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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