Chinese cleavers- lend me your knowledge.

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+1 to that question - bugger the duck, bugger the cleaver, but what's the board?
 
wow noodle soup. That's a nice looking blade you got there. what make and model is it?

Also that chopping block looks like a piece of art!:doublethumbsup:
 
Sillywizard said:
I agree fully with XooMG as well.
Once you do get your Chinese slicer, put away all your other knives except for your paring knives, and only use the cleaver for everything! Do this for a month to become well acquainted with your new knife before reintroducing your other knives into the rotation. This is to force you to adapt and give the cleaver a fair chance. It's a wonderful tool, the height is really an advantage, particularly in prepping vegetables!
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:plus1: I concur. :biggrin:
 
WOK-a-holic said:
wow noodle soup. That's a nice looking blade you got there. what make and model is it?

Also that chopping block looks like a piece of art!:doublethumbsup:
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Sorry, it isn't my knife, it was the school's as was the chopping block. The knife wasn't anything real fancy. Like I said, they bought around a dozen in the local market while I was there. Maybe $10-$15 each.
 
tsuriru said:
Im sorry to sway off topic for a second, but....That is a very impressive cutting surface! could you say a few words about it?
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Noodle Soup said:
It was the standard cutting board at the Yangshuo School of Cooking is about all I can tell you about it. Sorry.
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LifeByA1000Cuts said:
+1 to that question - bugger the duck, bugger the cleaver, but what's the board?
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They are a somewhat common board made of bamboo chunks glued together and bound with a metal ring. They look neat but I prefer wood, and have not bothered to buy one.
 
I think for a cleaver you can either buy a thin one and chop/slice vegetable quickly and better handling harder food than Gyuto. But it feels better and easy to control when using gyuto to slice meat. Or you can buy a middle thick cheap cleaver that can do almost anything in a family kitchen including chopping bones and that's many Chinese families do.
 
I wonder if traditional users of chinese cleavers also use them for peeling and paring (which I find far more awkward with a cleaver than with a gyuto or santoku)?
 
LifeByA1000Cuts said:
I wonder if traditional users of chinese cleavers also use them for peeling and paring (which I find far more awkward with a cleaver than with a gyuto or santoku)?
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Not really for in-hand stuff. I don't see a whole lot of peeling in Chinese cooking and the bit that I do see is either done on the board or with a dedicated peeler/parer. My experience is limited though.
 
XooMG said:
Not really for in-hand stuff. I don't see a whole lot of peeling in Chinese cooking and the bit that I do see is either done on the board or with a dedicated peeler/parer. My experience is limited though.
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LifeByA1000Cuts said:
I wonder if traditional users of chinese cleavers also use them for peeling and paring (which I find far more awkward with a cleaver than with a gyuto or santoku)?
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I was just thinking the same. Very rare to peel foods in Far East Asian cooking. Even the delicate garnish is made using a cleaver.
 
I think one important usage of a cleaver is to smash cucumber and garlic.:cool2:
 
Isn't there a dish called squashed cucumber salad in chinese cuisine? Can you substitute cucumbered squash?
 
Nemo said:
Pardon my ignorance, but why do you smash cucumber?
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A Chinese dish called Smashed Cucumber Salad. You can google it for recipes. Smashing is the key to this dish to make the cucumber more juicy, highly enjoyable with a touch of sesame oil and vinegar.
 
loong said:
I am pretty sure it's called smashed cucumber salad.
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yes, it is smash by the cleaver, but don't do it with a expensive cleaver....add some dark vinegar and spicy powder or some other sfuff and it's done.
 
I use Chinese Cleaver for everything except cutting cheese, bread or a sandwich.
For spreading butter or mayonnaise I used butter knife.

warning: DO NOT CUT CHEESE with Chinese Cleaver. the giant surface area of blade sticks to cheese causing you to put a lot of pressure on blade then it can abruptly lets loose.
 
Noodle Soup said:
They work pretty good for sandwiches though. :) I use one for BLT's when I actually have ripe "T's" but being from the Northwest you understand how hard that is.
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Ripe tomatoes are a rare treat here. I always use cleaver for tomatoes, also for preparing ingredients for sandwich. when I cut sandwich in half I use 8" chefs knife for that single cut only. I can put my hand over the spine of knife and hold sandwich down better while cutting.
 
So I'm looking at shibazi for my first "better" chinese cleaver. How do you differentiate between home and pro lines? In all seriousness does a home cook need a pro model? Na. Scratch that...if you're on this forum I doubt you.would be happy with the home model.
 
Where is the best (cheapest) place to get a CCK delivered in the UK?
 
Triggaaar said:
Where is the best (cheapest) place to get a CCK delivered in the UK?
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I picked up a CCK1302 in London. I think it was £58. It came factory blunt but gets razor sharp on Japanese Naturals. It's very thin and falls through food due to thinness and power through its height.

The CCK is worth a try, but it does not beat my Toyama Nakiri 210 except on price (£360 RRP).

I could sell you mine as it's only been used twice. It even has the original newspaper sheath it came it!
 
fatboylim said:
The CCK is worth a try, but it does not beat my Toyama Nakiri 210 except on price (£360 RRP).
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Well it definitely wins on price :)

I could sell you mine as it's only been used twice. It even has the original newspaper sheath it came it!
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Thanks. How much?

Do you use your Nakiri with meat too, or just veg?
Do you have other Nakiris too?
 
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