Because no matter how much I try I just can’t get the hang of them.
I’m an old codger and have been trying for years to eat Chinese food with chopsticks, each and every time I fail miserably :mad:
It’s got to the point where I’m pretty certain my local Chinese restaurant phones around to let people know that Mr Clumsy and totally Inept Engrishman is yet again going to make a fool of himself.
I’ve tried following online instructions and just when I think I have it mastered I’m brought crashing down to earth again.
Yes I can. I learned when I was 13. My best friend at the time was Vietnamese. She lived right across the street from me and I ate at her house almost every day. She taught me how to use them. She actually made me learn with the plastic variety. Her logic was that wood was easier than plastic. If I could get the plastic ones to work in the comfort of her own home, then I’d stand a better chance of not making an ass of myself in public.
Even when I don’t use them for years, I can still pick it back up within a minute or so.
I brace the bottom one against the tip of my pinky and my ring finger, and the other ind in the crotch (hehe, crotch) of my thumb and index finger. I use my thumb on one side and my index and middle finger on the other.
I got complimented by my SO’s father some time ago. My SO is Chinese, and we went to a Chinese restaurant in Queens. We were eating, and he said to my SO, “Wow, Mika eats with chopsticks really well. Your older brother should teach his wife to eat so well with chopsticks.”
I am proud to say I was a lady and graciously thanked him instead of leaping up from the table and doing a victory dance. You have no idea how long it takes him to give a compliment on anything!
I can use them very well, and I’m about as non-Asian as it’s possible to be (blond and so pale I’m translucent). Which is rather odd, because I’ve never lived anywhere where chopsticks are common, and all of my extended family have mainly lived in the USA. I can’t remember when I first learned, but it was definitely early in my childhood. The only thing I have issues eating with them is stuff like rice that doesn’t stick together, and that’s only when it’s on a plate. A good bowl + chopsticks is definitely one of the more efficient ways to eat, in my opinion.
I’m not sure whether I use them “properly” though, as I use them with my left hand and my grip doesn’t really make other more “native” chopstick users.
I am quite proficient with chopsticks. In fact, I keep a bag of cheap ones in my classroom to use at lunch rather than the cheap plastic utensils provided by the school. Salad, spaghetti, stir-fry…it doesn’t matter. So long as lunch is more solid than liquid, the chopsticks are out.
A quick Google search gave me this site, which gives the best explanation I’ve seen for how chopsticks should “feel” if they are in the right position, and it matches how I use them
Yep, been using them since I was about 10 – white girl from Brooklyn here.
In my observation, the most common error is thinking both chopsticks are supposed to move. Really, you only move one, and the other is held braced against the hand.
Yes. When I was a kid I was obsessed with things oriental. I got a book out of the library that showed how to use them. I practiced on cut-up pound cake at first, then went on to harder things. It was worthwhile a few years ago when I took some Asian customers out to a Korean restaurant and amazed them by using chopsticks.
“How well can you use them?” one asked.
In reply, i simply plunged them into my water and brought up a piece of ice cube. That impressed them.
Pepper Mill can use them. One of her dates (back when she was single) promised to take her to a restaurant in New York’s Chinatown if she learned how. She did, but the b*****d never took her. (So I did, shortly after we met).
So, naturally, MilliCal uses them. We started her off with the pair-of-chopsticks-held-together-with-a-rubber-band-and-a-spacer, until we found some plastic joined chopsticks. Now she uses regular chopsticks. A bit clumsily, but enthusiastically. And effectively.
I use chopsticks frequently, but I was clumsy at first. Both practice and the material the chopsticks are made of can affect how easy it is for you. I like wood or bamboo chopsticks (I have one pair that I’ve used for about 15 years), but I find metal, plastic, and heavily lacquered chopsticks more difficult to use.
I can use them, but it it’s been awhile, it takes a bit to get up to speed. Chowder, have you tried the cheater chop sticks? They can give you the feel of the movement without having to work to keep them lined up.
There are two kinds of cheaters. One is connected at the top, either by a strip or by something like a clothes pin hinge, and the other is a separate connector strip that can be attached to regular chop sticks. Both are pretty cheap and can act as training wheels.
I got taught in the 1980s by my English teacher. Then had a baptism of fire living in a Japanese household for two months. Later, in Hong Kong, my Chinese friend observed “you use chopsticks better than me!”
The trick is to hold one like a pencil, which you should be fine at. Then slide the other one so that it’s held stationary by the crook of your thumb and your ring finger. Use the ‘pencil’ one to manipulate stuff so it pushes against the tip of the stationary one. Bada bing.
Practice makes perfect: try moving a load of peanuts from one bowl to another, every night. Later, try picking up two peanuts at the same time with them.
Also, don’t hold them close to the tip - the further towards the blunt end the better. Little Chinese kids hold them near the tip; adults hold them further up. It requires slightly more strength, but is more elegant.
I can’t. I’d have no objection to learning, if I thought it would be useful but I can only recall once in my life where I ate somewhere that only provided chopsticks. I asked for a fork, and it was no big deal.
I don’t think it’s worth the effort to learn if I didn’t get a chance to practice regularly.
“Hold it like a pencil” never worked for me. My method is more like Pygmy Rugger’s, although I like to think I’m not all that clumsy with them. About the only thing I can’t pick up (rather, don’t bother trying) is non-sticky rice.
Also, as a suggestion, avoid lacquered chopsticks. There’s very little traction available and it’s far easier for things to slip out. Solid wooden disposables are insanely cheap and far better for the task IMO. (I’m sure it’s quite possible to use lacquered well, and I can with a little more effort, I just think unfinished is better.)
