Can anyone identify this Japanese looking knife.

The blade reads 廣州双 x偽記
廣州 is definitely Guangzhou. The old character.
双 is two/double/twin
x is a character that is not used in Japanese.
偽 is fake
記 is a written record

Best I can do not knowing any Chinese. Bearing in mind that the meanings can be multuiple or differ.
Maybe someone could help? I agree it looks like some 1960-80s product.
 
I have one of these as well that my Dad picked up in the 80's when he was taking an Asian cooking class. I use it all the time, but I don't think it is anything special.
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Sharpen and use as a cleaver or general purpose "kitchen knife" in remembarence of your Great-Great Grandmother. It will do both jobs admiralty.

I'd suggest taking the edge to 10 to 12 degrees per side (20 to 25 degrees inclusive) for best performance and a long lasting working edge. That's what I bring/take all my "kitchen knives" and cleavers to.

After setting the edge, Dry stropping or a old fashioned vertical grooved metal butcher's steel should be all you need to maintain the edge.
Most knives are put to a stone far, far more than is necessary. 😡

Oh, and use a not bamboo wood cutting board.
They are easier on the edge than the alternatives, and are naturally antimicrobial, unlike all the alternatives.
 
Pretty sure I have .one that my mother brought back from china. I should dig it out see how I like it in the kitchen
 
KenHash said:
The blade reads 廣州双 x偽記
廣州 is definitely Guangzhou. The old character.
双 is two/double/twin
x is a character that is not used in Japanese.
偽 is fake
記 is a written record

Best I can do not knowing any Chinese. Bearing in mind that the meanings can be multuiple or differ.
Maybe someone could help? I agree it looks like some 1960-80s product.
Click to expand...
It reads as 廣州双獅為記, in traditional Chinese characters.

廣州 is Guangzhou.
双獅 is Double Lion.
為記 is Brand

So, it translates as Guangzhou Double Lion Brand. The knife shown by OP is a generic shaped Cai Dao, which is an all-purpose Chinese chef’s knife. Cai Dao literally means Vegetable Knife in Chinese, and because it has a thin cross section and fine edge, it’s actually not meant for chopping bones like a Western cleaver. I also think that it’s more likely to be from the 1960s-80s rather than 1900s.
 
sv4 said:
It reads as 廣州双獅為記, in traditional Chinese characters.

廣州 is Guangzhou.
双獅 is Double Lion.
為記 is Brand

So, it translates as Guangzhou Double Lion Brand. The knife shown by OP is a generic shaped Cai Dao, which is an all-purpose Chinese chef’s knife. Cai Dao literally means Vegetable Knife in Chinese, and because it has a thin cross section and fine edge, it’s actually not meant for chopping bones like a Western cleaver. I also think that it’s more likely to be from the 1960s-80s rather than 1900s.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. The characters in the photo is not 獅 which we can read as "lion". The right side looks like 節 in the photo, the combination which we do not have in Japanese. Anycase, mystery solved I think about as far as it can be.
 
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Double Lion is a common brand. I have two or 3 from various trips to China. We also used that brand in a Hong Kong cooking school I attended a few years back. I've never heard anyone Chinese call these knives Cai Dao when speaking English. They always just say cleaver.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
Double Lion is a common brand. I have two or 3 from various trips to China. We also used that brand in a Hong Kong cooking school I attended a few years back. I've never heard anyone Chinese call these knives Cai Dao when speaking English. They always just say cleaver.
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OK, it must be a variation on 獅 that isn't used in Japanese. Of course there are countless such examples since Chinese uses 3-4 times the number of Kanji.

I always point out that this type of knife is a Cai Dao, and that they are usually very thin and quite capable of doing fine slicing. In the West they became known as "Chinese Cleavers" because of the shape, and it seems now everyone everywhere uses that term. That these thin Cai Dao are not the meat and bone chopping "cleavers" of the West has become lost, and many people are under a misimpression of what they are.

I am personally fighting the ridiculous mistranslation of a a Gyuto (Beef Knife) as a "Cow Sword" that can still be found on some websites.
 
Difficult to grip a gyuto with hooves, much less thrust and parry...

But not impossible, perhaps, for a determined bovine creative enough to invent an opposed-thumb prosthesis.

Parker
 
KenHash said:
I am personally fighting the ridiculous mistranslation of a a Gyuto (Beef Knife) as a "Cow Sword" that can still be found on some websites.
Click to expand...

Ha, hilarious! 😆
 
This is the type of knife I've been planning to make if I can ever get around to making a Mecha kitchen knife.
 
KenHash said:
OK, it must be a variation on 獅 that isn't used in Japanese. Of course there are countless such examples since Chinese uses 3-4 times the number of Kanji.

