# Why Do People Use Chopsticks To Eat Chinese Food? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245 "2002-08-23T15:06:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/1 "2002-08-23T15:06:44Z")
Why would a person who was born and raised in the United States and has used knives and forks as eating utensils for their entire lives all of the sudden insist on using chopsticks to eat, just because they are eating Chinese food? Since when does the type of cuisine, rather than the native culture, determine the eating customs?? If these people went to an Indian restaurant, would they take a kettle of water with them to clean themselves with if they had to use the restroom??? Plus, I don’t think the food served in American ‘Chinese’ restaurants is really Chinese, so the eating utensils don’t match to cuisine anyway. Why do they do it? Why bother?? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/2 "2002-08-23T15:16:30Z")
It’s fun. The best part, of course is pissing off the anal rententives. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/3 "2002-08-23T15:26:25Z")
For fun. It’s part of the experience. At a chinese restaurant forks are for whimps. At an Indian restaurant I often eat by scooping things up with the bread. Especially if I’m dining with my Indian friend who is almost incapable of eating Indian food with western utensils. As for the idea that Chinese restaurants in the US aren’t really Chinese, that depend greatly on where you go. If you’re at a crappy small town restaurant you’re probably right. However, I live in a city with a large Asian population. When I go down to the international district and eat at a place where I’m the only white person, I’m pretty sure I’m getting an authentic meal. ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/4 "2002-08-23T17:06:44Z")
1. Because it’s different and fun. 2. Because I tend to eat more slowly when using chopsticks, which is a good thing, as I tend to be a scarfer. Also, having learned and practiced in American chinese restaurants came in _really_ handy when I went to China and there _were_ no “western” utensils. Which leads me to… 3. It makes me remember that fabulous trip now every time I use them. ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/5 "2002-08-23T17:41:51Z")
They have knives and forks in chinese restraunts? \*I always ate chinese food down in the International district in Seattle… ---
**Author:** ![Clever\_Hans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Clever\_Hans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clever_Hans)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/6 "2002-08-23T18:18:56Z")
First it’s fun, second I get it to go sometimes and if you try and stab a pepper you’re likely to go thru the Styrofoam. Second, I’m training for the Mr. Miagi fly catching contest. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/7 "2002-08-23T18:21:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > Since when does the type of cuisine, rather than the native culture, determine the eating customs?? If these people went to an Indian restaurant, would they take a kettle of water with them to clean themselves with if they had to use the restroom??? Why do some people use small picks to place on either end of a cob of corn to eat it, instead of their hands? Why do some people use lobster forks when eating lobster, instead of a perfectly good normal fork? Because in some cases that’s the expected utensil to use. You **can** use another if it’s available or if you’re not able to use the expected one, but heck, carry that theory to an extreme and you can eat most anything with just a knife and your hands. If that Indian restaurant didn’t have toilet paper or running water then yes, a kettle of water would be a good thing to bring. I’ve been in Italian restaurants (in Italy, mind you) that didn’t have flush toilets, just a hole in the ground that you squatted over - fortunately, they did have paper. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/8 "2002-08-23T21:38:38Z")
1. Because a lot of Chinese food is designed to be eaten with chopsticks: it’s cut up into bite-sized bits that are easy to pick up with them 2. Because once you’re used to it, using chopsticks isn’t at all difficult 3. Why not? I don’t just use chopsticks to eat Chinese food in restaurants; I also eat take-out food at home with them. I just seems like the right way to eat it. (And I like **RealityChuck’s** reason as well.) ---
**Author:** ![hapaXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@hapaXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hapaXL)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/9 "2002-08-23T21:40:29Z")
Just wanted to chime in as a (half) Chinese person who chooses to use a fork (with spoon, if available, Southeast Asian style) when eating at Chinese restaurants. I used to have something to prove and became quite proficient at getting every single grain of rice off my plate. Then I went to China. And they gave us small rice bowls to hold in our hands. And I remembered/realized that chopsticks are meant to be mainly **pushing** instruments, as in holding the bowl to your mouth and pushing the rice and food in. The picking up of certain slippery items from a plate way down on the table can be difficult even for experts. So eating with chopsticks in Chinese-American restaurants is an odd combination: chopsticks without the bowl, the least-convenient eating arrangement. I suspect non-Chinese folks wanted to try this “exotic” eating method and adopted it (as a hip sign of cultural literacy, perhaps?) without realizing that it’s not exactly right. Chopsticks **are** the proper tool for the job of eating typically pre-chopped Chinese food and that’s why it’s done. Food is prepared to be eaten in specific ways. When I eat Ethiopian or Hawaiian food, it’s all with the hands (my Indonesian friend claims that food tastes better eaten with the hands). You aren’t getting the full effect if you choose a different method. It wouldn’t be a burger if you used a knife and fork, right? You need the grease and condiments running down your wrist for the full experience… That said, I use western utensils unless I can hold on to my soup bowl and use that with chopsticks. ---
