Chopsticks

[adrian]

I thought I couldn't eat anything but noodles with chopsticks, but I finished a meal with them. Now I know why asians like sticky rice.

Question: do you know how to use chopsticks?

[Pomai]

Re: chopsticks

Hai.

I don't care for those long and fat, square profile Chinese ivory plastic type. How do they pick up their loose style of rice with those things anyway?

I prefer the smaller, tapered & lacquered wood Japanese style "hashi", with the grooves at the tip, which improves grip.

For disposable "break-apart" type, give me the better bamboo over the cheaper pine wood anyday.

(In the privacy of home) I prefer eating most of my food with chopsticks over a fork. Probably because we were raised that way (even though I'm not asian).

For slippery, chicken long rice noodles, it's best to put down the chopsticks and grap one of them big, fat bubble drink straws to slurp it up. Just don't let da' aunty sitting across you on da' luau table see you do that.

[lavagal]

Re: chopsticks

I learned how with repeated visits to Hee Hings down on the corner in Kapahulu. They use the big ivory plastic ones and I was taught to pick up the ice cubes in my water while we waited for our food. My Kid 2 can use them fine, Kid 1, not so great. I think she's thinking too much about it.

[glossyp]

Re: chopsticks

My favorite are the metal Korean ones. Easy to clean, durable and sanitary. I received a pair of silver chopsticks as a gift and I bring them out to use from time to time. Silver was favored as a chopstick material in ancient Korea because it discolors in the presence of poison (I don't know if that is true or not but that is what I was told) and since poison was a favored method of offing your enemies it was believed the silver chopsticks would warn you before partaking of deadly food.

[Pomai]

Re: chopsticks

Hmmm.. silver metal Korean chopsticks. Thanks for the tip, GP! I'll keep my eyes out for those next time I'm in Palama Market. Are they expensive? Sounds like it.

A friend of ours from Japan is the daughter of the family who owns the largest Hashi (chopsticks) manufacturer in that country. They provide all the chopsticks for the Japanese Imperial Palace. They're based in Akihabara (electronics wonderland), a district in Tokyo.

On special occasions, she gives us these really fancy Hashi sets as omiyagi (gift), with highly-detailed origami paper wrapping and complex ribbons. Amazing craftmanship. Like a musical instrument. So finely made and presented, you almost don't want to use them. I could imagine how much those costs if you were to buy them.

[Honoruru]

Re: chopsticks

I love chopsticks. I think they are much more versatile than knife and fork for many dishes ... though not all, of course. When used properly, they are the most efficient eating utensil ever invented. I try to use them whenever possible.

I have a ceramic jar (I think it’s raku) that I bought at a craft fair. I use it to hold all of my chopsticks. No two pairs are alike. I try to buy different styles, different designs. Right now, they’re all Japanese hashi style, but I’ve been thinking of buying a pair of Korean silver chopsticks. And maybe the Chinese style(s) (which I also find difficult to use, so they would be just for show), and other styles such as Thai and Malaysian, and more!

Did you know that chopsticks are the second most popular method of conveying food to mouth? And no, the first is not knife and fork. The number one method of getting food to your mouth is the "finger method." Very simple, very basic. Perfect for poi, don’t you think?

[adrian]

Re: chopsticks

The number one method of getting food to your mouth is the "finger method." Very simple, very basic. Perfect for poi, don’t you think?

filipino style!

I never ate with my fingers for years. The thought just makes want to cook something and eat with my fingers.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: chopsticks

You know people may THINK they know how to use chopsticks but do they really know how to use them?

One proficient in the use of chopsticks can:

1) Pick up grains of uncooked rice
2) Twirl them between their fingers then reposition them without using the other hand
3) Debone chicken with one hand using a pair of chopsticks

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: chopsticks

filipino style!

I never ate with my fingers for years. The thought just makes want to cook something and eat with my fingers.

Indian style too.

