Chinese Cleavers

I have one made by Chicago Cutlery that I bought 18 yrs ago. I use it almost everyday. With my Sharp Maker, I can get a scary-sharp, shaving edge.
 
The other interesting thing about people and chinese cleavers is that they are not really using it correctly (to its right purpose). Cleavers in the western world is used primarily as meat axes. If you can't cut through the bone, you cleave it. As a result, cleavers made for that purpose are very thick and heavy. However, chinese cleavers are used completely differently, chinese cleavers are the primary cooking knife in 1.4 billion households. They are used to chop veggables and meats with the least effort. Even the world "chop" is misleading. In reality, cleavers are made to slice. It is the most efficient tool for that purpose. A chinese clever should have a heavy and thin blade. The weight in the blade is what does most of the cutting. Given the weight of the blade, you can exert more of an laterl push motion instead of a downward motion. When you lift the blade up to wind up for another cut, the blade should never go past the half way point of the finger nails on the hand that is holding the food. If you want, I can post some pics on how to get the most out of your chinese cleaver.
 
As another person of the Chinese persuasion, I agree with what kidwholaughs has said. If you want to keep with tradition, get carbon steel with a wooden handle. I like the one pointed out by tonyccw. I grew up in Chinese restaurants and they all were like that one. Like Kid said, sharpening was not required very often and rusting, well they all had a nice patina. They were usually rinsed and wiped down. Like cast iron skillets, they kinda take care of themselves with natural oils. New ones can get rusty. You have to season them. You don't "wash" them.
My mother, at 90, still wields one with amazing precision. She will chop up a chicken with sufficent force and closeness to the other fingers, that many men would faint. But chopping is a side line. It is the Chef's knife as Kid says, primarily used for slicing and dicing.
The "cutting board" is the matching piece and important. Way back when, my dad used to get a slice of tree trunk about 14"- 16" in diameter, 3"-4" thick and bind it wtih some sort of material that I can't clearly remember. He would sand it smooth and that was his cutting board. He wanted something heavy to withstand chopping. I know, all sorts of sanitation questions come up, but that's what I grew up with. He'd rinse it off with water and that was that.
BTW, a secret to getting those really thin slices with the Chinese knife and provide more safety than is apparent, is to use the knuckes of the support hand to guide the side of the blade. In other words, the hand holding the food doesn't have the fingertips closest to the blade. The fingertips actually curl under slightly, causing the knuckle to come in contact with the side of the blade significantly above the cutting edge. This acts as a guide to thickness of cut. This is also why you want a tall blade. Never understood those short Japanese blades.

I hope no one has minded my trip down memory lane. And as I write this, I suddenly realize I presently don't have a Chinese knife in the house. :(

I hang my head in shame. What would my ancestors think.
 
I have two Chinese cleavers, one stainless and one carbon. The stainless I bought from a Chinese supermarket. If there is one in your area you can buy them quite cheap. This one works fine but the edge rolled when used to chop bone.

My carbon steel clever was a gift and it was forged with distal taper. It's not much to look at but the patination doesn't hurt performance. I learned from the Food Channel that one famous Chinese chef favors a cleaver his dad bought from the 1940's! You're supposed to let it darken. I've used mine to chop bone and peel vegetables for years without sharpening. Basically this cleaver plus a paring knife is all I need.

I would say when it comes to Chinese cleavers bigger is better, and test to see if the grip and choil is comfortable.
 
Any Chinese who is worth his Char Siew Pau will tell you that the best advice with regard to cleavers comes from butchers and those working in the slaughter house.

These are the people who know their cleavers and use them to great effect. Most of them are not darlings of the big blade category but they certainly can cleave through bone, guts and thick layers of lard.

It's amazing how smooth those motions are when one sees a master cleaver at work.

Now, it's time for my dim sum or a plate of steaming hot pork trotters cooked in rice wine and special XO sauce! :D ;)
 
I am having some technical difficulties with the pictures. However I find some sites with pretty decent tutorials on how to use the cleaver.

http://www.lhj.com/lhj/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/wok_cleaver_06242002.xml

http://www.lovelyrecipes.com/recipe.php?recipeid=2938

One thing to keep in mind about the carbon cleaver is that, all food that you prepare with a patinaed cleaver needs to be cooked. So if you are chopping up tomateos for a salad, either boil the tomateo before you serve it or don't use a cleaver with patina.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top