuke Knife is used for all the tasks for which you'd use a chef's knife. It works extremely well with vegetables to julienne, dice, or brunoise with ease. It's also an excellent choice for cleaning and portioning boneless proteins, particularly fish. It slices cooked proteins with grace and ease and with its straighter edge, it's ideal for slicing cuts and push cuts. The Shun Dual Core series features a Damascus blade made from two premium-quality, high-carbon stainless steels. 71 alternating micro-layers of high carbon, high chromium VG10 and VG2 stainless steels are roll-forged to produce a finer grain in the steel and to give it both strength and beauty. The laminated steel is then hot forged to create the herringbone pattern that allows the layers to alternate along the cutting edge. During normal use, the two steels will wear at different rates creating micro serrations along the edge so that the Dual Core's extremely sharp edge feels sharp longer. Etched laminations in the blade reduce drag, helping food release from the blade and gliding through each cut quickly and easily. Dual Core blades are thin, light, and strong. Traditional Japanese octagon-shaped handles in ebony PakkaWood provide a comfortable and secure grip to complete the look of these beautiful knives.