# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/81 "2016-01-08T10:43:11Z")
I worked for a Japanese guy who ate some types of sushi with his fingers, and claimed that was how it was done in Japan. He was born and raised in Japan, but must have left many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/82 "2016-01-08T10:59:37Z")
I’ve tried to use the danged things several times. I could probably learn to use them with enough practice but it doesn’t seem worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/83 "2016-01-08T11:43:13Z")
I use chopsticks at Japanese and Italian restaurants. I use a fork and spoon to eat at Chinese restaurants, but use the chopsticks to catch buzzing flies and to pinch waiter’s genitals when they mess up my order. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/84 "2016-01-08T12:27:56Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > I use chopsticks at Japanese and Italian restaurants. I use a fork and spoon to eat at Chinese restaurants, but use the chopsticks to catch buzzing flies and to pinch waiter’s genitals when they mess up my order. Have you noticed how they repeatedly mess up your order? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/85 "2016-01-08T13:02:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Have you noticed how they repeatedly mess up your order? Yes, that’s why there are a lot of pinched Chinese genitals out there. 😃 In fact, I’m thinking of naming my band, _Tibby and the Pinched Chinese Genitals_. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/86 "2016-01-08T13:43:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Have you noticed how they repeatedly mess up your order? You’re not here for the Hunan, are you? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/87 "2016-01-08T13:47:49Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > I use chopsticks at Japanese and Italian restaurants. I use a fork and spoon to eat at Chinese restaurants, but use the chopsticks to catch buzzing flies and to pinch waiter’s genitals when they mess up my order. Do you take your own chopsticks to the Italian restaurants? ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/88 "2016-01-08T16:13:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > 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. I think it’s because the blade was shaped that way by the Inuits for scraping viscera from skin when processing furs. I have a very odd little set of forksticks - little interlocking wooden forks that operate like chopsticks with a bigger gripping surface. They came with a grocery store salad. I love them! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/89 "2016-01-08T16:19:07Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > I think it’s because the blade was shaped that way by the Inuits for scraping viscera from skin when processing furs. > > I have a very odd little set of forksticks - little interlocking wooden forks that operate like chopsticks with a bigger gripping surface. They came with a grocery store salad. I love them! Is it this? > **[Home - The Chork](https://thechork.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![storyguide3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@storyguide3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyguide3)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/90 "2016-01-08T17:02:22Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Unless you are actually in China, where eating directly from the communal plate is pretty normal. Certainly what I remember seeing folks do while I was there. Of course mostly one would see it in the order of 1) pick up food from communal plate, 2) lay or at least touch food onto the rice in your own bowl (transferring flavour) then into face. This is also my wife’s preferred method at home. > [@hogarth](#): > > I’ll take round plastic chopsticks over round stainless steel chopsticks (popular at local Korean restaurants) any day of the week. Of God I hate those. The steel ones are, I understand, pretty much standard in Korea but I find them very hard to use. Sometime you luck out and get ones that have traction grooves on the last inch or so, but not every time at the restaurant. Two chopstick stories. When I was visiting Guangzhou, we were eating in a neighborhood dim sum place one morning (we went there for breakfast frequently). An older lady at a table behind me called out to my fiancee and told her it was surprising to see a foreigner who could use chopsticks so well. (Sometimes I felt like I was on display. At the zoo a girl approached my SO and asked if she could take a picture of the girl with me. I wonder if that girl thought “foreign guy” was one of the zoo exhibits! 🙂 ) A few years ago I was at a freind’s place playing expensive board games. His wife brought a bowl of Cheetos for the us to share. As soon as she picked one up, he started to glare at her. No Cheeto fingers on the game cards! She glared back, went to the kitchen and returned with two pairs of chopsticks, one for me and one for her. She is Korean, so they were metal chopsticks. 😃 ---
