Vegetable chopper
December 31, 2005
Filed under Cooking tools & gadgets
A lot of people shy away from home cooking because of the amount of time and effort it entails. Actually, both can be cut by more than half with the help of simple kitchen tools and gadgets. Finely chopping vegetables, for instance, can be really tedious.
There are some tools that make manual work less painful. For instance, the hand chopper above is one of my best friends in the kitchen. Biba Caggiano and Nigella Lawson use this kind of chopper in their TV cooking shows.
Actually, it was in Biba Caggiano’s show where I first saw one.
While food processors and electric choppers can be really helpful, unless you’re chopping a lot of veggies, cleaning your electric appliances might actually mean more work. You save time and effort with the hand chopping but then you use up what you saved with the washing and cleaning required. Besides, there is nothing like the feel of food in your hands.
If I’m cooking for a lot of people, like when we’re having a dinner party at home, I use my Thunderstick Pro. But when there’s just myself at home, I prefer to hand chop everything. Also, there’s the matter of control. You have better control with size and texture when you hand chop, especially when making salads of chopping herbs for garnish.
Some cooks prefer an all-purpose kitchen knife. Personally, I have been using a Chinese style cleaver, not the Western style chef’s knife, since I first learned to cook. And the cleaver is much too heavy in my hand for chopping vegetables. It’s great for cutting meat, especially when chopping chicken through the bones. But if just veggies, the weight of the cleaver can be unnecessarily tiring for my hand. So, I switch to my vegetable chopper.
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happy new year, sassy!! this is even more fun to use with a mezzaluna bowl, the curves just go together so well. but i guess personal preference is still a factor — i like my mezzaluna for mincing herbs and such, but for all-purpose i much prefer my chef’s knife, while a friend swears by her global santoku. as for the cleaver, i have a lighter one now, but i miss my lolo’s VERY VERY (as in DEADLY) sharp and heavy cleaver (i wonder who has it now?) — he was a master sharpener and that thing can hack through bone like you wouldn’t believe — and the heft actually helped kasi you didn’t have to apply much force, gravity takes care of it hahaha! haven’t found anything to match its power yet here. the chinese ones i’ve seen at chinatown are too wimpy. kung may ma-re-recommend ka naman na manufacturer, let me know:)
Happy New Year, Stef. May utang pa akong Lasang Pinoy entry.
I don’t go for brands, eh. When I buy a cleaver, I get the combination of stainless steel and carbon. Then I choose the ones that are screwed into the handle. I test the weight and the grip and how it sits in my hand. If the fit is right, I buy.
Hi sassy! I’m an avid reader of your blog sites but haven’t logged on lately due to the holiday whirl. Dami na palang nangyari. Anyway, pleasantly surprised to see this particular entry because I’ve been intrigued by that type of chopper since I saw it in Nigella Lawson’s show. Mukhang madili nga gamitin. Unfortunately I haven’t seen one on sale in Manila. Would you know where we can get one? Thanks!
Hi masc, my husband bought it in Cash & Carry along with the spouts for the olive oil.
There’s something very visceral about wielding your cleaver as you chop through fragrant herbs. I’ve used the Nigella Lawson herb chopper and it does lull you into a kind of trance with its rocking motion across the herbs. But I still like my cleaver. Always makes me feel like a lethal Chinese kitchen gangsta. Happy New Year!
LOL MM. Never mess with the cook then.