History Main / AsianCleaverFever

* The opening skit in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E14RidingWithDeath Riding With Death]]'' shows Mike having a {{Flashback}} to his days as a teppanyaki chef. He cuts Crow's hand off whilst swinging knives around.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': Exaggerated and parodied in the "Samurai Delicatessen" sketches, which feature Creator/JohnBelushi as a samurai running the counter of a New York deli. Sketches feature the samurai angrily chopping up meat for sandwiches using his katana.

* In the second episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', the episode opens on an elementary school holding "Career Day", where one of the professionals is a sushi chef wearing golden samurai armor, who upon being introduced, immediately draws his katanas and leaps around the room screaming like a maniac.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'': When Alex gets hungry, Rico the penguin prepares him a plate of sushi by putting on a headband, taking a knife in each flipper, slashing at the fish (which remains whole), tossing it up into the air, and having it land as perfect pieces of sushi, rice and all.

Almost always involves at least one AbsurdlySharpBlade. Can overlap with the ChefOfIron trope, especially the variety that uses cooking implements in their style of combat. May involve MartialArtsAndCrafts, if the chef uses his knife skills for combat purposes or considers his cooking to be a martial art. Not to be confused with [[RaceFetish Asian Cleavage Fever]].

* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'', the Gathering Hub animation for a pre-hunt meal involves a Felyne draws a knife and uses it to cut a large ball of dough into tiny pieces at lightning speed then resheathing his knife like an IaijutsuPractitioner, just before his colleagues leap through the air to catch the pieces to reassemble them into dango.

[[caption-width-right:350:Not done with wires.]]

* Mojo Jojo does a hibachi-grill routine while cooking for ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' when he has to babysit them. He professes to be "the best chef in Townsville", yet despite amazing the girls with knife-based stunts, they hate his food.

Almost always involves at least one AbsurdlySharpBlade. Can overlap with the ChefOfIron trope, especially the variety that uses cooking implements in their style of combat. May involve MartialArtsAndCrafts, if the chef uses his knife skills for combat purposes or considers his cooking to be a martial art.

* In ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'', Pig goes to a restaurant to see a chef swing his knives around. Pig loses an ear. The second time, [[BlackComedy he loses his other ear]].

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': Exaggerated and parodied in the "Samurai Delicatessen" sketches, which feature John Belushi as a samurai running the counter of a New York deli. Sketches feature the samurai angrily chopping up meat for sandwiches using his katana.

The Asian continent is home to many culinary traditions, [[InterchangeableAsianCultures each distinct and unique]]. Many of these cuisines are noted for their [[Film/{{Tampopo}} extreme care and delicacy in balancing flavors]] and meticulous presentation; for example, a Japanese sushi chef [[ZenSurvivor will spend]] ''[[ZenSurvivor years]]'' learning to cook rice properly before they're allowed to touch a knife to a fish. From [[FoodPorn Korea's infinite varieties of kimchi, to Vietnam's pho noodle soup, to Thailand's love of fiery chilies, to India's mastery of spices, to China's wealth of regional cuisines]], the flavors of the Orient are highly prized by eaters the world over.

In Western media, however? Asian food often means exactly one thing: theatrically swinging around knives, regardless of the environment, circumstances, or even the food being prepared. Whether it's a sushi feast or a humble plate of beef and [[HoldTheUnsolicitedIngredient broccoli]], a fictional character cooking Asian food will often pick up a knife or cleaver and start cutting in all manner of exaggerated, theatrical, ''extremely dangerous'' ways, as though they're fighting a martial-arts battle instead of making dinner. Yet despite all of this, the cook isn't just swinging a blade around at random, their actual cuts can be ''inhumanly'' precise. When this happens, the character has caught a serious case of ''Asian Cleaver Fever''.

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The Asian continent is home to many culinary traditions, each distinct and unique. Many of these cuisines are noted for their extreme care and delicacy in balancing flavors and meticulous presentation; for example, a Japanese sushi chef will spend ''years'' learning to cook rice properly before they're allowed to touch a knife to a fish. From Korea's infinite varieties of ''kimchi'', to Vietnam's ''pho'' noodle soup, to Thailand's love of fiery chiles, to India's mastery of spices, to China's wealth of regional cuisines, the flavors of the Orient are highly prized by eaters the world over.

