Yeah. My greatest fear is to be accused of a crime and have to deal with a judge with a fetish for foreign utensils.
I use chopsticks, and tend to think I am pretty good at it. However, my godfather is Chinese, and there is nothing worse than realising you are a moron with chopsticks when you are (in my godfather’s words) the only “round eye” in the resturant. Feh.
Another good godfather story: we were at a Chinese resturant with him (he likes to order in Chinese and order squid and laugh hysterically when we refuse to eat it,) and my younger sister asked him what the difference was between round chopsticks and square chopsticks. Yuan says: “One is Chinese and one is Japanese, and one is right and one is wrong.” Heh. Love that man.
I use a fork for Chinese food; it just seems more efficient for picking up the rice and smaller chunks of vegetables and meat. I do use chopsticks though for sushi; they work pretty well for the larger pieces of food that are typical of that style of cooking.
I can manage chopsticks for most things, but since I don’t have the best technique in the world my hand sometimes tires & starts to spasm (great image, eh?). Then I switch to a fork.
What I can’t really understand is stainless steel chopsticks; I’ve come across these more than once. Yeah, so, they’re re-usable, but it’s harder to pick up the food with them, and they feel weird in my mouth.
Chopsticks - no question, and I’m quite good with them even if I do say so myself - of course it helps that I have been using chop sticks since I was a teen ager. I was even given two really nice pairs by a friend, one black lacquer, one red lacquer, with mother of pearl inlay, though I am loathe to use these particular sets.
All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people.
Chopsticks. And I agree with the OP. Asian food tastes better with chopsticks.
A girl
I finally thought of a sig line.
If I were in Asia, I might use the chopsticks, as a sign of respect to my host. But the fork is a better tool.
Those who prefer the sticks–if the Saians didn’t use them and chopsticks were, say, Mexican, would you still use them and claim that they made the food taste better?
P.S. You use chopsticks for hot and sour soup? Mmmm–hot and sour soup.
Bucky
At one of my previous jobs, a group of us went out to lunch. In the group was our accountant (who came from mainland China, had lived in the USA for only a few years.)
At the restaurant you were automatically provided with chopsticks. After a few minutes I noticed that everyone was using the chopsticks except the person from China! When I asked her why, she shrugged and said “I think a fork is easier.”
I still use the chopsticks though. I figure, who says it has to be easy? And then you get more exercise while you’re eating, so you’re burning off those calories faster than they got into you.
Couple people have said they use chopsticks on sushi… how?! I can hold it okay, but when I take a bite, I wind up pulling the fish right off the rice because I can’t bite through it cleanly.
http://www.madpoet.com
“I never meant to hurt you,” you said,
And buried yourself in lies instead.
Next time I would rather be slain,
Than forced to bear your mercy again.
Spotted one of our Asian employees in the breakroom the other day eating Fritos out of a bag with chopsticks!
I prefer chopsticks… it’s more contemplative and lets me be more relaxed and leisurly…
Voted Biggest Smartass by all you beautiful people!
You always use violence. I should’ve ordered glutinous rice chicken.
I am in the pro-chopsticks camp. I’ve gotten pretty good with them over the years, and I think that they are a neat change from the usual knife and fork. And, I agree, I do think that they make Chinese and Japanese food taste better.
Chopsticks. It just feels wrong to eat Chinese food with a fork. Especially a plastic fork…but then I also hate to drink wine out of anything but a proper wineglass. I’m funny that way.
My husband has severe hand problems due to nerve damage (spinal cord problem…long story) and sometimes has trouble holding a fork. Oddly enough, he never has trouble eating with chopsticks.
“The analyst went barking up the wrong tree, of course. I never should have mentioned unicorns to a Freudian.” – Dottie (“Jumpers” by Tom Stoppard)
I try… I really do. But every time I do, I recall one meal we had in Kyoto where my best friend (and travelling companion) made fun of my skill at using chopsticks. He insisted that I was really signalling in code to the group of drunken young men in the corner (all I heard them say the entire time we were there was “Mo’ saki…”) I was laughing so much that I flung food near and far… and it’s still hard for me to get the rhythm going!
Thing about chopsticks is that failure to use them well isn’t always failure on the user’s part. I have a lovely pair of lacquered chopsticks (my favorite set) that my husband can’t use at all. They’re too short for him to fumble around. Give him an extra long pair, and he’s happy.
Poorly made chopsticks, or the pairs that you usually get at restaraunts that you have to break in half to use are also a problem. Get an uneven break and try to do it right. Yuck. And don’t even get me started bitching about some of the pairs we’ve been handed that had splinters running rampant along them. Good grief!
I carry my set with me now when I know we’re going out for oriental food. It adds something to the atmosphere. We’ve got a wonderful Japanese place around the corner from us, with the low tables and rice paper screens, and it just feels wrong to be using a fork when sitting down in there.
My two cents: With the cheap wooden chopsticks, you use each stick to scrape the splinters off the other (unless you grew up in Hawaii in which case you roll them against each other between your hands for a bit). With rice, you don’t try to squeeze the rice between the sticks; you hold the sticks so that they are near each other (side-by-side, maybe 1/3 inch apart) and scoop it up-- if it is done the right way it should stick together in clumps so that’s easier. This is generally a good rule-- you don’t need to keep your food in a death-grip; ease up a bit, hold it firmly but gently and you won’t have hand-spasms or have things shooting off in all directions. Hopefully your nigiri sushi is fresh enough that you can bite through the fish-- if not (or if it is octopus or squid which is trouble) or if it is rolled sushi I usually use my hands. With something like miso soup you just pick up the bowl and sip (completely normal), and use sticks for the tofu or whatever large floating chunks.
Been eating a lot of japanese food lately… I guess it’s really a matter of practice.
I think forks make Oriental food taste funny, so I use chopsticks for just about everything but the hot and sour soup. I have a bit of trouble with rice, but I manage to get it into my face.
Hot and sour soup rules, but you have to use one of those funky Chinese spoons, or it won’t taste right.
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.” — Han Solo
Well the smaller rolls (tekka, kappa) etc. are meant to be eaten in one bite. The larger ones you either break up with your chopsticks, or bite through. I usually use my hands though (tempura rolls tend to fall apart even if I try to use chopsticks on them).
I usually eat chinese or Japanese food with chopsticks. Our local Japanese restaurant only provides those as the utensils unless you ask for a fork, knife, or spoon. At the local Chinese restaurant they usually set out forks, etc. I prefer the separated round bamboo chopsticks that the Chinese restaurant provides (i usually take them home with me).
Dominus ex equo descendit, villamque intravit.
Chopsticks. My parents always use them, but I was never very good at them until I high school, when I became close friends with a Chinese girl (well, she’s American now, but she was born in China). The first time I ate at her house, her mom laughed at my attempts to use chopsticks, which was pretty good motivation to learn how to use them right away. Now I always use them in Chinese, Japanese, or Vietnamese restaurants.
~Kyla
“What Would Captain Planet Do?”