Hi, everyone. Seeing more people are getting into Chinese cleavers, I kind want to write something on the subject, since there’s some confusion on the subject. By no means I’m an expert on Chinese cleavers, nor actually good at using it, but I do grow up using them just like my parents and grandparents, while now I do use gyuto more (sorry ancestors), I still enjoy using Chinese chef knives, especially for dicing vegetables. Being able to research source in Chinese do helps a lot with the subjects do help a lot, and with some friends familiar with knife making. Please do not take this as an authoritative take on the subject, it may contain errors. If you see any errors, please let me know.
The Chinese cleaver, or better called Chinese chef knives are not a single knife, there is a huge misconception not only among foreigners, but also among many Chinese home cooks that Chinese chef only use one knife for everything. This is simply not true, while in Chinese home, people tend to use one knife, likely Zhan Qie Dao/Wen Wu Dao for everything, this can also be said for home cooks around the world, Japanese housewives use just one Santoku or Western home cooks only use an 8inch chef knife to do everything. Demonstrated here in Ang Lee’s masterpiece Drink Eat Man Woman, Chinese chef can have an arsenal rivals his Japanese counterpart.
The Chinese chef knives are divided into three main categories, Wen Dao/文刀/Pian Dao/片刀, also know as Slicers in English, there are the Chinese equivalent to Chef knife or Gyuto, and when people talks about Chinese chef knives they are talking about there. Next is 文武刀/Wen Wu Dao/Mon Mo Dao/斩切刀/Zhan Qie Dao, these are known as all purpose cleavers, they usually have different thickness and edge angles at front and back, when people talks about Chinese cooks use only one knife for everything, they are talking about this knife. The front of the knife has a shallow angle for slicing while the back have a larger angle for smaller bones like chicken or fish. Zhan Qie Dao, compared to the other two, it’s actually quite recent invention, tracing its root to early 20th Century. The last one is 武刀/Wu Dao/砍骨刀/ Kan Gu Dao, this is the actual cleaver part of Chinese chef knives, they are butcher knives specialized knives for bones, from chicken to beef, there are various sub categories for different purpose. There are also many specialized and regional knives like fish knives, pork knives and Peking duck knives, those are only really seen in professional settings, but they can be fun in home too.
Wen Dao/文刀/Pian Dao/片刀/Slicer，the workhorse in any Chinese kitchen, is what ,most people are discussing on the forum, CCK 1302, Sugimoto no.6, Shibazi F-208, Chopper King slicer are all different incarnations of Pian Dao, they are usually rectangular and slightly curvy depending on which region they are from. One thing they have in common is that they are very thin behind the edges, and should definitely not be used on bones and frozen food. There are several popular sub-categories of Pian Dao.
First is Da Pian Dao/大片刀/Large slicer, like the name, it is a large slicer, usually starts at 220mm x 110mm, but can go up to 240mm x 130mm or even larger. They are the equivalent of 10-inch Western chef knives, in that they are rarely seen in home kitchens, but act as absolute workhorse in any professional Chinese restaurant. They excel at precisely processing large amounts of vegetables and meat, and also act as garlic smashers and scoops. Large slicers can have quite different profiles depending on which region they are from. Here’s some examples.
Here's the Chan Chi Kee large slicer from Hong Kong, they cater largely towards Cantonese cuisine, Chan Chi Kee knives prized by high end Cantonese eateries for their cutting ability. You can see they are essentially the larger and thicker version of beloved CCK 1302 Sang Dao, the profile is quite flat and very rectangular.
Here’s a large slicer from the town of Long Shui, Da Zu District, Chong Qing. Long Shui is a famous town for knife making, but these days it got overshadowed by Yang Jiang, much of the knife making here are still in small shops, One of the more famous manfacturers from this area is Deng Jia. Their profile is usually on the curvy side, with a thick T shape spine. I’ve seen T spine on knives from other regions, however they are not as dominate as the ones from Chong Qing and SiChuan.
Northern China also have their style of cleaver, most of them are quite similar to Sichuan and Chong, sometimes curvier. One style of knife interested me is called Beijing Styled chef knife, which features a rounded heel area, but they are not as popular as others nowadays. You can see in the examples below, one by Wang Ma Zi, an old Beijing, their spine gradually tapers down rather than forming a T shape.
Old and modern examples of Beijing chef.
Of course many other regions also have their own styles of large slicers, but since the industrialization and regulations against population, many manufacturers either moved or out sourced their production to Yang Jiang, where now produce most of knives in Chine. These 3 knives below are from 3 brands based in Beijing, Chongqing and Yangjiang respectively, and you can see them are quite similar now.
Here’s a good clip of large slicer in action, being thin behind the edge is must in order to slice ingredients in the video.
Xiao Pian Dao/ Siu Pin Dao/小片刀/Small slicer, as their name imply, they are slicer but smaller. They can be seen everywhere, from home cooks to professionals. They also vary greatly in size, from just a little smaller than a large slicer to what basically is just a taller nakiri. CCK 1902 is a good example, the famed Dexter Russell Chinese chef could be also labelled as a Siu Pin, as they are based on the knives used by early Cantonese immigrants. Some of the interesting examples of Siu Pin are beef knife and Yu Sheng (Chinese Sashimi) Knife, they usually have lower front height than the back, they are used predominantly in Chao Shan restaurants for beef hot pot and Chinese sashimi dished.
