The cleaver – also known as the Chinese chef's knife or Chuka Bocho – is a large, broad knife far more versatile than its appearance suggests. It excels at chopping and slicing vegetables, cutting meat into thin slices and working with fish. The wide blade also makes it easy to scoop ingredients from the cutting board and transfer them directly to the pot.

Important: a Chuka Bocho is not a meat axe and should not be used to hack through bones or frozen food – that will damage the blade. That said, many experienced cooks use it for almost all their daily kitchen work.