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I have one pretty close to the top left hand one I bought from the maker in a little metal working shop never Yangshuo. Good all purpose chopper I tend to drag out when there is stock to make.
I can't say there isn't a chef in some fancy Beijing place using a Japanese blade but he would be a minority. High end in China is way different than Japan. When I was in Chengdu my cooking instructor sent me to a shop he said was were the local pros shopped. Most of their cleavers ran in the $20-$40 range. A local home use model was more in the $10.00 or less range. Knife skills come before high end knives in that part of the world.
My instructor also told me he had a buddy that was cooking in Chinese restaurant in Japan. The buddy had been telling him about the super cleavers made in Japan but there was no way he would believe anyone would pay that much for one.
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!
I have all three. I prefer Shibazi by a very small margin but I haven't really found a big difference between them.
Any recommendations for an inexpensive Chinese cleaver, carbon, 180-200mm, in the "thin and light" category? Preferably with a flatter profile.
Have you ever used a cleaver before? Before I used them (and they're what I mostly use these days), I thought I would prefer a flatter profile. While I don't like them to be too round, I think they're continuously curved for a reason-- because it works with the technique.
Also, how inexpensive is inexpensive? Take a look at Shibazi cleavers, regardless.
Edit: typo
Also, are there any significant difference between vintage cleavers - Bernal comes up with some once in a while - and new ones? In terms of construction, profile, price-to-quality ratio, etc
I think a lot of the cleavers (especially vintage) you find on that site are Western meat cleavers. Whole different ballgame from Chinese cleavers.
Also, are there any significant difference between vintage cleavers - Bernal comes up with some once in a while - and new ones? In terms of construction, profile, price-to-quality ratio, etc
The biggest thing for me is radious of the blade. If it's not nearly flat it's unusable for me. Nothing is more disappointing than finding your cleaver accordions just about everything after paying big money for it.
And I totally disagree. A cleaver needs some rocker in the edge to be a good general purpose blade. I have used plenty of both to come to that conclusion. I have a heavy, very straight edged model from Yangshuo I use for dicing meat but I have never found it to be useful for much else.
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This is a good example of how everyday cleavers are used in China. Duck chopped up for something I don't remember but I know we started with a live one. Bone in is normal. The instructor bought a dozen of these cleavers in the market earlier in the day. I didn't think it was heavy enough for bone chopping but he seemed to know better.
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