Also known as a Chinese chef's knife, the cleaver is a staple of the cuisine, rivaled in utility only by the wok and chopsticks. We reach for it for every task from crushing aromatics to filleting fish—it's the ultimate do-it-all tool.
Known as a “vegetable knife” (caidao), it's typically the only knife in a Chinese home kitchen and used for practically everything. A good caidao does almost all the jobs accomplished by a whole set of French chef's knives, from slicing a clove of garlic to jointing a chicken.
Just as a gyuto is a higher performance version of a Western chef knife, a chuka bocho is the harder, sharper version of a Chinese chef knife. The difference is the steel. Japanese knives get sharper and stay sharp longer than other types of knives, because the steels used are much harder.
A Chinese cleaver is a strong multi-use blade that is as handy as a chef's knife. Often made out of carbon steel, which will last for years, its sharp-edge design and flat blade make it perfect for mundane and advanced cooking tasks alike.
3-7mm thickness: it is the middle range thickness and serves well in functions such as cutting through thin bones like chicken bones and smashing garlic cloves. 8mm thickness: its heavier blades also wider and comes with a shallow It is excellent at chopping through bones and huge meat chunks.
Chinese Vegetable Cleaver: 17-20 degrees across the complete blade. Dual Purpose Cleavers: 20-25 degrees due to its design and intended use. Bone Cleavers: 40-50 degrees due to their design and intended use.
Unlike a meat cleaver, a Chinese cleaver isn't meant to whack and hack through bones. Rather, they're actually more like chef's knives and are great multitaskers when it comes to chopping and slicing vegetables, fruits, and meats.
A Wok. The wok is one of the most widely used cooking utensils and the most important one in Chinese cooking. It can be found in the kitchen of almost every Chinese family. Woks are a multi-functional piece of cookware.
Different Uses Of A Cleaver Knife
A cleaver knife is designed for chopping the meat into precise cuts. This is the go-to knife for prepping boneless meat that is easy to slice through. In comparison to a butcher knife, cuts from a cleaver knife are more precise and more gentle. The result is a smooth, clean cut.
There are three primary knives that every home cook should have in their kitchen: a chef's knife, a serrated knife (also called a bread knife), and a paring knife.
According to MasterClass, Ramsay prefers Henckels knives, which are a German style brand. As Acit Group states, German style chef's knives are noted for their bulky blades that are tough enough to handle the likes of chicken bones owing to their extra heft.
In many ways, a Santoku is simply a Japanese version of the Chef Knife—but the differences don't end there. Beyond being about an inch shorter than the standard 8-inch Chef Knife, Santokus also tend to be made of thinner and harder steel, which makes them better suited for precision cutting.
The name Santoku is thought to translate to 'three virtues' and this name is largely thought to relate to its versatility and the number of tasks it can perform. It is believed the 'three virtues' are related to the Santoku knife's extreme effectiveness when it comes to slicing, chopping and dicing.
SANTOKU (Multi-Purpose)
Multi-purpose Japanese knife, it literally means a 'knife of three virtues' – it is used for vegetables, fish and meat. Santoku is also known as santuko in some parts of Europe. Its full name is santoku-bocho or bukabocho. The knife can have a Japanese or a European handle.
This sword is worn by the honor guard of Chinese People's Liberation Army, guarding the Chinese national flag on Tian'anmen Square. Husa knives have long been in demand by nearby Han, Dai, Jingpo, Lisu, Tibetan, Bai and other ethnic people.
You should behave elegantly. When taking food, don't nudge or push against your neighbor. Don't let the food splash or let soup or sauce drip onto the table. When eating, you should close your mouth to chew food well before you swallow it, which is not only a requirement of etiquette, but also better for digestion.
Wok and Wok Lid
This is the most important of the Chinese cooking tools–the charismatic front man of the band, if you will. As many of you probably already know, many Chinese dishes are cooked using a wok, which is a wide and somewhat shallow domed pot that gets wickedly hot when you have a good flame going.
Chinese restaurant chefs exclusively use carbon steel woks and swear by them. Different styles and sizes may be used depending upon the task at hand.
The blade also allows you to cut thin, clean slices of vegetables and seafood. Despite being a versatile blade, a Santoku knife is not ideal for chopping large bones, cutting bread, peeling, and other specific tasks.
Santoku knives or to give them their full name Santoku bocho knives, which translates as 'three uses', are ideal for mincing, dicing and slicing, as they feature a straight edge with a narrow sheep's foot blade. These knives have evolved from the traditional Japanese vegetable knife which has a rectangular blade.
Shun Premier Nakiri Knife (6.5-Inch)
To thinly slice vegetables and chop cuts of meat, a quality chef's knife will do the trick. That said, Toy's preferred tool for preparing stir-fry ingredients is a cleaver—specifically, this Shun Premier Nakiri Knife.
The last step in sharpening is to remove the burr. This is done by simply repeating the same steps, only this time with less pressure. You are cleaning the blade versus sharpening it now. Be sure to test the blade to make sure you are satisfied with the final result.
Cook's/Chef's knife
This is the knife that gets the most use as it is the most versatile. Use it for everyday prep such as chopping veg, meat, herbs, nuts and for portioning up food.