Do You Know How to Use Chopsticks?

[earllogjam]

Went out for sushi last night and realized all the white folks like me were eating with chopsticks and I remember going once to a Chinese Buffet place on the Florida panhandle and everbody was eating with forks. Every town in America seems to have a Chinese restaruant and I often use the ratio of chopstick users vs. fork users as a gauge to see how red necky a place is. I don't know how accurate that is. But it does tell you how inclined a person is on learning about another culture.

 

[whatireallywant]

I've tried to use chopsticks and I can if they are attached to each other (at some of the sushi places I've been to they do have them attached). I have a lot of difficulty if they are apart - my manual dexterity is not that good! I still love sushi places though!

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Yes - it's quite simple, you sharpen them to a point and underarm flick them (throwing knife style) at your intended victim. They are a silent, easily concealable and effective weapon.

Oh, and you can eat stuff with them too.

(Of course I can use chopsticks - I'm Irish, we're a cultured bunch these days :tongue

 

[SpeedoGuy]

I've been able to use chopsticks reasonably well since I was about 12. I became interested in learning about them after my grandmother recounted tales of her visits to China.

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

I don't really see that using chopsticks at a Chinese restaurant in the heart of Manchester is learning about another culture, but yes I can use chopsticks, however if I'm drunk I tend to ask for a knife and fork, inebriation+chopsticks isn't a pretty sight

 

[B_Think_Kink]

I can't maneuver them. I've tried. But yes, thanks for deciding what I'm having for dinner... mmm chinease food.

 

[B_Swimming Lad]

I can do it, but rather badly. I've no idea how you're supposed to pick up rice?!?!

 

[D_Geffarde Phartsmeller]

Not using chopsticks isn't an indicator of redneckedness. Some people just lack the hand coordination. I, however, kick chopstick ass :wink:

 

[ManlyBanisters]

I can do it, but rather badly. I've no idea how you're supposed to pick up rice?!?!

Well - if it is your Uncle Ben's non-stick whateverthefuck then you are fucked - but real rice is sticky. You pick it up in a clump.

 

[biguy2738]

Yes - it's quite simple, you sharpen them to a point and underarm flick them (throwing knife style) at your intended victim. They are a silent, easily concealable and effective weapon.

Thanks for the tip - here I was thinking that they were drumsticks. :biggrin1:

I use chopsticks whenever I eat Chinese, it's not as much fun to eat without them. Oftentimes Mrs biguy has to contend with my giving her one chopstick and a bowl of rice. :biggrin1:

 

[Tattooed Goddess]

When we go to a restaurant with chopsticks, i had a few bites with them to show off how dextrous i am and then i go for the fork. My husband enjoys eating with them, I am too hungry to wait for each little bite i can muster with them. I'm usually running on low blood sugar and im ready to pig out.

 

[nicenycdick]

I use chopsticks for Japanese and Thai food and a fork for Chinese food. I have no idea why...some things will always be a mystery to me.

 

[DC_DEEP]

I can do it, but rather badly. I've no idea how you're supposed to pick up rice?!?!

Well - if it is your Uncle Ben's non-stick whateverthefuck then you are fucked - but real rice is sticky. You pick it up in a clump.

Or as most of the Chinese do, in China - pick up the bowl, and rake the rice into your mouth with the chopsticks.

I use chopsticks for Japanese and Thai food and a fork for Chinese food. I have no idea why...some things will always be a mystery to me.

For Thai food, a spoon is considered "most polite," chopsticks are OK, a fork is downright crude.

Asian "manners and etiquette" are entirely different from Western, as far as eating is concerned.

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

I kick ass with chopsticks. One of my Korean friends, while I was in Korea, said that she was constantly berated for holding her chopsticks "like a beggar," and apparently the way I used them was considered more refined. Arbitrary BS in my opinion, but I do know how to use them well and can eat anything from sushi to pho to rice with them.

Most Asian foods are designed with chopsticks in mind, so I've found in general it's easier to eat with chopsticks as opposed to a fork, so long as you know how to use them and have cultivated enough coordination to use that knowledge. Plus it just makes the dining experience more authentic.

DC, are you really sure about the Thai food thing? In Bangkok and Phuket I saw the locals eating with chopsticks all the time. They had large spoons for dividing up the portions, and it's customary to share everything and serve one another, but when it came to eating usually they'd switch to the chopsticks.

My funny story with chopsticks etiquette is from Japan, when a dining companion left their chopsticks sticking straight up from their rice when they got up to use the restroom. Our Japanese hosts were mortified. Apparently this means something like you are offering your food up to the dead... they respect spirits there but generally try to avoid calling their attention.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

Or as most of the Chinese do, in China - pick up the bowl, and rake the rice into your mouth with the chopsticks.

That is indeed true - but the guy didn't ask how to eat it - he asked how to pick it up. :wink:

 

[Willy_the_Wonka]

I wouldn't necessarily consider using a fork instead of chopsticks as "rednecky"..... as much as I would going to a "buffet". :tongue:

Now, now, I've been to those places as well.

But I wasn't the one to MAKE that decision. :biggrin1:

 

[Bbucko]

Chopsticks are great when eating in the restaurant, but I eat take-out with a fork.

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

I can do it, but rather badly. I've no idea how you're supposed to pick up rice?!?!

if it's sticky white rice (the way it is usually served in Asia) then it clumps and is easy to pick up. You can also usually get some with the other food on your plate if you are eating Chinese food. If you're trying to pick up the final remnants, switching the position of the chopsticks in your hand so they are closer together means you can use them to scoop rather than.. uh.. pluck (can't think of a better descriptor).. move the chopsticks through a clump of rice while slowly moving the ends of the sticks closer together, and you'll have a small pile sitting on top of both of them. Of course if you just like to shovel food down your gullet rapid-fire the way most westerners do, butter to just use a spoon.

 

[braumeister]

The first time I used chopsticks was at a sushi place. A few folks from my previous job and I went over there. They got a good chuckle out of it. Eventually one of them took pity on me and showed me how to use them. I get by alright now (i.e. the food ends up in my mouth and not someplace half way across the room).

A guy I worked with has a girlfriend from Beijing. He's American. While over there visiting her relatives, they had a big dinner with her extended family present. The extended family poked fun at his chopstick technique until he pointed out that his girlfriend, who was raised with the things, wasn't using them correctly either.

 

[No_Strings]

I can use chopsticks to transport food from my dish to my mouth, but no, I can't use chopsticks correctly.
That said, I don't eat the cuisine of which chopsticks are the normal utensils, so I've never really had the chance to try/practice/learn. I'll get around to it one day.