CCK Restaurant All-Purpose Cleaver

The 文武刀 (wén wǔ dāo), “civil and military knife”, is named for its dual nature. It slices vegetables with precision (civil) and chops through poultry joints with authority (military). The professional-grade big sister of the All-Purpose Cleaver: a taller, slightly heavier blade built for restaurant kitchens that need one knife to handle both jobs all day long.

If you’re coming from a Western kitchen, the Restaurant All-Purpose Cleaver replaces both your chef’s knife and your meat cleaver. It slices bok choy and joints a chicken without changing knives. The flat blade gives you knuckle clearance a chef’s knife can’t match, and the flat side doubles as a bench scraper for moving food off the board, one knife instead of two. The trade-off: no pointed tip for detail work.

Handles poultry bones (chicken, duck, quail) comfortably. It does not handle pork or beef bones; for that you need a Bone Cleaver. The Heavy blade profile has substantially more momentum than the standard All-Purpose Cleaver, so it moves through dense vegetables and joints with less effort, but it’s not as nimble for delicate slicing.

Choose carbon steel for the sharpest edge and easiest re-sharpening. It needs drying after use and occasional oiling (see our carbon steel care guide). Choose stainless steel for the low-maintenance option: corrosion-resistant and dishwasher-friendly when paired with the stainless steel handle. The rustic mulberry wood handle offers great grip even with wet hands; the stainless steel handle is dishwasher-safe when paired with a stainless steel blade. Hand-wash versions with a wooden handle or carbon steel blade.

For a smaller, lighter version more suited to home kitchens, see the All-Purpose Cleaver.

Sizes

Which size? 二號 No.2 (M) is the all-rounder and what we recommend for most professional kitchens. 三號 No.3 (S) for more compact setups. 大號 No.1 (L) for breaking down large quantities of food, only available with mulberry wood handle.

HACCP colour-coded plastic-handled versions are available as separate products.