Watching People Eating Chinese Food/Do You Use Chopsticks?

[BristolCavendish]

Last evening we decided to 'dine-in' rather than 'take-out' from our local Chinese restaurant. While waiting for our food to arrive, I glanced around to see who was eating with a fork vs chopsticks. As it turned out, 99% of the Asian diners were using chopsticks while about 25-40% of the 'white folks' were using forks (mostly older people and Millennial-aged diners).

Personally speaking, Chinese food always seems to taste better while using chopsticks. Maybe it's because the preparations are usually 'cut-up' to a certain extent. Then again, it might be all in my head.

On a more bizarre note, I recall going to a Japanese restaurant years ago and some guy wearing a cowboy hat was eating sushi with a fork. He would either stab and plop the whole piece into his mouth or cut the larger/rectangular selections with his fork prior to ingesting them. We happened to have dinner guests from Japan that evening and they seemed somewhat flabbergasted at the sight. In any event, bon appetit.

I have yet to visit a Moroccan restaurant and am looking forward to the experience. I have heard that at most of these restaurants, folks eat with their fingers which is part of the dining style. I will be keeping a lookout for anyone requesting or using a fork.

[Old Geezer]

Sure, its part of the experience. I'm pretty good with most chopsticks but the thin stainless steel Korean chopsticks are the most challenging for me.

[pickettt]

My mother is half Filipina and my wife is Japanese. I've been eating with chopsticks for a long time. I actually find it harder to eat most foods with a fork. Maybe it's conditioning, or maybe it's inherently easier to pick up things with a clamp.

[Wcdhtwn]

I like using chopsticks but they are difficult during the soup course.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AzPaul]

I've found the corners of the to-go containers double as excellent spouts.

[MonBK]

I'm more fascinated by watching Americans butchering a steak with a knife and fork.

[SearChart]

I use chopsticks, they are easy to use and it completes the experience.

[Formulansx]

I had a Vietnamese ex gf so I was "trained" to eat with chopsticks. Also she had told me that older Vietnamese would hold their chopsticks higher up and that the higher you could hold them and still eat was some sort of sign of something important. Can't remember what exactly now.

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by MonBK

I'm more fascinated by watching Americans butchering a steak with a knife and fork.

Pardon my lack of culture, I'm quite unsure if this is a tongue in cheek comment but it begs the question, how do you eat your steak?

Originally Posted by SearChart

I use chopsticks, they are easy to use and it completes the experience.

So do I.

...Mind you, it took me quite a bit of practice to master the use of chopsticks. Perhaps you should have taught me your secret a few years ago when I was burning more calories eating chinese than what was actually in the meal.

[Abdullah71601]

Eating with your fingers is a tradition in Islam. You’ll see it all over the Middle East in traditional restaurants. Not so much in western eateries. The food is finger friendly though.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

Pardon my lack of culture, I'm quite unsure if this is a tongue in cheek comment but it begs the question, how do you eat your steak?

Fermented would be my guess.

[MonBK]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

Pardon my lack of culture, I'm quite unsure if this is a tongue in cheek comment but it begs the question, how do you eat your steak?



So do I.

...Mind you, it took me quite a bit of practice to master the use of chopsticks. Perhaps you should have taught me your secret a few years ago when I was burning more calories eating chinese than what was actually in the meal.

Watch this little grasshopper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNE2DhQ1AZ4

[BNA/LION]

Another BS Classic!

We normally unwrap takeout chopsticks, eat with them and dispose of them without much thought. Recently, though, there has been a small wave of transnational activism aimed at reducing the use of disposable chopsticks stateside and in Asia; chopsticks, activists say, are contributing to heavy deforestation in China.

The approach of activist groups like Greenpeace East Asia has been to encourage individuals to carry reusable chopsticks, and the New York Times reports that many restaurants in Asia and in America are no longer popping disposable chopsticks into every takeout bag. Given that your local sushi place may not have jumped on the conservation bandwagon yet, I'd like to help you at least get an extra use out of disposable chopsticks. Here are 50 ways you can reuse those takeout chopsticks.

Uses for Disposable Chopsticks in the Kitchen

1.Use them to stir while cooking.
2.Use them as drink stirrers. (I found this idea on DIY Life.)
3.Reuse as sticks for homemade Popsicles. (This one also came from DIY Life.)
4.I use one to stir the slurry when making coffee in a French Press.
5.Dry plastic bags on them. Stick them in a jar and hang the bags off of them. I did this when I lived on an off-the-grid property where we were very careful about trash, and also when I lived in a cooperative house. The coop actually had a piece of wood mounted to the kitchen wall with chopsticks sticking out of it for bags to dry on. There's green street cred right there.
6.Use them to stack plates on when you run out of space in the dish drain. As in, you want to raise the dish you are drying off of the countertop.
7.Level-off measured dry ingredients like flour when baking with a chopstick. My mom has done this forever. She also saves Popsicle sticks for this purpose.
8.Toast marshmallows. (Idea found on This Old House.)
9.Use them to clean hard-to-reach spaces. (Idea found on This Old House.)
10.Pit cherries with one. (Thank you to Apartment Therapy for this one.)
11.I whisk eggs with them.
12.Freeze individual portions in freezer bags with the help of a chopstick. (This idea is from Lunch In a Box.)
13.Use chopsticks to turn meat or tofu when grilling.