In Western media, however? Asian food often means exactly one thing: theatrically swinging around knives, regardless of the environment, circumstances, or even the food being prepared. Whether it's a sushi feast or a humble plate of beef and broccoli, a fictional character cooking Asian food will often pick up a knife or cleaver and start cutting in all manner of exaggerated, theatrical, ''extremely dangerous'' ways, as though they're fighting a martial-arts battle instead of making dinner. Yet despite all of this, the cook isn't just swinging a blade around at random, their actual cuts can be ''inhumanly'' precise. When this happens, the character has caught a serious case of ''Asian Cleaver Fever''.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'', sidequest npc Chef Umi's Cyclone Slice is exactly what it sounds like: slashing at a marlin ''that's bigger than he is'' fast enough to levitate it in a tornado of RazorWind and having it land as five perfectly arranged sashimi platters, each decorated with a smaller marlin's head and tail.

In Western media, however? Asian food often means exactly one thing: theatrically swinging around knives, regardless of the environment, circumstances, or even the food being prepared. Whether it's a sushi feast or a humble plate of beef and broccoli, a fictional character cooking Asian food will often pick up a knife or cleaver and start cutting in all manner of exaggerated, theatrical, ''extremely dangerous'' ways, as though they're fighting a martial-arts battle instead of making dinner. Yet despite all of this, the cook isn't just swinging a blade around at random, their actual cutting can be ''inhumanly'' precise. When this happens, the character has caught a serious case of ''Asian Cleaver Fever''.

Another possible inspiration may come from the cutlery used in Asian cookery, namely the ''caidao'', or Chinese vegetable cleaver. It's a rather large and intimidating blade that certainly ''looks'' like a weapon, and swinging it around makes for a striking visual. However, despite its visual similarities to an Western meat cleaver, it's a fairly thin blade designed for everyday slicing and chopping, not heavy tasks like hacking meat or bone.

It's worth mentioning that this trope often plays into NationalStereotypes -- while the cook wildly flinging around knives need not be Asian to fit this trope, they very often are. Depending on how the trope is played, this can result in either a harmless, good-natured joke, or a gag that's insulting or even kind of racist.

Can overlap with the ChefOfIron trope, especially the variety that uses cooking implements in their style of combat. May involve MartialArtsAndCrafts, if the chef uses his knife skills for combat purposes or considers his cooking to be a martial art.

Naturally, the idea that all -- or even ''most'' -- Asians cook with hazardously exaggerated knife work is nonsense. Asian cookery is no more theatrical or martial than any other type. Nevertheless, there is a ''tiny'' amount of TruthInTelevision to this trope, in the sense that a particular style of restaurants serving Asian food -- typically referred to as "''hibachi'' grill" restaurants -- really ''do'' incorporate knife acrobatics and general theatrics into the process of cooking and serving patrons. The most widely known example is the Benihana chain of restaurants. Given that Benihana started out when the popularity of Asian cuisine was still in its infancy in America, it's likely at least one source of inspiration for this trope.

* In one of the ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' films, Commandant Lassard, his goldfish, and [[ButtMonkey Lieutenant Harris]] visit a Benihana-style restaurant, where the cook does all kinds of knife theatrics...much to Harris's chagrin. At the get-go, Harris pulls a gun on the cook when he plunges his knife into the wooden table as part of his act, and later Harris angrily asks the cook if the theatrics are necessary.
* In the ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'' film, there's the bit with the American woman making sushi, where she dresses up in a martial-arts costume, swings knives around in a ridiculously dramatic way, and starts speaking Japanese.

* The opening skit in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E14RidingWithDeath Riding With Death]]'' shows Mike {{Flashback}}ing to his days as a teppanyaki chef. He cuts Crow's hand off whilst swinging knives around.

* In ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire2'' you visit a restaurant where [[spoiler: they try to cook and serve you]]. This trope is in full effect -- albeit mostly by implication due to LimitedAnimation -- as each strike of [=WildCat's=] cleaver slashes you multiple times. You even have the option of being taught the move "Chop-Chop" (which is pretty much this trope as an attack) by the chef after defeating him.

* Mojo Jojo does a hibachi-grill routine while cooking for ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' when he has to babysit for them. He professes to be "the best chef in Townsville", yet despite amazing the girls with knife-based stunts, they hate his food.

* One skit in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' shows Mike {{Flashback}}ing to his days as a teppanyaki chef. He cuts Crow's hand off whilst swinging knives around.

* In ''Series/SonnySpoon'' (mid-Eighties adventure/comedy TV series starring Mario Van Peebles) Sonny is undercover as a cook at an Benihana-style Asian restaurant, doing the usual theatrical knife-flinging shtick. In so doing, he loses control of one of his knives and accidentally pins a guy's cigarette to the wall. He [[IMeantToDoThat covers]] it by saying, "[[JapaneseRanguage Prease]], no smoking."