You may have already found it, but I've read some good discussions on this in the Techniques forum... personally I use a metal spoon to scrape it apart, then finish with a credit card. For me, half the technique is breaking the paddies apart at *just* the right moment. Too early and it clumps together, and too late it gets hard to chop without damaging it.
People say that using a knife can damage the tricomes, so I avoid that. I don't know enough about the microplaning technique to comment on it.