Which knife do I actually need?
Honestly?
One good knife.
I use a Chinese meat cleaver – the medium-weight one. It’s not just for meat. It chops veg, slices meat, crushes garlic, scoops ingredients, and handles about 90% of what I cook.
The medium weight is the sweet spot: heavy enough to do the work for you, light enough to stay quick and controlled.
You don’t need a drawer full of knives.
Learn one knife properly, and it’ll do almost everything.