Using The Chinese Cleaver (part 1)

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

With a little practice, any beginning wok cook can master the use of
the Chinese cleaver. As mentioned earlier, a Chinese cleaver must be
honed very sharply before use and one should have a suitable cutting
board on hand.  The Styles of cutting foods for Chinese cooking include
slicing,  dicing, shredding and mincing. It cannot be stressed enough
that  students must exercise safety in the use of the Chinese cleaver.
A  dull cleaver or knife will cause accidents as the cook will have to
work too hard at slicing anything. A sharp knife will also cause
accidents, if not held properly.  To hold a cleaver properly for
cutting, one should take his right  hand (or left hand, if left handed)
and get a firm comfortable grip  on his cleaver. The other hand should
be free to hold or move the  food as it is being cut. If a food, such
as a potato, is round, it is  best to hold it firm on the cutting board
and with your free hand cut  the potato directly in half. Lay the flat
side down on the cutting  board and continue slicing. By creating a
flat surface, a round food  is prevented from rolling, thereby
lessening the chances of an  accident.  There are two types of slicing
styles in Chinese cooking. The first is  straight slicing and the other
is diagonal slicing. There should be a  rhythm of motion involved in
slicing foods and this may be achieved  by the novice cook with
practice. For slicing, insert the forward  blade of the cleaver into
the food. Your free hand should hold the  food onto the cutting board.
Press down toward the back part of the  blade, slice. The motion should
be forward to back. Use your free  hand to push food up to the knife
blade, keeping the fingers tucked  in. The blade should be kept as
close to the cutting board as  possible. Repeat slicing motion until
all food is cut. This slicing  motion is done with ease. Great pressure
need not be exerted on the  knife. If you are using great pressure on
your knife then you are  cutting with unnecessary effort or else the
knife is dull. Usually  the novice cook does quite well until he gets
to slicing the end  piece of the food, then it is better to go slower
to finish off the  job.  The main point that must be emphasized for wok
cookery is that the  food should be sliced as uniformly as possible.
This is to allow like  foods to be cooked at the same time. If some
slices of a like food  are thick while others are medium or thin, then
the thin slices will  be undercooked. So strive for uniformity in
cutting.  Meats, especially beef, should be sliced across the grain of
the  meat. This is to prevent the meat from becoming "tough" when it is
cooked. The most difficult type of meat for novice cooks to cut is
beef. It also is the easiest to overcook and render "tough." For
anyone who has difficulty in learning to cut beef, it might be better
to use a thin sharp blade knife (like the 1 1/2" cleaver). Lay the
beef flat with the muscular or long fibers perpendicular to the
cutting board. Insert the forward blade of the knife across the grain
of the beef. Take your free hand and lay the fingers over the slice  of
beef that you wish to cut. Slice slowly towards yourself. You can  feel
the thickness of your beef slice. Try to slice your beef about  2x1/2"
in length and breadth, and about 1/8" to 1/4" thick. Some  beginning
wok cooks are afraid of holding the beef with their free  fingers. This
is incorrect as it will cause either accidents or  result in coarsely,
uneven cut beef. If you are initially afraid of  the knife, do the
cutting very slowly until you gain more confidence.  The finished
cooked dish will be the reward for your patience.  File
ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/cc-wok.zip

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