**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 8, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/91 "2016-01-08T17:11:04Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Unless you are actually in China, where eating directly from the communal plate is pretty normal. > > Once in China, we brought a birthday cake to a restaurant for a celebration. We knew forks wouldn’t be an option, so we asked the wait staff for six spoons. They brought us out six large serving spoons. It was pretty comical. Maybe it’s a Canto thing. My wife’s family is all from H.K., and in my general experience with Cantonese food it’s often considered gross to pick food off the communual plates with your personal chopsticks. Plate chopsticks and spoons are usually provided for that, and are used to transfer food to your bowl to eat. It wouldn’t surprise me that this is mainly a H.K. quirk. ---
**Author:** ![storyguide3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@storyguide3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyguide3)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/92 "2016-01-08T17:22:53Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Maybe it’s a Canto thing. My wife’s family is all from H.K., and in my general experience with Cantonese food it’s often considered gross to pick food off the communual plates with your personal chopsticks. Plate chopsticks and spoons are usually provided for that, and are used to transfer food to your bowl to eat. It wouldn’t surprise me that this is mainly a H.K. quirk. I’m trying to remember if we were ever given serving chopsticks in HK when we visited, but we didn’t eat a lot of meals there. Definitely didn’t get any in Guangzhou so it might be HK versus a general Canton thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/93 "2016-01-08T19:13:05Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Do you take your own chopsticks to the Italian restaurants? No, I just ask for a pair of breadsticks. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/94 "2016-01-08T23:20:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You can also use chopsticks to: mix the cat’s medicine into their food, shim a wobbly table, retrieve items dropped behind/into places where you can’t reach or get to with needle nose pliers, mix small cans of enamel, etc. Truly a multi-tasker. And I almost forgot - secure your long hair up in a bun without any hairpins! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/95 "2016-01-09T03:12:50Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Hmm, you may have to teach me, picking up slippery grains of rice seems like some Miyagi move. And most restaurants don’t seem to give you spoons if you don’t get soup. It’s practice. I learned to use chopsticks when I was 5 years old, and I’m white as you can get. (This ability impressed my colleagues from Hong Kong when we first had dim sum as a team; I guess they figured that Americans mostly can’t use them well?) ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/96 "2016-01-09T04:54:51Z")
I eat Chinese food with chopsticks\* to prove that I can.\* ---
**Author:** ![Alittlesmitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@Alittlesmitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alittlesmitten)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/97 "2016-01-09T05:10:59Z")
I like the point you made about the politicians who ate pizza with a fork and knife. Pizza can be so messy. When I was in high school I always chose fries and I wanted them with ketchup over them. Well, that’s messy and I find messes annoying - repeatedly having to wipe my hands or, God forbid, my clothes with a napkin (which are hard to find at the most inconvenient of times) makes me want to skip the meal. So I started using a fork and it was bliss. I didn’t think it was weird until someone asked me what the heck I was doing. Anyway, I felt superior no matter how ridiculous they thought I was being because I’d successfully solved my problem and life became a tad bit easier. Haha that’s my jibberjabber for the day. Sorry 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Alittlesmitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@Alittlesmitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alittlesmitten)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/98 "2016-01-09T05:16:08Z")
I myself can’t use chopsticks. I probably never will get it down. But if I could I would always use them because it would make me feel so cultured and superior to fork-users. And I’d somehow deep inside me feel connected to Asians who do (like when someone learns a language, like German for instance, and pretty much becomes German). ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/99 "2016-01-09T07:16:33Z")
:rolleyes: There certainly is a lot of stealth bragging about chopstick technique in this thread. I won’t sully my sterling _“Mr. Modest”_ reputation engaging in same. …however, before attending Chinese banquets where _“fast chops”_ pays off by snagging the most choice morsels, I hone my fingering technique playing piano with a pair of chopsticks in each hand. If it’s just an average banquet, I practice [Chopsticks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM5fjgiFrxg); if it’s a really good banquet, I warm up with Liszt’s [Mazeppa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIEQ90Re8qA). I empty that moo shu pork platter out like nobody’s business, let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311/100 "2016-01-09T14:05:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **steronz** - “That makes it impossible to eat with with chopsticks, so out comes the trusty fork.” Wanna bet? That actually makes it much _easier_ to eat with chopsticks, IMO. How can that be? Mixing the rice with a sauce makes the rice no longer stick together, meaning to eat it with chopsticks you basically have to pick up each grain individually or eat whatever happens to sloppily stick to your chopsticks and not fall off before it gets to your mouth… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-eat-chinese-food-with-chopsticks/742311.md?page=6)