Knife Knowledge/Knife Basics: Deba Knife vs Western Fish Fillet Knife 

The best use of a Deba is a different technique than the American fillet knife. You use the deba to cut from the inside of the fish to separate the ribs from the spine and then cut the fillet off from the outside, running along the spine, and take the fillet off with the bones. You then cut out the rib bones. The deba is great for fish that have thick and barrel shaped rib bones like Red fish. It is a thick knife and allows you to easily cut through bones. Delicate fillet knives are for more delicate fish without thick bones.

you seemed more proficient with the western fillet knife.

There's 2 different ways to fillet. You used the eastern technique. If you use the western technique the deba is impossible to use. Plus, with the western technique you actually fillet the fish. The fillet part comes when you separate the meat from the skin. Nothing wrong with your technique, but it's not really best for all applications. I know 3 standard ways to process a fish, 1 is the standard clea ing where you cut the head off, gut it, and scale it. The other is the eastern style skinning which you demonstrated, and the third is the western style fillet which is the easiest and only requires 2 cuts per side of the fish. This is how you do it: After the cut behind the fins you turn the knife toward the tail and continue the slice along the backbone to the tail but not through. Then you flip the meat so the skin side is down and you cut on that meat side up piece near the tail down to the skin but not through it and you separate the meat from the skin. What's left is a fillet. No skin, just meat. If you ever watch someone who knows how to do it they'll be able to fillet an 18" fish completely, both sides, separating the meat from the carcass and the skin in about 40 seconds. It's really amazing to watch. The way you fillet is great for larger fish and really the only way to go for big fish and saltwater fish like tuna, blue catfish, flathead catfish, flounder, shark, mahi, swordfish, marlin, and sailfish. The western technique is more for all pan sized fish. Also the shape of the western fillet knife was developed by some outdoorsman from minnesota in the late 50s and early 60s. Normark who owns rapala wanted a knife that could be used for boning and filleting game, fish, and standard animals. The 2 outdoorsman from Minnesota hired to help design the knife wanted it flexible which was NOT common at all and was a laughable concept but a great idea for filleting. They pitched a prototype and it was determined that it was all in one knife that could be used by butchers, fishermen, and hunters. Normark sent the design to finland where J. Marttiini cutlery has made the knives for normark under the rapala brand ever since. Within 1 year of it being released nobody laughed at it anymore and everyone copied the thin flexible blade. Now the flexible curved boning/fillet knife is the standard used by all butchers and fish markets in tge wester hemisphere and much of the eastern as well. Just thought I'd share the history lesson.

The Japanese are the world champions of paying attention to everything they do.

Great video! Ordering my deba now

You have a very nice kitchen and prep center table. Granite is awesome. Good video too!

Nice video. Great fillets

I just got my knives , western style and Japanese style, I'm leaning towards Japanese, its just smoother , lighter, and easier , great videos. Keep up the great work!

I would tend to lean towards the Japanese options for anything that size, as well as for any delicate operations where you're not chopping through bones (although admittedly I don't have a nice Deba like that). However, there are other western options that are a little more... pleasant to use than those little filet knives. In particular I've used a large butchering/slaughtering knife for the bulk of breaking down dozens of salmon (with a salmon fileting knife or a yanagiba for the tricky parts). "Victorinox Swiss Army Cutlery Fibrox Pro Straight Butcher Knife, 12-Inch". Has a very long blade that can slide down the spine very easily, and the thick top section will allow you to chop through bone cleanly.

A deba knife is a better knife if you bring fish in your kitchen to fillet, but for most people, a fillet knife is a more practical "outside knife"

Thanks for the video! What is the brand and model of the Western knife? Thanks.

I've lived in the mid-west all my life. Everyone I know fillets from head to tail with the head left on removing the fillet from the carcass. Interesting seeing different takes on the same chore.

I'm not sure why you spent so much time worrying about the head of a fish to be filleted, the simple answer is don't cut it off. If you are using the head for soup or such then dealing with it after the fillets are removed is so much easier. I would also go after the collars, een collars that small hae amazing meat in them.