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: chopsticks

I never had much exposure to chopsticks before moving here. As a result, I've learned to awkwardly handle them when necessary, sometimes with less than optimal results. I've noticed that as I drink more alcohol, I seem to do better, probably because I relax and stop being so self-conscious about it.

Can I use them? Yes. Properly? Definitely not.

Still, I've become accustomed to seeing them when eating certain dishes, and it feels weird to use a knife/fork with those dishes instead.

[Pomai]

Re: chopsticks

One proficient in the use of chopsticks can:
1) Pick up grains of uncooked rice
2) Twirl them between their fingers then reposition them without using the other hand
3) Debone chicken with one hand using a pair of chopsticks

I'm pretty sure Doc's question is regarding the basic skill of using chopsticks. Not whether or not we're a CHOPSTICKS NINJA! lol

#1 is fairly easy (using the tapered Japanese hashi). #2 I can do to (without using other hand), albeit clumsily. But #3? I can barely debone a chicken using a knife and fork, let alone using just chopsticks! That I gotta' see.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: chopsticks

You know people may THINK they know how to use chopsticks but do they really know how to use them?

One proficient in the use of chopsticks can:

1) Pick up grains of uncooked rice
2) Twirl them between their fingers then reposition them without using the other hand
3) Debone chicken with one hand using a pair of chopsticks

You do mean cooked chicken, yeah? No problemo.

Been using them since I was 5 so that puts me at over half a century. . Anykine chopsticks and I can pick up individual grains of rice...with gravy. Can't twirl them, though, but can reposition by just taping the tips on the plate. I can also put your eyes out at 20 paces.

Our 6 yr. old has been using a shorter set since she was 5, as well. She's getting pretty good at it. My "Grasshopper".

A bit of ettiquette. When eating a bowl of rice, never thrust the chopsticks into the rice so they stick up. Lay them down on the table or across the bowl. It's a Japanese thang, something about the dead or death and is totally inappropriate at the dinner table. Us Koreans don't care, but I married a Japanese wife and her samurai glare far exceeds my Korean eye.

[dick]

Re: chopsticks

A bit of ettiquette. When eating a bowl of rice, never thrust the chopsticks into the rice so they stick up. Lay them down on the table or across the bowl. It's a Japanese thang, something about the dead or death and is totally inappropriate at the dinner table.

It's more of a (Japanese) Buddhist thing. When attending a Buddhist funeral you'll see a bowl of rice as an offering placed before the deceased, and the chopsticks are stabbed into the rice upright.

Another thing one might not want to do with chopsticks is pass food chopstick to chopstick. That's reserved only for funerals when after a body is cremated, family gathers around the charred remains and passes the un-burned (leftover) bones from one to another to the urn via long stainless steel chopsticks.

No, they don't grind it all up and put it in a cute jar like they do here in America. You get to go and see the remains on the table. Quite impressive.

[Da Rolling Eye]

Re: chopsticks

Another thing one might not want to do with chopsticks is pass food chopstick to chopstick. That's reserved only for funerals when after a body is cremated, family gathers around the charred remains and passes the un-burned (leftover) bones from one to another to the urn via long stainless steel chopsticks.

No, they don't grind it all up and put it in a cute jar like they do here in America. You get to go and see the remains on the table. Quite impressive.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. My daughter and I always get caught doing that. When we share food, my wife watches us like a hawk. If we even make a move to do it, we get stopped with a loud, "HEY!". Funny how my wife will not admit to being Buddhist, although she spent her first 5 years of her life in Okinawa being raised in a Buddhist family. Old habits.

[Pretender]

Re: chopsticks

I'm pretty sure Doc's question is regarding the basic skill of using chopsticks. Not whether or not we're a CHOPSTICKS NINJA! lol

#1 is fairly easy (using the tapered Japanese hashi). #2 I can do to (without using other hand), albeit clumsily. But #3? I can barely debone a chicken using a knife and fork, let alone using just chopsticks! That I gotta' see.

Hey, those are just the warm up exercises the pros use to stay limber. If you can pull a "Zatoichi", you are a master in my book.