My Chinese cleaver knife is my favorite kitchen tool—here's why
I use this knife every single day.
Credit:
Reviewed / Amber Gibson
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Everyone has that one kitchen tool that they reach for almost daily and could never imagine cooking without. For me, it's my Zwilling 7-inch Chinese cleaver knife. It's the most used knife in my kitchen—no matter what kind of meal I’m cooking.
This multipurpose chef's knife is a must-have for any serious cook.
The way I see it, you hardly need any of the other specialty chef’s knives out there when a cleaver can do the job just as well.
But the cleaver knife is the lesser known workhorse, especially in most American kitchens. Most casual cooks don't know what it is or what purpose it serves, and many are intimidated by its seemingly unwieldy shape. That's why I'm here to demystify this historic tool and explain why it's my favorite piece of cutlery.
What is a cleaver knife?
You'll find a lot of use out of this type of knife.
Vegetable cleavers or Chinese chef’s knives are the most commonly used knives in a Chinese kitchen, dating back to the Ming Dynasty. The broad rectangular blade and thick, sturdy handle make cleavers versatile all-purpose kitchen knives great for chopping, slicing, mincing and crushing various ingredients.
Even if you don’t cook much Asian food, this is a tool that should be in your arsenal. There are two different types of cleavers in Chinese cuisine: gudao (or “bone knife” in Mandarin), which is similar to a Western butcher’s cleaver, and caidao (or “vegetable knife”) which is the type of cleaver I’m referring to here.
Zwilling’s 7-inch cleaver knife is an excellent option and my personal favorite. I'm petite with smaller hands, so the 7-inch blade is the perfect size for me. This knife is sturdy but not too heavy for me, weighing in at just under one pound.
When should you use a cleaver in the kitchen?
As a kid, I remember my mom could cook an entire meal with just this one knife, whether it was preparing braised pork trotters or oxtail soup, or even chopping up more than a dozen different vegetable ingredients for her famous fried rice.
Commonly, the chef’s knife is used for trimming fat off of meat, chopping meat and vegetables, fileting fish, julienning vegetables for spring rolls, slicing ginger, crushing and mincing garlic, and dicing up herbs like chives and scallions. I find that my cuts are cleaner and more even when I’m working with a Chinese cleaver.
The broad, flat blade also makes it easy to scrape everything off your cutting board and transfer all the chopped ingredients to the wok or wherever they need to be, eliminating the need for a separate scraper tool. Chances are, any sort of cutting or chopping that you need to do can be readily accomplished with a Chinese vegetable cleaver.
Why I love my Zwilling Pro Chinese Chef's Knife
Seamless cutting will be guaranteed.
It’s powerful and precise
The stainless steel blade is super sharp and great for delicate julienning, yet also sturdy enough for cutting through fibrous vegetable skins and dense root vegetables.
The broader curve at the front means it’s great for both a rocking motion while chopping and for the straight up-and-down Asian chopping motion.
Keep in mind that the more often you use your cleaver, the more regularly you'll need to sharpen it to maintain the precision and power that makes this such a great knife. I recommend using it on a wooden, rubber, or plastic cutting board because using it on something harder can dull the blade.
It’s comfortable to hold
I’m not a professional chef and have smaller hands, so the thinner blade and shorter handle on the Zwilling is easier for me to maneuver than a larger, heavier cleaver.
The curved bolster on the blade also makes it easier and safer to pinch either side of the blade—this is a unique design element that you don’t commonly find with cleavers, and it offers more knife control.
It’s super versatile
Having just one go-to knife streamlines my cooking process. I don’t have to choose between multiple knives for each ingredient I’m cutting.
Besides my cleaver, the only other knife I really need is a serrated bread knife. That’s the one concession where a specialized knife is superior to a cleaver. Otherwise, I’ll take my cleaver any day.
Plus, there’s less to clean afterwards, since the cleaver is super efficient at sweeping up ingredients.
Is Zwilling’s Pro Vegetable Cleaver worth it?
Yes, if you’re looking to invest in an all-purpose kitchen knife
This tool has the ability to make your day-to-day kitchen endeavors so much easier and more efficient. I've been using mine for six years and it's still in great shape.
There are more affordable options available, but for the precision, comfort, and ease of use, it’s worth spending a little more on a knife that you will use every day—and that can last a lifetime.
This multipurpose chef's knife is a must-have for any serious cook.
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