How do you fair with chopsticks?

[beeboo]

Chopsticks for sushi is a Western affectation, I've been told.

But ditto, calafornia rolls with avocado and mayo and other non-finger-friendly ingredients is a Western affection too.

Your standard nigiri I think is fine to be picked up with fingers.

I do have more of an issue with the one-bite thing, as I don't like to take big mouthfuls.

 

[Yossarian]

I always imagine how pissed off the Koreans/Chinese/Japanese/etc must have been the first time they saw a fork. Not that I dislike chopsticks but it must have been a bit of a Doh! moment.

If they saw forks for the first time and thought they were better than chopsticks, they'd probably have started using them - seems to be only the Thais that have done that, and they still use chopsticks for noodles.

Forks are handy if you've got to pin down a big lump of meat and saw it apart in a Western-style meal, can't see how they've got that many advantages over chopsticks elsewhere.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

But ditto, calafornia rolls with avocado and mayo and other non-finger-friendly ingredients is a Western affection too.

Your standard nigiri I think is fine to be picked up with fingers.

I do have more of an issue with the one-bite thing, as I don't like to take big mouthfuls.

Oh yes, and usually they are made far bigger than they should be, as well, so they fall apart completely when you pick them up with anything.

What I mean is, if somebody sniffs at you for eating with your fingers you can say "chopsticks is such a Western thing to do, the Japanese don't use them for sushi". Or of course you could say "it's just food ffs, it's not a ritual".

 

[Tank Girl]

I can manage with chopsticks for a while, but then I seem to lose the ability to use them mid-way through a meal

need to practiced by may though!

 

[WouldBe]

Not really the case with salmon ngiri surely, and that can be a bugger to cut.

Eating spare ribs can be a problem with chopsticks.

I manage quite well.

 

[Nixon]

I enjoy eating with them more than a knife and fork sometimes.I can eat a 3 course meal without getting any in my lap,which I think's alright.Rice is a bit harder,but noodles will get demolished.Sometimes I slip up,but I can manouver dipping things in sauce and then into my mouth and stuff,without slipping or making a mess *the latter being quite something for me ).I find them quite natural to use.

 

[8ball]

I have been informed that you aren't supposed to use chopsticks to 'spear' the food and pick it up.

This instantly made me lose 5000 chopstick proficiency points

 

[8ball]

I can manage with chopsticks for a while, but then I seem to lose the ability to use them mid-way through a meal

Happens to everyone - which is why Chinese people are the least obese in the world!

 

[Yu_Gi_Oh]

If they saw forks for the first time and thought they were better than chopsticks, they'd probably have started using them - seems to be only the Thais that have done that, and they still use chopsticks for noodles.

I don't think they're better, I just find it amusing that two cultures developed such different methods of picking up food.

 

[8ball]

I've not heard Chinese people have much of a problem getting to grips with forks but I've heard of Chinese people having trouble with chopsticks so I'm guessing chopsticks are more difficult.

What is the story behind their development? I've heard that the 'Confucius' explanation is probably apocryphal . .

 

[tarannau]

Why? Very different types of food eaten a lot of the time.

 

[Leafster]

I don't have a problem with them but don't think I'm up to catching flies with them though.

I didn't think I was that competent with them until a Chinese friend expressed surprise at my ability recently. I never think of using anything else if they are on the table and use them at home if I'm eating Chinese etc.

 

[e∞a]

I'm pretty sure I'm holding them wrong, but it works well enough.

Seriously fucking stupid way of eating food, mind. I can't think of a single advantage over a fork.

fork is about picking, poking, it's primitive and barbaric.
chopsticks is about gathering food without destroying its form, which is a more elegant way of eating.

i heard that there's study on children who use chopsticks over forks develop higher IQ. don't know if it's true but using two separate sticks does require more brain power.

 

[e∞a]

After two weeks in Taiwan on my own about 15 years ago, I starved for the first three or four days, then I learned to use them. I still use them at home when we are eating stuff like noodle soup, coz it's much easier to eat that kind of thing than using a fork.

