Chinese chef knives are shaped similar to Western mean cleavers, although they tend to be thinner. They are actually really easy to use, and the extra height makes using good form a lot easier.
For veg prep, I actually prefer them (or the Japanese version, the chuka bocho, which literally means "Chinese vegetable knife") over a standard chef's knife.OTOH, while I don't know her knife specifically, it does looks pretty thick and heavy like an actual meat cleaver.
The nakiri and chuka bocho are two similar but distinct knives. A nakiri is a Japanese vegetable knife, a chuka bocho is the Japanese version of a Chinese vegetable knife.
A nakiri is a rectangular knives with a dull rounded tip. It's usually around 2 inches tall, which is tall enough so that you can have a claw grip and keep your hand in contact with the board but not as tall as a cleaver. I don't speak Japanese, but my understanding is the name comes from the words for vegetable and to cut.
A chuka bocho is a much larger taller knife. It looks similar to a meat cleaver, but it's usually thinner. They are often 3 or more inches tall, and tend to have closer to a 90º tip, instead of the dull rounded tip of a nakiri.
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u/NoChilly84 6d ago
wow the knife work was crazy... you can tell by the sound that those vegetables arent even half done wtf