Does Chan Chi Kee/CCK still exist?

Dear forumistas,

after getting a plethora of helpful tips in another thread, a helpful forum member tried calling Chan Chi Kee to ask for prices when buying in the store in HK, but he got no signal whatsoever on the phone. I have also tried mailing them, without answer.

This poses the question for me: Do they still exist? Or have they secretly changed address and all contact data? Does anyone live in the area or often pass by, and could check, or know anything about them, or has bought knives there and also know the prices …

A friend is going to HK next week to—I hope—buy some knives, but would not like to send him to the address if it does not exist. Would be glad to hear from you and appreciate any help I can get!

Edit

As far as I know, they have been on shanghai street, Yau Ma Tai for years.. they are located in an area that are full of kitchenware/ restaurant supplies.. it would be strange to move away from that area. What are you after? I can give them a call tomorrow. I don't live in Hk but I go and check out CCK every time I'm there to visit family.

Have you tried calling both numbers on here http://www.chanchikee.com

The webpage says that the wan chai store has closed and please go back to the shanghai street store

ynot1985 said:

As far as I know, they have been on shanghai street, Yau Ma Tai for years.. they are located in an area that are full of kitchenware/ restaurant supplies.. it would be strange to move away from that area. What are you after? I can give them a call tomorrow. I don't live in Hk but I go and check out CCK every time I'm there to visit family.

Have you tried calling both numbers on here http://www.chanchikee.com

The webpage says that the wan chai store has closed and please go back to the shanghai street store

Click to expand...

My friend tried both numbers – no signal at all. Also no replies to several emails during the last year. I am after a few cai daos, thin cleavers. Would very much appreciate any help from you!

I'd be very surprised if the Shanghai St store closed down.

I'll try tomorrow.. you have model numbers?

ynot1985 said:

I'll try tomorrow.. you have model numbers?

Click to expand...

The models, from this page—where you can see the translations for finding the right model—,that are of interest are:
KF 1102
KF 1302
KF 1401
KF 1912

In November last year the Shanghai street store was still there and very bussy....

Blen said:

In November last year the Shanghai street store was still there and very bussy....

Click to expand...

Thank you, very nice to hear.

What were the prices, for something usual like, say, a 1303 or 1102 (or anything else)?

Price estimation is the whole reason I have tried to contact them, but in vain.

Kamelion said:

The models, from this page—where you can see the translations for finding the right model—,that are of interest are:
KF 1102
KF 1302
KF 1401
KF 1912

Click to expand...

Called ... Number works

KF 1102 - $HKD 420
KF 1302 - $HKD 290
KF 1401 - $HKD 310
KF 1912 - $HKD 320

open 7 days a week . 9am -6.30pm

They might close early the next few days due to the Easter public holidays

ynot1985 said:

Called ... Number works

KF 1102 - $HKD 420
KF 1302 - $HKD 290
KF 1401 - $HKD 310
KF 1912 - $HKD 320

open 7 days a week . 9am -6.30pm

They might close early the next few days due to the Easter public holidays

Click to expand...

In case you didn't know: you're the hero of the day!

Do you speak Cantonese, or did they actually understand English?

I speak Cantonese..

I feel so inadequate...

ynot1985 said:

I speak Cantonese..

Click to expand...

In another great forum, in this thread:

https://www.chinese-forums.com/foru...fy-if-the-store-chan-chi-kee-陳枝記-still-exist/

there is a great tip in the 6th post, by abcdefg, about the shop and manufacturer 梁添刀厰

One comments says quality might be even better, prices also.

Now the question is, how would one describe, write and transliterate the knife types in Cantonese.

1102 - large but very thin kitchen slicer (cai dao?)
1302 and 1912 smaller but as thin vegetable slicer (also cai dao ?)
1402 - bone chopper

Would be my descriptions in English. I am a bit unsure about what is what here:
菜刀
桑刀
文武刀

And then we have
切片刀 (slicing knife?)
斩切刀 (chopping knife?)
斩骨刀 (bone cleaver?)

Especially confused about what cai dao exactly is, and if kitchen slicer and vegetable slicer both are the same thin "dao" only different size and lengtj-width-ratio.

And then in Cantonese ...

Could it be that

文武刀 is the medium-thin all rounder that CCK calls "kitchen chopper",
文刀 the thin slicer (Cai dao?), CCK "kitchen slicer" (1102) and/or "vegetable slicer" (1302), and
武刀 is a bone chopper (1402)?

Are these in Cantonese orthography?

I my version of life for those of us that don't read Cantonese and maybe for many that do is the best way to pick a cleaver is actually handling them. I haven't been to Hong Kong since 69 and a military R&R (past through there on flight connections several times) but I have been to main land China a couple of times in the last few years. Just picking the cleavers up and deciding what they were for is how I selected the ones to bring home.