Korean chopsticks are a bugger though - they are metal and round and really thin and everything slips off them. When they see you are struggling, they smirk and bring you a bib and some kids chopsticks (i.e. wooden).

<--- Me in Korea.

round?
from what i know and experience, korean's mostly flat (rectangular), thin and metal.
japanese chopsticks are round with pointed end.
chinese chopsticks are round with flat end.

e2a: using fork for noodle soup is just wrong.
and unlike the chinese/japanese, you're supposed to use a spoon for rice in korean culture.

 

[beeboo]

II didn't think I was that competent with them until a Chinese friend expressed surprise at my ability recently. I never think of using anything else if they are on the table and use them at home if I'm eating Chinese etc.

I tend to find anywhere I go that people express surprise when English people have got to grips in any small way with any aspect of a foreign culture

 

[Leafster]

I tend to find anywhere I go that people express surprise when English people have got to grips in any small way with any aspect of a foreign culture

I guess you're right. I'm off to Italy for the first time next month and I mentioned to someone I wanted to learn a few phrases before I went. They looked slightly puzzled and said that they'd speak English anyway (which wasn't the point )

 

[CharlieAddict]

Sharing is what what's all about? I've lived in Korea, not every meal is shared, though the sharing is nice. I'm not sure the sharing would have suffered all that much though use of a fork.

what i meant was that food is already cut up on the table for all to share (in chinese and vietnamese culture at least).

eating rice is far quicker with a bowl and chopsticks.

knife and fork is far too clumsy.

and in posh restaurants, the choice of silverware is far too confusing.

 

[kittyP]

Im not bad even though (as someone else said) I'm sure I'm holding them wrong.

 

[e∞a]

Im not bad even though (as someone else said) I'm sure I'm holding them wrong.

there you go:

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

I am in love with chopsticks. I love eating rice with chopstics.

I think it's better for your digestion too as it slows down eating.

 

[pootle]

I'm also a "little ham fisted but do-able". Mind you, I'm generally a pretty messy eater so the tools probably make little difference. I once managed to get chocolate sauce inside the frames of my glasses when eating profiteroles

No good as my wrists hurt

Are you holding them right or too tight? The looser I hold chopsticks the easier I find it.

Also, remember it's perfectly acceptable to bring the bowl or whatever you're eating out of up to your mouth.

 

[kittyP]

I once managed to get chocolate sauce inside the frames of my glasses when eating profiteroles

He he he that made me giggle

 

[May Kasahara]

I'm also a "little ham fisted but do-able". Mind you, I'm generally a pretty messy eater so the tools probably make little difference. I once managed to get chocolate sauce inside the frames of my glasses when eating profiteroles

Yay for messy eaters! Solidarity

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I always imagine how pissed off the Koreans/Chinese/Japanese/etc must have been the first time they saw a fork. Not that I dislike chopsticks but it must have been a bit of a Doh! moment.

Not really. It depends what kind of food you eat. They have all used forks and spoons for hundreds of years but it's not always the best way to eat food.

You only need one hand to pick up food with chopsticks, it takes two to scoop with a knife and fork.

 

[beeboo]

I guess you're right. I'm off to Italy for the first time next month and I mentioned to someone I wanted to learn a few phrases before I went. They looked slightly puzzled and said that they'd speak English anyway (which wasn't the point )

I've had lots of "oooh you can use chopsticks, oooh you eat sushi" comments from Japanese people before.

We were in France last week and all the French people we were with seemed to be amazed that we ate cheese

 

[pinkmonkey]

round?
from what i know and experience, korean's mostly flat (rectangular), thin and metal.

Haven't been there since about 2000, so they may well be rectangular. Anyway, I struggled with the b*ggers.

 

[bi0boy]

In a restaurant in China I was told that I could use them adequately but my 'style was unorthodox'

 

[cliche guevara]

Exaclty the same as the OP. I'm fine with rice/noodles/small items or rolls, but when i get bigger things I don't really know what to do?

If it weren't for the g/f I'd still be stabbing things with 'em