**Author:** ![japatlgt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@japatlgt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/japatlgt)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/10 "2002-08-23T23:07:35Z")
Fried chicken definitely tastes better when eaten with the hands. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/11 "2002-08-24T00:38:46Z")
1. Don’t want to look like a chump who can’t use chopsticks. 2. After years of eating mostly with chopsticks or hands and several months of no forks ever, I find forks and knives kind of unwieldy. 3. Can’t eat noodles with a fork. However, I’ve seen some people who really shouldn’t bother as they have to push rice into their chopsticks with their hands. THOSE people should stick with forks. ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/12 "2002-08-24T01:16:21Z")
I find any food easier to eat with chopsticks than a knife and fork. Especially salad. At home I will use chopsticks most of the time, no matter what I’ve cooked. So it makes sense that I would use them when I go to an Asian restaurant too. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/13 "2002-08-24T01:59:34Z")
I took my family to eat _pho_ (Vietnamese rice noodle beef soup), which is eaten with chopsticks and a spoon. My elderly aunt can’t use chopsticks, and was given a fork and spoon. She found it impossible to pick up the slippery rice noodles, and had to leave her soup nearly uneaten. I also use chopsticks a lot for cooking. They’re great for stirring stuff in a frying pan, and have the advantage that you can more easily pick up individual pieces and turn them over. they also don’t scratch the non-stick coating. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/14 "2002-08-24T03:21:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by japatlgt \* > \*\*Fried chicken definitely tastes better when eaten with the hands. \*\* So does pizza. ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/15 "2002-08-24T03:38:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeniseV \* > \*\* > > You **can** use another if it’s available or if you’re not able to use the expected one, but heck, carry that theory to an extreme and you can eat most anything with just a knife and your hands.\*\* Eat like a pirate! I use chopsticks because it annoys my dad, who has actually gotten so annoyed that he called the waitress over to ask if I was doing it properly. 🙂 If there’s no one to annoy, I use a fork. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/16 "2002-08-24T04:53:20Z")
I use chopsticks in general when it’s more convenient and the pieces of food are bite-sized. Normally in Chinese/Japanese restaurants, I’ll use one or the other, depending on how large the pieces of food that are served are… one definite “chopsticks or just my hands” must for me is sushi. Plus, chopsticks are fun to use and are good tools to pinch people with when you want to be annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/17 "2002-08-24T05:45:15Z")
All the Chinese restaurants I have been to in the US, Canada, and Europe served rice in bowls. Kinda hard to deal with using a folk. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/18 "2002-08-24T05:55:39Z")
I’ve heard that in some cultures, chopsticks are preferred because stabbing one’s food with a fork is seen as barbaric. I feel this way about sushi. It’s a beautiful food creation, and I can’t just mash it with a fork. The chopsticks add to my enjoyment of the meal. For Chinese food, I do it because I can. **jinwicked** I have to agree with you. I eat Chinese takeout in the lab with chopsticks because it annoys my coworker. Also, I eat more slowly and just enjoy the food more. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/19 "2002-08-24T06:15:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > \*\* > 3) Can’t eat noodles with a fork. > \*\* You’ve never twirled spaghetti around your fork? ---
**Author:** ![Cougarfang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c67d28/32.png) [@Cougarfang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cougarfang)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2002, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245/20 "2002-08-24T07:07:51Z")
Technically I was born and raised in America, but after spending the last 7 years in Taiwan, I can’t use anything other than chopsticks and/or spoon, and the occasional (improperly wielded) knife for steaks. Besides, it’s fun to show off to clumsy Westerners when I do go back to America during vacations. 😃 _D&R_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-use-chopsticks-to-eat-chinese-food/125245.md?page=2)