Using Back Scratches as a Cutting Board to Julienne with a Chinese Knife... Is This a Regular Course in Culinary School?

Included in the official school curriculum
Significantly featured in promotional videos since the past

A video showing students at a culinary school in China using a shirtless student as a 'human cutting board' has sparked controversy.

Trainees at Hu Jin, a Chinese culinary school, are julienning potatoes on their backs.
[Image source=Douyin capture]

Recently, a promotional video for a practical course at the Culinary Department of Huzhen (虎振) Technical School located in Hebei Province, China, was released. Students blindfolded with wide straps are seen holding large kitchen knives and chopping ingredients, but instead of using a regular cutting board, they are cutting directly on the bare skin of their fellow students. One student lifts their shirt and bends forward to expose their back, while another student chops on top of it. This video is also featured as the main image on the school's official website homepage.

Trainees at Hu Jin's Chinese Culinary School are julienning potatoes on their backs.
[Image source=Douyin capture]

This 'human cutting board' scene is included in a 10-minute school promotional video and is given significant emphasis. The school describes this image as demonstrating the 'professionalism of cooking.' They promote the video of food ingredients being placed and cut on exposed skin as a class for students to develop precise knife skills. They also add the phrase, "Chefs have much room to grow. And as you get older, your value will increase."

On the 11th, a similar video was posted on the school's official Douyin (TikTok) account. Again, students lying face down with bare skin visible have other students peeling slippery potatoes and slicing them finely on their backs. The school self-praises, "Our students demonstrate basic skills of finely cutting potatoes on backs," and states, "Compared to ordinary schools, our students can truly learn profound techniques."

Promotional video of Hu Jin, a former culinary student at a Chinese culinary school.
[Image source=Weibo capture]

This risky culinary practice appears to have been part of the official curriculum of the Culinary Department since the school's founding. Similar scenes prominently appeared in past recruitment promotional videos encouraging prospective students to apply. In those videos, a prospective student and a parent watch the practice and express amazement at the thinly sliced ingredients on the 'human cutting board.'

Trainees at Hujin, a Chinese culinary school, are promoting their practice of preparing ingredients on their backs through the official website.
[Image source: Screenshot from Hujin School official website]

Meanwhile, this school is Huzhen (虎振) Technical School located in Hebei Province, China, established in 1991, with about 100 teachers. It offers eight majors including cooking, baking, automobile maintenance, CNC, engineering machinery, beauty, electric welding, and computer studies. The school has produced many famous technicians. In particular, the cooking major is well-known for its high employment rate.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.