Kamelion said:

In another great forum, in this thread:

https://www.chinese-forums.com/foru...fy-if-the-store-chan-chi-kee-陳枝記-still-exist/

there is a great tip in the 6th post, by abcdefg, about the shop and manufacturer 梁添刀厰

One comments says quality might be even better, prices also.

Now the question is, how would one describe, write and transliterate the knife types in Cantonese.

1102 - large but very thin kitchen slicer (cai dao?)
1302 and 1912 smaller but as thin vegetable slicer (also cai dao ?)
1402 - bone chopper

Would be my descriptions in English. I am a bit unsure about what is what here:
菜刀
桑刀
文武刀

And then we have
切片刀 (slicing knife?)
斩切刀 (chopping knife?)
斩骨刀 (bone cleaver?)

Especially confused about what cai dao exactly is, and if kitchen slicer and vegetable slicer both are the same thin "dao" only different size and lengtj-width-ratio.

And then in Cantonese ...

Click to expand...

Oh Leung Tim is the shop in the 6th post.. it's been in ssp for yonks.. I go to ssp often as it it the computer/ electronic hub of Hk. Problem is Leung Tim are run by an old couple who were not so friendly the last time I visited.. CCK was a lot friendlier in my opinion. Ironically Leung Tim has an Australian store just 5 mins down the road from my place. Run by their son who is a lot friendly then his parents but the markup is a lot more as compared to what you pay for in Hk.

Cai Dao in Chinese basically means vegetable knife.

In most Chinese kitchen, the Cai Dao is the sole knife in the kitchen. It does everything.

Sorry, can't help you with the terminology, most of the time I just go there and point at the knife and ask the old man at the counter what that's for

Kamelion said:

Could it be that

文武刀 is the medium-thin all rounder that CCK calls "kitchen chopper",
文刀 the thin slicer (Cai dao?), CCK "kitchen slicer" (1102) and/or "vegetable slicer" (1302), and
武刀 is a bone chopper (1402)?

Are these in Cantonese orthography?

Click to expand...

I'm already confused when they used this term 文武. It's like a term used centuries ago describe someone who is academically gifted (文as in writing) and also gifted in martial arts (武 as in fighting). I have no idea how this relates to a kitchen knife lol

I'm a pretty bad cantonese speaker but will try to help. Its been around 3 years since I been to CCK but this is how I bought a knife (KF1103) there .

Cai Dao translates to vegetable knife. Its a generic term that all used to describe Chinese vegetable cleavers, sort of like "kitchen knife" in western terms.

The slicers (片&#20992 are called Pein(or Peen like peening hammer) dao, or slicing knives. Pein in cantonese is the act of slicing. As a general note most cantonese households don't have a thin slicing cleaver, they would just use a all purpose cleaver for everything.

When you go to CCK to buy a knife they will ask you what you will be doing with a knife, if you say a all purpose knife they will steer you to the med thin knife. If you want a thin slicer, tell them you want a thin knife or you want to cut thin slices of food. Then they will ask if its for home (small) or restaurant (large) use. After that they will hand you a couple knives, if you want carbon you can ask for a knife that "rusts" (told you my cantonese was bad).

95% of the people who buy knives at CCK will not know the exact model number of what they want to buy, its thier way of ensuring you buy the knife that you need, kind of like the KKF questionnaire. Alternatively you can just print out the page on the CCK site, circle what you want and hand that to your buddy.

When I was there, there where defiantly some western tourists buying knives (mainly duck slicers) so I'm sure they have a English speaker in the shop, even if there isn't one I'm sure a local can help you out. Hong Kong was a english colony until 1998 so the younger generation speak decent english.

I can say with certainty that Hong Kong English is terrible.. as much as I hate to admit it.. English is an offical language and they do get taught at school. The problem is people don't speak it or need it.. they just speak Cantonese if they want to communicate or even mandarin nowadays with the influx of Chinese tourist/permanent residents and requirement for work as many companies deal with the mainland .Many people in Hk would struggle with spoken English.. I would definitely get some translation or codes if you can

MikeHL said:

if you want carbon you can ask for a knife that "rusts"

Click to expand...

Did the same thing at an asian supermarket where they sold CCK cleavers.
The reply was:
'Why do you want a cleaver that rusts?'
So i ended up not buying any cleavers, because they didn't have any CCK 1301/1302/1303.

shownomarci said:

Did the same thing at an asian supermarket where they sold CCK cleavers.
The reply was:
'Why do you want a cleaver that rusts?'
So i ended up not buying any cleavers, because they didn't have any CCK 1301/1302/1303.

Click to expand...

