Cleaver (knife)
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A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a square-bladed hatchet. It is used mostly for cutting through bones as a kitchen utensil.
Chinese cleavers look like western butcher cleavers. However, whereas westen cleaving knives are intended to chop through hard foods like bone, chinese chef knives are much thinner and are mostly meant to be used for cutting, not hacking or chopping with force. Only heavy cleavers are designed to take care of tasks like splitting and chopping bones. Light cleavers are also known as Chinese Chef Knives and are used to slice meat and chop vegetables, to flatten garlic bulbs or ginger, and carrying the ingredients to the wok. They come in handy when preparing meals with lots of stir fry ingredients.
The name cleaver originates from the word cleave and means to split apart.
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