The Chinese cleaver, or better called Chinese chef knives are not a single knife, there is a huge misconception not only among foreigners, but also among many Chinese home cooks that Chinese chef only use one knife for everything. This is simply not true, while in Chinese home, people tend to use one knife, likely Zhan Qie Dao/Wen Wu Dao for everything, this can also be said for home cooks around the world, Japanese housewives use just one Santoku or Western home cooks only use an 8inch chef knife to do everything. Demonstrated here in Ang Lee’s masterpiece Drink Eat Man Woman, Chinese chef can have an arsenal rivals his Japanese counterpart.
The Chinese chef knives are divided into three main categories, Wen Dao/文刀/Pian Dao/片刀, also know as Slicers in English, there are the Chinese equivalent to Chef knife or Gyuto, and when people talks about Chinese chef knives they are talking about there. Next is 文武刀/Wen Wu Dao/Mon Mo Dao/斩切刀/Zhan Qie Dao, these are known as all purpose cleavers, they usually have different thickness and edge angles at front and back, when people talks about Chinese cooks use only one knife for everything, they are talking about this knife. The front of the knife has a shallow angle for slicing while the back have a larger angle for smaller bones like chicken or fish. Zhan Qie Dao, compared to the other two, it’s actually quite recent invention, tracing its root to early 20th Century. The last one is 武刀/Wu Dao/砍骨刀/ Kan Gu Dao, this is the actual cleaver part of Chinese chef knives, they are butcher knives specialized knives for bones, from chicken to beef, there are various sub categories for different purpose. There are also many specialized and regional knives like fish knives, pork knives and Peking duck knives, those are only really seen in professional settings, but they can be fun in home too.
Wen Dao/文刀/Pian Dao/片刀/Slicer，the workhorse in any Chinese kitchen, is what ,most people are discussing on the forum, CCK 1302, Sugimoto no.6, Shibazi F-208, Chopper King slicer are all different incarnations of Pian Dao, they are usually rectangular and slightly curvy depending on which region they are from. One thing they have in common is that they are very thin behind the edges, and should definitely not be used on bones and frozen food. There are several popular sub-categories of Pian Dao.
First is Da Pian Dao/大片刀/Large slicer, like the name, it is a large slicer, usually starts at 220mm x 110mm, but can go up to 240mm x 130mm or even larger. They are the equivalent of 10-inch Western chef knives, in that they are rarely seen in home kitchens, but act as absolute workhorse in any professional Chinese restaurant. They excel at precisely processing large amounts of vegetables and meat, and also act as garlic smashers and scoops. Large slicers can have quite different profiles depending on which region they are from. Here’s some examples.
Here's the Chan Chi Kee large slicer from Hong Kong, they cater largely towards Cantonese cuisine, Chan Chi Kee knives prized by high end Cantonese eateries for their cutting ability. You can see they are essentially the larger and thicker version of beloved CCK 1302 Sang Dao, the profile is quite flat and very rectangular.
Here’s a large slicer from the town of Long Shui, Da Zu District, Chong Qing. Long Shui is a famous town for knife making, but these days it got overshadowed by Yang Jiang, much of the knife making here are still in small shops, One of the more famous manfacturers from this area is Deng Jia. Their profile is usually on the curvy side, with a thick T shape spine. I’ve seen T spine on knives from other regions, however they are not as dominate as the ones from Chong Qing and SiChuan.
Northern China also have their style of cleaver, most of them are quite similar to Sichuan and Chong, sometimes curvier. One style of knife interested me is called Beijing Styled chef knife, which features a rounded heel area, but they are not as popular as others nowadays. You can see in the examples below, one by Wang Ma Zi, an old Beijing, their spine gradually tapers down rather than forming a T shape.
Old and modern examples of Beijing chef.
Of course many other regions also have their own styles of large slicers, but since the industrialization and regulations against population, many manufacturers either moved or out sourced their production to Yang Jiang, where now produce most of knives in Chine. These 3 knives below are from 3 brands based in Beijing, Chongqing and Yangjiang respectively, and you can see them are quite similar now.
Here’s a good clip of large slicer in action, being thin behind the edge is must in order to slice ingredients in the video.
Xiao Pian Dao/ Siu Pin Dao/小片刀/Small slicer, as their name imply, they are slicer but smaller. They can be seen everywhere, from home cooks to professionals. They also vary greatly in size, from just a little smaller than a large slicer to what basically is just a taller nakiri. CCK 1902 is a good example, the famed Dexter Russell Chinese chef could be also labelled as a Siu Pin, as they are based on the knives used by early Cantonese immigrants. Some of the interesting examples of Siu Pin are beef knife and Yu Sheng (Chinese Sashimi) Knife, they usually have lower front height than the back, they are used predominantly in Chao Shan restaurants for beef hot pot and Chinese sashimi dished.