Word has it that the stainless CCK cleavers are nearly as good as the carbon steel only a small hit to edge retention compared to the carbon.

ynot1985 said:

Oh Leung Tim is the shop in the 6th post.. it's been in ssp for yonks.. I go to ssp often as it it the computer/ electronic hub of Hk. Problem is Leung Tim are run by an old couple who were not so friendly the last time I visited.. CCK was a lot friendlier in my opinion. Ironically Leung Tim has an Australian store just 5 mins down the road from my place. Run by their son who is a lot friendly then his parents but the markup is a lot more as compared to what you pay for in Hk.

Cai Dao in Chinese basically means vegetable knife.

In most Chinese kitchen, the Cai Dao is the sole knife in the kitchen. It does everything.

Sorry, can't help you with the terminology, most of the time I just go there and point at the knife and ask the old man at the counter what that's for

Click to expand...

How is their quality, compared to CCK?

And what are the prices of Leung Tim in Hong Kong?

MikeHL said:

I'm a pretty bad cantonese speaker but will try to help. Its been around 3 years since I been to CCK but this is how I bought a knife (KF1103) there .

Cai Dao translates to vegetable knife. Its a generic term that all used to describe Chinese vegetable cleavers, sort of like "kitchen knife" in western terms.

As a general note most cantonese households don't have a thin slicing cleaver, they would just use a all purpose cleaver for everything.

Click to expand...

But for us nerds, a thin slicer and a heavy bone cleaver is probably a better route, instead of the medium cai dao, right?

MikeHL said:

When you go to CCK to buy a knife they will ask you what you will be doing with a knife, if you say a all purpose knife they will steer you to the med thin knife. If you want a thin slicer, tell them you want a thin knife or you want to cut thin slices of food. Then they will ask if its for home (small) or restaurant (large) use. After that they will hand you a couple knives, if you want carbon you can ask for a knife that "rusts" (told you my cantonese was bad).

95% of the people who buy knives at CCK will not know the exact model number of what they want to buy, its thier way of ensuring you buy the knife that you need, kind of like the KKF questionnaire. Alternatively you can just print out the page on the CCK site, circle what you want and hand that to your buddy.

Click to expand...

So one could say that the 10* is the restaurant slicer and 130* the household ditto?


Good to know about the procedure, have already printed the list.

Bromo33333 said:

Word has it that the stainless CCK cleavers are nearly as good as the carbon steel only a small hit to edge retention compared to the carbon.

Click to expand...

So I've been told. And 99 % of Chinese cooks and chefs probably use stainless nowadays.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that it is the best way, and furthermore: most people are not knife nerds and go to CCK and the like.

Also, a fellow knife brother and food geek said —when asked about carbon caused discoloration and metal taste—that an almost indetectible metalic tang is part of the traditional taste, and helps create the (wok) flavour.

Probably I will get both carbon and stainless though and try out.

Question is only, large (110*) or small (130*)? Anyone owned or tried both sizes?

"All purpose" means being able to handle chicken, waterfowl and large fish bones along with vegetables in China. I haven't had any problems with my larger CCK multi-purpose knives doing that. You are not cooking Chinese if you aren't leaving a lot of bone in many recipes. I just bought a Sugimoto No. 7 that was billed as an all purpose clever. It arrived today and while it is certainly a fairly heavy knife, its edge looks too thin for even chicken bone to me. So do I risk it? It isn't like I don't have a lot of real Chinese knives that can do the job.

Kamelion said:

Probably I will get both carbon and stainless though and try out.

Question is only, large (110*) or small (130*)? Anyone owned or tried both sizes?

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110x is a little taller than 130x. I would just get 1102 and 1112 myself, if it has to be CCK slicer.

Used to have 1111 a long time ago, and it was huge. Used to have a shibazi that is comparable to 1303 and it is on the smaller size. This is from the background that I like Sugimoto #6 size in general, so 1102 and 1112 fit that aspect.

ynot1985 said:

I'm already confused when they used this term 文武. It's like a term used centuries ago describe someone who is academically gifted (文as in writing) and also gifted in martial arts (武 as in fighting). I have no idea how this relates to a kitchen knife lol

Click to expand...

Traditional literary allusion. "Wen/wu" (文/&#27494 is "scholarly/martial", "civil/military", an opposed and complementary pair (like yin/yang, but without the female/male gender meaning inherent in ying/yang). Read 文刀 as "delicate knife" or "knife for light, delicate work" and "武刀" as "tough knife" or "heavy-duty knife", and 文武刀 as "knife suited for both light and heavy work".

Kamelion said:

How is their quality, compared to CCK?

And what are the prices of Leung Tim in Hong Kong?

Click to expand...

Sorry... I'm not sure to be honest.. wasn't really into Chinese cleavers until recently.. when is your friend going? I think their au store is on holidays till next week.. they own the property so they don't need to open on public holidays

I think I will buy from both though when I go back to Hk month

If you want to compare CCK to something easy, it would be Shibazi. I tend to like them better than than CCK but it is not by anything major.