Do you use chopsticks?

[Absalom]

It’s a cultural skill, and the more of those you master, the better. Your brain benefits, too.

That said, I’m more of a gourmand than a gourmet and enjoy a full mouth, so unless the setting invited the use of my modest chopstick skills, like dinner with Asian friends where everybody used them, I’ve always preferred pitchfork and shovel. These days, dexterity issues related to a medical issue provide a good excuse for my permanent retirement from chopsticking.

On a side note, my dad always ate pizza with knife and fork. When anyone tried to make fun of him for it, he just pointed out that he ate as much pizza as anyone else, his hands were clean, and he only used one napkin; case closed.

 

[ContinentalOp]

Reminds me of a story from some time ago. We had a picnic at work. One activity was The Jelly Bean Race. Contestants grab two chopsticks and run to the end of the field, pick up a jelly bean and run back. First one back with a jelly bean wins.

We knew ahead of time who would win. She's Korean. Her dexterity and cunning surprised us though.

She stabbed the poor jelly bean with a single chopstick and ran back to glory.

Off topic, but that story reminded me of this...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmDRsRbpwm0[/ame]

 

[Rpg]

I use them regularly, at home and restaurants.

I most frequently use them while cooking. They replace a fork and tongs.

By the way, Thai food is properly eaten with a fork and spoon: the fork is used to scrape food into the spoon. You transport the food to your mouth with the spoon, not the fork.

 

[Salty RI]

I tried them once, it took me a week to eat a small bowl of rice. [emoji1]

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[robvious]

mandatory for me when eating Asian food... and yes I can pick up a single grain of rice too... wife thinks I am silly and uses a fork... she was raised on her mom opening cans and calling it "Chinese food"... son picked it up at a young age... to each his or her own...

 

[RobertJ.]

This is America. We use a knife and fork!
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxB-H6f3crY[/ame]

 

[timjake]

I learned to use chopsticks while stationed in Japan. That's also where I was introduced to Chinese food (go figure).

I still use them once in a while at Chinese restaurants, but mostly stick to western utensils.

 

[g-dad]

I have used them but not to eat with. The pointy ends are good for getting into small places to clean out the gunk of anything I might have that has gunk in it and need cleaning.

I prefer a fork for eating. Chopsticks are to slow for me.

 

[mtgianni]

I can and used to regularly in Chinese restaurants but get hand cramps if I use them a lot now.
I keep a set in my truck as the first fish through the ice when winter fishing usually goes straight to the grill and I don't want the smell of cooked fish on my bait.
A Japanese friend once was saying how superior they were as you could pick up a single grain of rice. Another friend with us then used the tines of his fork to mash 3-4 kernels and eat them with no problems. There is always at least two ways to do things.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I learned how to use chopsticks on a government funded field trip but I rarely use them now.

As to the knife and fork usage, I was taught the European method. No zigzagging. Knife stays in the strong hand while fork stays in the weak.

You have already impaled a piece of food during the cutting process so why waste the time or expend extra effort to swap implements?

The next time you dine out watch how many folks eat using the cross stitch method.

It's all good as long as you can hit your mouth.

 

[carpriver]

I have a very nice set of a knife and fork. they work very well and I can use the knife to put food on to the fork.

 

[jimmyj]

CHOP STICK ?
who can eat using only a Bowie Knife ?

 

[CH4]

Google Translate, from the Chinese: “Of course, why can't I use chopsticks when I eat at a Chinese restaurant? I will not use them to eat non-Asian food.”

———-

I’ve lived in Japan for over thirty years and my wife is Japanese. We now split our time between the US and Japan.

We use them often, and not only for Asian food. I think for some things, like salad, they work better than a knife and fork, especially in a tiny economy class airplane seat when you're trying to eat off a tiny tray, cheek by jowl with your neighboring passengers.

At home, depending on what we’re eating, we’ll use chopsticks, but if eating out will generally use whatever the restaurant gives us. The occasional exception being Thai restaurants. The Thais don’t use chopsticks (or knives), but generally have chopsticks around in their restaurants for people who think they do. Maybe half the time in a Thai restaurant I’ll ask for chopsticks simply because some Thai food — say noodles — is easier for me to eat that way.

At home, would not use chopsticks for lasagna but would for fish, for example. Steak, we generally slice up at the table into bite-sized pieces when serving, and use chopsticks

(I had an eccentric uncle who in the early 1970s began eating everything, including his ice cream, with chopsticks. He never explained himself, but I think he just got a kick out of being eccentric, which I can understand.)

Chopsticks differ by country: Japanese ones are smaller than Chinese ones, and usually made for one time use, although lacquered or plastic ones for multi use also abound. Korean chopsticks are frequently made of metal, and about the size of Japanese chopsticks. Chinese ones are maybe a third bigger.

Don't have an Asian wife, but have many friends. After retiring in the US, I've been living/working in Asia for many years. I use chopsticks primarily in China, Japan and Korea. For me the Philippines have the most interesting custom of using a fork in the their left hand and spoon in their right. They could do brain surgery with this set up. Very crude to watch, but very effective. When in Rome...

 

[CH4]

Would love to but can't figure out how

Too much sake and you'll poke your eye out.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Pro tip: never take the drummer to a Chinese restaurant.

 

[Old TexMex]

I like my rice like chairman mao— fluffy, but not stuck together...

I learned to hold the bowl up to my mouth with the left, and rake the rice into my mouth with the dwa.

Now I’m pretty good in the sushi joints, being better mannered.

 

[SC_Mike]

I take my knife and sharpen the ends and spear my food. Hey, as long as it makes it to my mouth.

 

[ExcitableBoy]

I learned how to eat with chopsticks in Hong Kong while on a 10 day leave. Most dishes arrived at the table in large bowls, and individual servings were transfered to smaller bowls. The smaller bowls were held up to your mouth by one hand and food was shoveled in with chopsticks with the other hand. Soup was consumed with the use of a porcelain spoon looking a lot like a very small ladle. My "escort" was a good teacher.

Nowadays, a single traditional bamboo chopstick serves me well for stirring mixed drinks.

 

[Cellar Hound]

I use them every time I go out for Chinese food, however I still struggle a little bit when I use them for soup.....

 

[S&WOkie]

I would starve!

Give me a fork everytime.