Kom Kom Miracle Hand Shredder

The name sounds ridiculous but the kom kom miracle tool is kinda of fun to use. The Thai company, called Kiwi Kom Kom produces really affordable and sharp knifes and cutting tools. (If you’ve been visiting this blog for a while, you know that I have a thing for good cheap knives.)

In Los Angeles a couple weeks ago, I picked up a kom kom miracle tool at a Thai market. I’d heard about the kom kom for a number of years but just never got around to trying one out. The ‘miracle’ part is that is has a bunch of functions. Look at the packaging, the tool promises to shred vegetables, peel oranges, carve fruits, and core fruits. An Asian cook’s time saver.

I couldn’t pass it up, especially because there weren’t too many in stock and the ones on display had no dust on the packaging whatsoever, a sign that there’s quick turnover and the tool is in high demand. Asian markets and restaurant supply shops sell many kinds of shredders made with plastic, wood, and bamboo. I’ve not been too impressed with the cheese grater type of planer as it tends to clog up. The fact that the kom kom is designed like a regular peeler was appealing.

In particular, the kom kom intrigued me for its shredding abilities. I typically use a food processor for shredding green papaya and hand-cut carrots and cucumbers. So how did it perform?

On the first try, I was frustrated. I got Ruffles potato chip kind of slices and the shreds stuck together. So much for convenience. With a little persistence, I realized that you have to get into the groove (literally, not just in that Madonna song kind of way) and stick in it. That way, the shredder blade consistently produces individual shreds. I tried this with a carrot and green papaya. The only thing is that in the end, you have to finish by hand-cutting with a knife.

Then I cored an apple, and found the kom kom to be a little unsure. It’s made of plastic and most western corers are made of metal. Finally, I swung the pointy tip thing around and poked at the apple to halve it with a zig zag edge. I’m not into Asian fruit carving (I’d rather eat them) so perfect coring and pretty edges don’t appeal.

However, if you have a small quantity of vegetables to shred, the kom kom is definitely useful. My papaya was small, about 1 ½ pounds, so the kom kom was fine. For fruit weighing more than 2 pounds, I’d rather use the processor and the largest shredding blade (like for mozzarella).

There are similar hand shredders at fancy cookware stores these days but the cuts tend to be too severe – like a julienne and not like a softer, wispy hand shred. I paid about $8.50 for the kom kom but I was at a super well-stocked Thai market. Amazon conveniently carries the kom kom miracle, if you’d like to give it a try.