10cm forged carbon steel paring knife with olivewood handle

A paring knife, sometimes referred to as a peeling knife, a utility knife or (usually reserved for Japanese knives) a petty, is a small, versatile kitchen knife with a narrow, pointed blade.

It's designed for more intricate and delicate tasks and offers more control and precision than a chef's knife. Paring knives are not a good choice for heavy-duty tasks such as chopping through bones or tough-skinned produce. For such tasks, it's better to use a larger, sturdier knife like a chef's knife or a cleaver.

Paring knives are commonly, but not exclusively, used for the following
tasks:

Peeling
Removing (parts of) rinds and skins from fruits and vegetables.

Trimming, shaping or removing blemishes
Because of its shape and size, a paring knife is the perfect tool for precision trimming and
removing undesirable parts, excess fat, bruises, spots and other unwanted parts, without excessive waste.

Garnishing
Its maneuverability makes a paring knife perfectly suited for creating decorations, decorative cuts, intricate patterns and fine slices for garnishing dishes or cocktails, or carve designs on and into fruits and vegetables.

Scoring and slitting
With a paring knife, you can make shallow cuts, like scoring poultry, fish or
meat skin, for crisping up and even cooking, as well as making small slits on and
into dough and pastry before baking.

Seed removal, coring and hollowing
The sharp tip of a paring knife can also be used for removing seeds or cores from fruits and vegetables en precisely extracting seeds and inner parts from peppers, apples and more.

Precision tasks
Due to their small size and sharpness, paring knives are excellent for any task that requires precise control and accuracy, like deveining shrimp, sectioning citrus fruits, or hulling strawberries. And for miniature chopping and slicing very small items, like radishes, garlic cloves or strawberries.