Weeboo meets a filleting knife: "I would prbly use like a hammer."

I have a cheap stainless deba and it's great for slicing and breaking down carcases. Doesn't hold a edge long but then I get more practice sharpening.

After I used a deba for the first time, I never went back to a western fillet knife. Personally I found the deba to be much more natural and comfortable, but knife preference depends from person to person. One thing I do differently when cleaning my fish, and I know a lot of Japanese people do as well, instead of cutting over the rib bones with the deba come from behind and cut through them, take them all of with the fillet. You can come back in after with a chef knife or a yanagiba and cut under those bones.

interesting. ive been in the market for a new fillet and cleaver/chef knife since my father got his hands on them and well....they'd need heavy repairs if they can even be repaired. Kinda looks like the deba does the job of both? Ill be looking into it more!

Keep in mind...you'll never find a commercial operation using these Japanese knives. It has nothing to do with the quality, heritage, or cost. It's that they don't have 20 minutes to cut up a single fish. They need to dismantle (fillet) 200+ fish per hour. Users of fillet knives don't use them to cut through bone. The dexterity of the thinner and flexible blade is paramount to maneuverability. Again...speed and efficiency, depending on the job at hand. The back/butt of the Japanese knife blades get caught on the meat on nearly every stroke. Simply not designed for efficient, smooth operation where using the full blade is necessary. Not every job requires only the tip of the blade. Notice how western-style boning knives have a swooping back of the blade. It never gets hung up on the meat. Fillet knives are similar. This allows for use of the entire blade for making long deep cuts. Useful when breaking down a whole beef carcass in minutes, filleting large salmon in seconds, etc. For the chop chop style of fish butchery, having a couple good deba blades can do a fine job on many different fish species. There are users of these knives that make it look easy. But again, not good to simply compare these two knives for a single use scenario.

Your videos are great, they have been a big help to me as I learned to sharpen my knives. Thanks for all the great information. When using the standard Western fillet knife, no need to remove head. I have cleaned more fish than I can remember, I was always taught to use the head to grip fish and keep,head with carcass. The fish I learned on are fresh water, like walleye and bass which are different than salt water varieties. Great review of both knives. I would use a deba for bigger fish but for smaller freshwater fish I will stick with the western fillet knife.

I usually have to fillet fish sitting on the ground in a wetsuit, because I am usually off somewhere in the arctic living off spearfishing at the time, and there won’t be any tables or anything within miles. If I am luck I can find a driftwood board on a beach, if bit I usually just have to do it on a rock or a patch of grass. I really like the idea of the Deba but I don’t think it would survive the salty environment and I suspect it might be a bit tougher to work in awkward positions, with mosquitos eating your face, on slippery or uneven surfaces that don’t always offer much room for details of technique …

Want a knife thats amazing go a J, marttiini filleting knife, absolute razor and beautiful

Despite having caught and filleted hundreds of fish over the years I (1) don’t do it regularly enough to be in my mind proficient and (2) like you I hate to waste fish. I have used both the European style fillet knives and a Deba. My preference for the European knives is a Morakniv and an Opinel slim/effile size 10. I always notice that people tend not to have a problem with the first fillet but it’s when they go for the second one that they lose the meat so so speak. Depending on the type of fish that I am filleting when I get to the point you were at in 6.04 of your video I don’t cut the whole way through but leave it on and then turn the fish over to fillet the other side. Having that bulk helps slightly.

Nice video, very instructive. I’ve never broken down a fish , so haven’t used either knife type before. I used to be skeptical about the Japanese “specialized knife for every job” , but have become a convert. I believe I concur with you. The thin western blade would make me wary of forcing it through hard stuff like the deba did. I wonder if the types of fish they typically catch played a role in the formation of the design ?. One thing is for sure, they wouldn’t use it if it didn’t work (in regards to how much fish they eat).

Would a Santoku work? It’s pretty stout but not as beefy. I don’t have a Deba or a filet knife. Pro’s/cons?

Good morning, I just discovered your channel and am really enjoying your content. You mention belonging to a number of knife forums, and I was wondering if you could name a few that you recommend? Thank you very much and have a great day!