I always point out that this type of knife is a Cai Dao, and that they are usually very thin and quite capable of doing fine slicing. In the West they became known as "Chinese Cleavers" because of the shape, and it seems now everyone everywhere uses that term. That these thin Cai Dao are not the meat and bone chopping "cleavers" of the West has become lost, and many people are under a misimpression of what they are.

I am personally fighting the ridiculous mistranslation of a a Gyuto (Beef Knife) as a "Cow Sword" that can still be found on some websites.
Click to expand...
I won't argue that Cai Dao are vegetable knives but in my experience that average Chinese home cook uses a little heavier all-purpose cleaver that will handle poultry, duck and large fish bones as well as vegetables. That includes the Double Lion I used in Hong Kong. The instructor never hesitated to chop up chicken with it. I brought one home but haven't used it much yet.
 
The misunderstanding may come from the fact that the Chinese use two very similarly shaped knives as their main kitchen knives : the Cai Dao (vegetable knife) for thin slicing, dicing, mincing, filleting (the blade is usually under 1/12" at the spine, with a very steep edge) and a full fledged cleaver with much thicker stock for hacking up bones, joints and tough roots. Both are rectangular and wide, only the thickness at the spine (the true cleaver could also be substantially bigger, a Cai Dao has a 7 to 8" blade) allows to differientiate them. There could also be a paring knife shaped smaller kitchen knife for thinnicky stuff like peeling garlic. So, three instead of a "one and only". Makes sense to me. Although, I have only two Cai Daos : one is by Kai Shun Classic and in my opinion it's the real deal (as far as the slicing, mincing, dicing stuff goes), the other is by Friedrich Dick and the thicker grind makes me reserve it for chopping chicken or duck bones, squash, beetroot and this kind of product. It does great : no damage at the edge, stays reasonably sharp, while it's not that much thicker than the Kai. It's just less pleasant as a slicer.
 
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Sidehill Gouger said:
I won't argue that Cai Dao are vegetable knives but in my experience that average Chinese home cook uses a little heavier all-purpose cleaver that will handle poultry, duck and large fish bones as well as vegetables. That includes the Double Lion I used in Hong Kong. The instructor never hesitated to chop up chicken with it. I brought one home but haven't used it much yet.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know that there are two kinds of Cai Dao, one a thin slicer and the other of thicker stock and used as you describe.
The onkly thing is that I never ran into anyone who could tell me what they are called to differentiate them.
 
The weight of the knife will be the judge. I wanted to "open a window" for a cook friend of mine and I lent him my Friedrich Dick version to try out (OK, I admit I chickened out there because my Kai Shun Classic Cai Dao (the real deal) stays at home, point final). He just sayed dryly "It's nice but way too heavy...". He's actually right. Even the thinnest renditions of the Cai Dao (my Kai Shun included) are on the heavy side. I much prefer the Japanese Gyuto or Santoku : they scoop less but they are swifter and easier on the arms over time. OK, you might say I have weak arms... The Chinese cooks would certainly agree. Joke aside, weight, length and width of the blade are paramount in the choice of a knife for the kitchen task at hand. That's why the Japanese have so many blade shapes available.
 
I have one very similar to it. Will post a pic of it later.

It is a Chinese "cleaver" and in Cantonese it's called a "choy doh."

It's the only all metal one that I own. I own 6 others of varying sizes w/wooden handles. I inherited all of them, except 1, from my parents and they are all over 50 years old and still work fine.
 
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KenHash said:
Yes, I know that there are two kinds of Cai Dao, one a thin slicer and the other of thicker stock and used as you describe.
The onkly thing is that I never ran into anyone who could tell me what they are called to differentiate them.
Click to expand...

There are more varieties than that.

I have 3 that I keep my on counter for use daily; large for chopping thru thin/light bones (usually chicken and duck), medium for general cutting/slicing meat/veggies and small for finer cutting/slicing meat/veggies. Will post pics of them later.

The Chinese are NOT as fussy about their blades as the Japanese are and a skilled chef/cook can use even the largest "choy doh" to do pretty much EVERYTHING that needs to be done for food prep in a kitchen.
 
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sgt1372 said:
I have one very similar to it. Will post a pic of it later.

It is a Chinese "cleaver" and in Cantonese it's called a "choy doh."

It's the only all metal one that I own. I own 6 others of varying sizes w/wooden handles.
Click to expand...
Yup written the same 菜刀 but read Cai DAo in Mandarin and Choi Doh in Cantonese.

Yes, I meant there are two "main" kinds to distinguish between "slicers" and "cleavers".
Would love to see these others. Please post a pic. Thanks.
 
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