Nothing but net.

May 28, 2016 2:39 PM

Chef Quah Swee Then shows us how to catch a rabbit. More videos at his Facebook page.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering (39 comments total)

Wow, that is cool! (For the squeamish - it's a video of how to cut a carrot in a clever way.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:49 PM on May 28, 2016 [4 favorites]

No rabbits were harmed in the making of this video.
posted by spacewrench at 3:23 PM on May 28, 2016 [4 favorites]

I expected a much different, sadder video from the description and was pleasantly surprised to see something so cool.
posted by Gymnopedist at 3:58 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

I actually said "holy fuck" out loud at the end.
posted by howfar at 4:06 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just watch your fingers.
posted by beagle at 4:09 PM on May 28, 2016

Okay, yes but. . . cut your finger nails. Ew.
posted by Evstar at 4:33 PM on May 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

He needs those for his flamenco guitar playing, which is awesome.
posted by howfar at 4:45 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just watch your fingers.

There was a point near the end of the cutting where I was sure he was going to slice himself, but clearly he knows what he is doing.

I don't have much need for carrot nets, but I am now coveting his knife.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:58 PM on May 28, 2016

...With a fucking cleaver...
posted by Nanukthedog at 4:59 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

Was the salt near the end in service to the presentation or the flavor?
posted by carsonb at 5:13 PM on May 28, 2016

Everyone knows this, unique up on them!
posted by Dashy at 5:13 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

carsonb, I've never done this myself but I imagine the salt is to tenderize the carrot and make it easier to fan out without tearing.
posted by Evstar at 5:18 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

The salt probably softened up the carrot material so it didn't snap when he pulled it apart at the end.
posted by indubitable at 5:18 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Thanks, that would explain all the hand-working he did.
posted by carsonb at 5:35 PM on May 28, 2016

...With a fucking cleaver...

!!!! Right?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:37 PM on May 28, 2016

The carrot net will work for regular rabbits, but I need to know how to catch a unique rabbit!
posted by aubilenon at 6:34 PM on May 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

unique up on it!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 6:43 PM on May 28, 2016 [5 favorites]

Rabbitmeat tacos work. Try it sometime.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 7:06 PM on May 28, 2016

But how do you catch a tame rabbit?
posted by figurant at 7:32 PM on May 28, 2016

Pretty sure that's a Chinese chef's knife/Chinese cleaver and not a western cleaver.
posted by stet at 7:33 PM on May 28, 2016

How about catching a Wererabbit?
posted by arcticseal at 8:14 PM on May 28, 2016

Tame way, unique up on it were it is!
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:24 PM on May 28, 2016 [5 favorites]

I am starting to have some regrets
posted by aubilenon at 8:57 PM on May 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

super cool!
posted by Sarah_M at 9:08 PM on May 28, 2016

Wait... Wouldn't the rabbit simply gleefully and joyfully eat the entire damn net and then be on its way? I don't think this very skilled chef has thought his cunning plan all the way through.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 10:40 PM on May 28, 2016

I have an old silver certificate from the 30s that is printed on one side and thin as tissue paper. My father claimed that a very talented sailor on the ship he served on during WW II split that dollar the hard way using a very very sharp knife. Until watching this video I never really believed that was possible; now I do. Those are some mad knife skills in that video, and one Hell of a sharp cleaver.
posted by kinnakeet at 1:24 AM on May 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I can bear witness to the ability of a very sharp knife being able to filet paper. I was on a show once and after about a week it became apparent to the second unit camera crew that, due to the director's overweening pride in his abilities, we would probably never get to roll a single shot EVAR. So we cast around for some hobbies to fill our time and found out that one of the grips was selling custom-made knives, very nice pieces but real bears to sharpen, since they were made from old saw mill blades, continually heated and cooled tool steel, and thoroughly tempered as hard as diamonds. So I purchased some five-stone Lansky sharpeners and the additional sapphire hone, for a finished product of 17 degrees with a 2000 grit stone. That sapphire stone was literally as smooth as a baby's butt, you couldn't conceive that it would sharpen anything. After finishing honing a knife, fileting paper was child's play. You could easily lift a president's face off a bill.

Perhaps some of you have heard that old saw about it being better to be cut by a sharp knife rather than a dull one? Well, I can't speak to that, but I do know that my second assistant cameraman one night quietly called me over with a mild look of panic on his face. "PG, I've just cut the dickens out of my thumb." Turns out that for no apparently reason he had pressed his thumb against a freshly edged knife and with absolutely no pressure or slicing movement, he had indeed cut it right to the bone, about 3/4" long. You couldn't tell it had been cut unless you pulled it apart. Suffice to say, I've never done anything like that after seeing the aftereffect. Also, there's no reason to sharpen things to a 17 degree angle, unless you're honing a razor blade or a scalpel. Five stitches later and he was good as new, albeit with a newfound appreciation for knives.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 3:16 AM on May 29, 2016 [14 favorites]

As I understand it, the best way to catch a rabbit is to chase it down a slope. They are very bad at running down hill, because their front legs are short.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:28 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Pretty sure that's a Chinese chef's knife/Chinese cleaver and not a western cleaver.

That video led me into a black hole of reading about Chinese cleavers and comparative cleaver design. With unusual self-restraint I didn't order one immediately, but I probably will soon.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:42 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Five stitches later and he was good as new, albeit with a newfound appreciation for knives.
posted by Purposeful Grimace

Eponysterical.
posted by Fizz at 6:51 AM on May 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Wow the other video with the carrot chain is FIRE. Amazing stuff.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:58 AM on May 29, 2016

As I understand it, the best way to catch a rabbit is to chase it down a slope. They are very bad at running down hill, because their front legs are short.

I am eager to back a Patreon to fund you being filmed catching rabbits in this way.
posted by howfar at 10:17 AM on May 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

Whoa. I love ridiculous garnishes, and even after watching this a couple of times,I'm not sure how he did it, but damned if it hasn't just gone on my list of things I need to know how to do. Just astonishing.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:44 AM on May 29, 2016

You've Been Cutting Carrots Wrong
posted by stinkfoot at 12:12 PM on May 29, 2016

You've Been Cutting Carrots Wrong

The entirety of my carrot preparation technique is "wash them real good".
posted by aubilenon at 12:31 PM on May 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I used to be proud of myself for having mastered Jacques Pepin's peel-the-entire-length-of-the-carrot technique.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:38 PM on May 29, 2016

Tame way, unique up on it were it is!

Actually usnique up on it,
posted by notreally at 8:16 PM on May 29, 2016

Yes, I did note that it was a cleaver and did not specify that it was a vegetable cleaver, however, a vegetable cleaver is still designed around cleaving - not generally used in detail work, it still has a wide spine (less so than a regular cleaver) as well as a huge curved edge for rocking through veggies when not cleaving. Generally one thinks paring or even a small santaku for fine work. Watching fine detail work with a cleaver is pretty much total mastery.
posted by Nanukthedog at 5:49 AM on May 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

The most important step in any rabbit-catching process, and one at which he particularly excels here, is that you must be vewy qwiet.
posted by Buck Alec at 9:34 AM on May 30, 2016 [3 favorites]