The deba is more of a general purpose knife used for everything in the kitchen. In a lot of asian families the cook only uses one knife to do everything. He did mention that he isn’t a professional but I noticed that he cut a better fillet with the fillet knife and not the deba. In my opinion the deba he used is in need of sharpening.

Greg love all your knife sharpening vids! That being said, you will never find a Deba on any fishing boat in US. Mates filet THOUSANDS of fish using western filled knives. I understand the debas use n that is one knife nit yet in my collection, but very soon. Oh, as a former mate, after making the first cut on a fish, only the top third ( really 2") of blade is used to remove filet.

So this video is funny. I fish a lot and eat a lot of fish as a result. I like and use both knives. The fillet knife is like any other knife. It takes some proficiency and a different approach to apply correctly. Cutting straight through the bones of a snapper is not really what the knife was designed to do. It is designed to flex around the ribbones and leave them attached to the backbone. The fillet knife really shines on flounder and really any where else where you want to cut around bones. The deba really shines on fish with thick bones that can easily be dressed after the fillet is removed. If we are talking efficiency, the Deba is faster on most fish, but not as fast an electric fillet knife.

Dude, don't use the fillet knife to cut through bones. They're too thin for that and risk chipping the edge.

With a Deba, you need to increase the angle more as compared to a western filleting knife. The sharp edge needs to face down more when cutting through the skin.

You used eastern deba technique with western filet knife, which is wrong, the long thin flexible knife you should only make two cuts for the whole fish leave the head on, start where you did then you turn the knife and filet entire fish along backbone, flip filet over and take off skin. It is one continuous cut, flip whole fish over and repeat. Deba knife and eastern technique good for fish with thicker bones and if you don't want to cut though belly containmenting meat.

I scuba dive, I always have a filet knife with me for protection. What else could you do, if while scuba diving, you get attacked by a fillet?!?

The only annoying thing about Debas os that lefty friendly models are very hard to find. Naturally, only lefties would suffer from this. Nevertheless, I love the Debas I own.

Im a North Dakota ice fisherman looking to try Japanese filleting. I dont see why it wont translate to walleye/pike. Im sure the old farmers at the public fish cleaning station will turn their heads. I am just unsure which premium knife to buy first. Id like also like to try some asian fish cooking and take a break from beer batter deep frying.

Japanese style knife close to western filet knife is there boning knife

I'll not criticize your knife skills, but I'll definitely criticize your choice to throw away those beautiful red snapper heads and carcasses! How could you!?!?!?

save & store the trimmings to make fish stock.

The western style knife is just superior when it comes to anything 'flat fish'. Turbot, plaice, sole etc. The main issue is that the sharpening is a pain in the ass because of the special curvature and often cheap steels are used for these. If you are a homecook, i'd suggest going for a deba, maybe a smaller one like (max 150 mm blade) unless you're cutting up really big fish. Just for the sake of longevity in the sharpness department the Japanese ones will be superior. But they do take alot more practice to get really clean fillets.

Not a criticism but: looks like the deba wasn't as sharp as it could have been.

If ypure not using the head, why remove it? Grab the fish by the tail, ise the knife to run along the spine in one motion from tail to head. Then follow the filet around the head to remove the filet.

It seems deba need sharpening...

The western knife was made to take the skin off the fish any thing can take the meat off the fish all the fillet knife is is a flexible boning knife much. I’d like to see someone’s method of filleting a fish with the Japanese one that would be cool

Filet knife done a better job you got more off the back with it then you did with the other one ill stick with the filet knife I'd rather have flex than no flex

I don’t understand the philosophy of the western version. The fish is flexible😂why make the knife flexible and flimsy? Just bend the fish and use a sturdy knife.

Its in japanese community not Asians in general.

It's very difficult not to be critical of your process of using an American fillet knife to fillet a fish. You don't hack off the head of the fish and fillet from tail to head. there are plenty of You tube videos showing the proper method. Incorrect use of any knife with yield incorrect results.

Deba knife should have been sharpened before making this video.

Pull the microphone away from your face