# Why do people eat Chinese food with chopsticks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2016, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311 "2016-01-06T11:01:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/21 "2016-01-06T14:55:05Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > blow with a $100 bill…it’s all in the details. Off the hooker’s rack or off the hooker’s buttocks? ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/22 "2016-01-06T14:59:57Z")
Oh yeah, I forgot about cooking. I love using my really long and sturdy chopsticks for cooking. They are truly unique tools and perfect for so many things. I’d hate to cook without them, or chop vegetables without my ulu. I wholeheartedly embrace any tool that makes something easier. Thanks for the replies - this turned in to a great discussion! And you’re right, **Siam Sam** - I went to Japan in the late eighties and was very glad I had put in the time to learn beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/23 "2016-01-06T15:23:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Well, in Japan they eat sushi with their fingers, which would seem to be even more convenient. I use chopsticks myself because I get American-style sushi with sauce on it. The Japanese eat sushi with either chopsticks or their fingers, depending. > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And if you’re planning a trip to Japan, I highly recommend you learn to use chopsticks for everything. Restaurants will simply assume you know how to, and then you’ll feel like a schmuck asking for a spoon and fork. When I was living in Japan the very first time I went to a noodle shop the waitress brought me a fork with my udon without my saying anything about it. She was presumably trying to be helpful to the gaijin, but this fork (which must have been one of the only forks they even had in the place) was like a baby fork – very small with stubby little tines. It was very difficult and frustrating to eat my noodles with it. I kept wishing she’d just brought me chopsticks instead, because I actually could have managed with those, but I didn’t want to make a fuss so I laboriously chopped my large, slippery noodles into smaller pieces with the little bitty fork, stabbed a few pieces at a time with it, and ate them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/24 "2016-01-06T15:29:31Z")
> [@](#): > > I’d hate to cook without them, or chop vegetables without my ulu. I don’t know why ulus are thought of as meat knives-- I use mine for veggies, too, and you’re right, it’s a great tool for that job. And not only are chopsticks fun, but if you know how to use them properly, they’re a lot easier than a fork for most dishes they’re associated with. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/25 "2016-01-06T15:34:18Z")
It always freaks my students when they see me eat a salad with chopsticks. I keep a whole package of cheap sticks in my desk so I don’t have to use those cheap plastic forks Lunch Service give you. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/26 "2016-01-06T15:35:25Z")
I like eating with my chopsticks. I’m very dextrous with them, and it’s a skill like any other - it needs practice. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/27 "2016-01-06T15:50:30Z")
Practice in and of itself is a good reason to eat Chinese food with chopsticks. If you aren’t practicing by eating Chinese food, then when would you practice? Plus, there are benefits to eating non-Chinese foods with chopsticks too. For example, I eat Cheetos with chopsticks – no orange fingers. A spoon or fork would not work well with Cheetos. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/28 "2016-01-06T16:12:43Z")
I don’t see how eating with chopsticks could possibly be easier than a fork (at least it’s not for me) but I do it anyway because it’s just kind of fun. I’ve never done it or seen it done in a Thai place. Also, it never occurred to me to use them for any other kind of food, but I like the Cheetos and salad idea and I just so happen to have a package of them so now I’m going to see what other food works with chopsticks. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/29 "2016-01-06T16:17:00Z")
Chinese food is properly eaten out of a bowl, not a plate. Chopsticks work much better in a bowl than a plate. They also work really well for shoveling/slurping that last bit of stuff in the bowl into your mouth! ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/30 "2016-01-06T16:17:14Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I don’t see how eating with chopsticks could possibly be easier than a fork (at least it’s not for me) but I do it anyway because it’s just kind of fun. I’ve never done it or seen it done in a Thai place. Also, it never occurred to me to use them for any other kind of food, but I like the Cheetos and salad idea and I just so happen to have a package of them so now I’m going to see what other food works with chopsticks. Lots of foods are annoying to eat with a fork because they don’t “stab” well and/or are too slippery to ‘shovel’. It’s not that hard to think up stuff like this… ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/31 "2016-01-06T16:18:47Z")
Eating cheetos with chopsticks is gauche. The consumer should have orange fingers and an orange ring around her mouth by the time the entire bag is consumed. The entire bag, regardless of size, _must_ be consumed at a single sitting, too. This is pretty well known etiquette and it has been the case since 1948. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/32 "2016-01-06T16:22:32Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Eating cheetos with chopsticks is gauche. The consumer should have orange fingers and an orange ring around her mouth by the time the entire bag is consumed. The entire bag, regardless of size, _must_ be consumed at a single sitting, too. This is pretty well known etiquette and it has been the case since 1948. I’m impressed that you actually knew/looked up when Cheetos hit the market… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/33 "2016-01-06T16:47:15Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > Practice in and of itself is a good reason to eat Chinese food with chopsticks. If you aren’t practicing by eating Chinese food, then when would you practice? > > Plus, there are benefits to eating non-Chinese foods with chopsticks too. For example, I eat Cheetos with chopsticks – no orange fingers. A spoon or fork would not work well with Cheetos. Cheetos? Brilliant! I have to try that. I definitely was not taught to use chop sticks as a child. Chop sticks were considered to be exotic decorations, at least in my family. I taught myself as a near adult, just so I’d know how and would practice, like you say, when the opportunity was there. I told my children that they didn’t have to, but that it wouldn’t hurt to try and that to me it seemed respectful to learn how, even if you decided you preferred to use a fork instead. So at home both were on the table and they all eventually developed the habit. I think it helped that they weren’t required to do more than try for a bit and that they were more than a bit competitive. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/34 "2016-01-06T17:07:22Z")
It’s fun, part of the experience. Not more of an explanation than that. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/35 "2016-01-06T17:37:57Z")
And if you are eating Chinese food “family style”, please, do NOT stick your chopsticks into the communal dishes. That wrong and gross. Each dish should have it’s own pair of chopsticks or a serving spoon. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/36 "2016-01-06T17:45:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Why not? I can eat faster with a spoon and a pair of chopsticks than you can with a fork if I have to. Heh. We had a friend who was on a diet that involved her eating with chopsticks to slow her down. She soon was faster with them than with a fork. Just takes some practice. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/37 "2016-01-06T17:47:23Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And if you’re planning a trip to Japan, I highly recommend you learn to use chopsticks for everything. Restaurants will simply assume you know how to, and then you’ll feel like a schmuck asking for a spoon and fork. Not just Japan. I’ve been to Chinese restaurants in Berkeley which don’t provide Western silverware either. I was glad I had learned before. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/38 "2016-01-06T17:49:03Z")
I love chopsticks . . . I hate round chopsticks. Way to take a fairly useful food delivery device and make it almost non-functional. Even worse are round plastic anti-friction chopsticks. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/39 "2016-01-06T17:57:02Z")
My first time using chopsticks was in a Japanese restaurant on a first date with a guy who had lived in Japan for a while. He offered to get me a fork but I decided I’d like to try to learn chopsticks. First thing I did was throw a shrimp halfway across the restaurant. All the waiters and waitresses were politely holding their hands up to their mouths to hide their giggles, but my date was not that polite! (I do better with the sticks now.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/40 "2016-01-06T18:02:26Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I love chopsticks . . . I hate round chopsticks. Way to take a fairly useful food delivery device and make it almost non-functional. Even worse are round plastic anti-friction chopsticks. Those are the worst! They don’t even do a good job at spearing things, which renders them completely useless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311.md?page=3)