Right Knife for the Job: Meet the Chinese Chef's Knife

Chinese Chef's Knife

What makes the Chinese chef's knife unique?

The Chinese chef's knife is meant for essential, everyday use. For cooks more familiar with a European-style chef’s knife – with its pointed tip and slight curvature in the belly of the blade – a chef’s knife inspired by knifemaking traditions across Asia might feel entirely new. The wide, rectangular blade is exceptionally useful for preparing fresh produce, since it makes easy work of scooping and transferring ingredients from your cutting board into your wok, skillet, or mixing bowl. (If you were thinking this blade is similar in heft and shape to a bench scraper, you’d be correct!) The squared tip and straight, seven- to eight-inch cutting edge allow the cook to cut right through foods in a precise, up-and-down chopping motion, making this blade as ideal for slicing tiny alliums as it is for chopping big, thick-skinned squashes.    

The Chinese chef’s knife occasionally goes by its alternate name, the Chinese vegetable cleaver. While this blade can handle most kitchen jobs (as is required of a great chef’s knife), its high-performance capabilities are truly highlighted by all things produce prep. Though this knife looks similar to a cleaver, its purpose is quite different, and it should not be used as one. Cleavers are meant to be swung and applied to an ingredient with a greater cutting force and have a heavier, thicker blade to absorb that added impact. Since the Chinese chef’s knife features a narrower blade and a remarkably lightweight build, it’s not designed for the force common with cleaver work, such as breaking down bones for stock.

Modern knife making often pulls from both Asian and Western European influences, fusing the most valuable customs from centuries of artisanship with modern technology to create distinct hybrid-style blades. While traditional Chinese chef’s knives are often crafted from carbon steel, WÜSTHOF’s version features precision-sharpened, premium German stainless steel hardened to a uniquely durable 58 Rockwell (an international measure of hardness) – this allows our blades to be less prone to chipping and rusting despite decades of use. They also remain sharper for longer.

What is this knife best used for?

A Chinese chef’s knife, like all chef’s knives, is a dynamic workhorse designed to accomplish most kitchen jobs. Consider it an extension of your arm in the kitchen: dicing carrots, quartering sweet potatoes, chopping fresh parsley, slicing seared steaks, mincing shallots, carving roast chickens, thinly shaving cabbages, or cutting fruit of all kinds for snacking. In other words, it’s meant for everyday use and everyday tasks.

If you’re used to a six-inch chef’s knife, don’t let the size of this knife fool you – it’s remarkably lightweight in the hand, and the broad, flat blade with the squared tip is especially handy for recipes that involve plenty of knifework. Use the flat side of the blade to thwack garlic cloves out of their papery skins before crushing them into a paste for your favourite spaghetti aglio e olio. Finely chop whole bunches of cilantro and mint, then easily scoop and lift the fresh herbs from your cutting board into your salad bowl to toss with roasted seasonal vegetables or into the batter of your famous green-herb zucchini fritters. Dice carrots, celery, and onions, and let your Chinese chef’s knife swiftly transfer them into the butter melting in your Dutch oven. You’ll feel your shoulders relax every time you hear the steady, graceful thump of this special blade on your cutting board.

How do you care for this knife?

Like all WÜSTHOF blades, this knife is crafted from premium materials and designed to last a lifetime with proper care. The Chinese Chef’s Knife must be hand-washed with mild soap and water and immediately dried with a soft kitchen towel. We also recommend storing our blades in a knife block, knife roll, or on a magnetic knife holder to help maintain the integrity of the craftsmanship over decades of use. Our distinct precision sharpening process means our blades stay sharp for longer, though if you notice any dullness, the knife’s edge is easily restored through conventional sharpening methods (such as a sharpening steel, handheld sharpener, or whetstone).

What’s a fun fact about this knife?

Solingen, Germany has been the cutlery capital of Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and Asia also has its legacy knifemaking regions. Yangjiang, a city in China’s southern Guangdong province, has been a focal point of global knife artisanship for over fifteen-hundred years. When troops from the Imperial Chinese Army settled in the city around 550 A.D, local knifemaking started to grow exponentially. Aspiring artisans soon mastered forging high-quality, handmade swords that became prized across China. As time passed and swords became unnecessary, these craftspeople, short of work, switched to making premium kitchen knives. The Chinese chef’s knife was born from these traditions, built for any kitchen job but especially perfect for prepping any and all vegetables.