Trying Something New: My First Chinese Chef's Knife (Cleaver)

Ok so I really don't do any asian style cooking, but I have always been impressed with chefs like Martin Yan and their ability to do just about every task in the kitchen with what I thought for years was a simple meat cleaver. It wasn't until recently that some reading showed me that its not really a cleaver for chopping through bone and other hard things so much as it is another version of a basic Chef's Knife. Much thinner, lighter, and sharper than its sturdier cousin.

I did not want to drop a lot of money just to try out a new style, so I went to an Asian market in Baton Rouge today to see what they had. What I found were two slightly different knives by the same company. The biggest difference being that one had a bit more curve in the edge, and thats the one that I went with for the low low price of $15.99!

There isn't much english on the box, but maybe someone here can read it. I know I cant.




As for the knife itself, it is a nice looking knife that is sharp enough to remove hair from my arm as is although I plan to get it even sharper. I really like the extra weight that it has compared to a typical chef knife, and it feels really good in my hand. I think I am gonna really like this style of knife, but only time will tell.










So anybody else here using one of these and have any pointers for use?

This is kinda what I mean.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV8FPk5qN9k&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]How to use kitchen knife cut cucumber, Martin Yan Part1 - YouTube[/ame]

Thanks everyone. I'm looking forward to getting to try it out. I'm also about to make a strop that should help polish that edge up.

woodpelletsmoker said:

I am native chinese living in Beijing,China
the red letters read "designed for slicing, avoid hard object"

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Thank you! By chance do you know anything about the knife maker? I did some searching with google, but I didn't find much.

kennyd0118 said:

Love mine. Makes quick work out of crushing a mincing garlic too.

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Thats what I was thinking. I love my garlic press but I hate cleaning gadgets.

woodpelletsmoker said:

In our chinese kitchen we usually use this kind of knife only.
I buy a set of your western style knives. I seldom use them except slicing bread.
Usually we have two types, one for slicing which is thin and sharp, the other is for cleaver which is heavy and thick.
the famous brands are "zhang xiao quan" and "shi ba zi", I do not know their brand names in western market

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Thanks Brother! Its great to have Brethren all over the world!