Uses for Disposable Chopsticks around the House
1.Prop open a window with a couple chopsticks.
2.Push viscous material out of a funnel with a chopstick.
3.Place chopsticks in a jar and air dry wet mittens or socks on them.Thanks to my mother for this great idea.
4.Use them to stir paint.
5.Kindle your fireplace with them.
6.Use them to loft frames or boards when doing painting projects. (I found this idea on Project Polermo.)
7.Unclog bottle tips. (Thanks again to This Old House.)
8.Clean dirt out of the crevices of shoes. (Ditto.)
9.Clean up mastic when grouting tiles. (Ditto.)
10.Mark potted plants with care instructions. (Only the ever-fabulous Martha Stewart could create instructions for this one.)
11.Use them to clean electronic devices. (This idea came from Apartment Therapy.)
12.Use chopsticks as shims for wobbly tables.
13.Make a doorstop in 30 seconds. (Thanks to Curbly for this idea.)
14.Make attractive stakes for potted orchids. (Martha. Who else?)
15.Fill a stripped screw hole. (Idea found on This Old House.) This can also be done with toothpicks.

Crafts You Can Make with Disposable Chopsticks
1.Stick them in your hair to hold up a bun.
2.Build an iPad stand. (Get instructions on ReadyMade.)
3.Make a place mat. (Learn how on Right at Home.)
4.Make coasters. (Found on Curbly.)
5.Make a retro-style clock. (MakeZine shows you how.)
6.Make an Ikea-hack pendant lamp. (Full instructions on ReadyMade.)
7.Play pick-up sticks. (Thanks to Planet Green for this archaic but cute idea.)
8.Use them as knitting needles. (Tutorial found in the Craftster forum.)
9.Make an eco-bird feeder.
10.Create 4th of July "sparklers" or magic wands. (Thanks to Merriment Designs for this idea.)
11.Build furniture with your used chopsticks.
12.Make a DIY scented oil diffuser. (Idea found on Remodelaholic.)
13.DIY a hanging sachet for your closet. (I'll give you one guess who published this idea. It starts with an "M".)
14.If you live in San Francisco, you can donate them to the Waribashi Project to be upcycled into art.
15.Make a rubber band gun. (I found this idea on Instructables.)
16.Build a crossbow. (Instructions can be found on Storm the Castle.)
17.Chopsticks are part of the process of making custom clay gift tags.
18.Win an egg drop contest.
19.Greenpeace created a forest of trees made from chopsticks. I suppose you could also sculpt with them.
20.Build a stool made from a bamboo steamer and used chopsticks.
21.Make a lampshade. (Thanks to How Joyful for instructions for this project.)
22.Replace dowel rods in projects like mobiles with a bunch of chopsticks tied together in the middle.

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

So do I.

...Mind you, it took me quite a bit of practice to master the use of chopsticks. Perhaps you should have taught me your secret a few years ago when I was burning more calories eating chinese than what was actually in the meal.

Sure did take a bit of practice. But you know, it is not so hard to hold a dumpling or grab some noodles in my pho

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by BNALION

Another BS Classic!

We normally unwrap takeout chopsticks, eat with them and dispose of them without much thought. Recently, though, there has been a small wave of transnational activism aimed at reducing the use of disposable chopsticks stateside and in Asia; chopsticks, activists say, are contributing to heavy deforestation in China.

The approach of activist groups like Greenpeace East Asia has been to encourage individuals to carry reusable chopsticks, and the New York Times reports that many restaurants in Asia and in America are no longer popping disposable chopsticks into every takeout bag. Given that your local sushi place may not have jumped on the conservation bandwagon yet, I'd like to help you at least get an extra use out of disposable chopsticks. Here are 50 ways you can reuse those takeout chopsticks.

Uses for Disposable Chopsticks in the Kitchen

1.Use them to stir while cooking.
2.Use them as drink stirrers. (I found this idea on DIY Life.)
3.Reuse as sticks for homemade Popsicles. (This one also came from DIY Life.)
4.I use one to stir the slurry when making coffee in a French Press.
5.Dry plastic bags on them. Stick them in a jar and hang the bags off of them. I did this when I lived on an off-the-grid property where we were very careful about trash, and also when I lived in a cooperative house. The coop actually had a piece of wood mounted to the kitchen wall with chopsticks sticking out of it for bags to dry on. There's green street cred right there.
6.Use them to stack plates on when you run out of space in the dish drain. As in, you want to raise the dish you are drying off of the countertop.
7.Level-off measured dry ingredients like flour when baking with a chopstick. My mom has done this forever. She also saves Popsicle sticks for this purpose.
8.Toast marshmallows. (Idea found on This Old House.)
9.Use them to clean hard-to-reach spaces. (Idea found on This Old House.)
10.Pit cherries with one. (Thank you to Apartment Therapy for this one.)
11.I whisk eggs with them.
12.Freeze individual portions in freezer bags with the help of a chopstick. (This idea is from Lunch In a Box.)
13.Use chopsticks to turn meat or tofu when grilling.

Uses for Disposable Chopsticks around the House
1.Prop open a window with a couple chopsticks.
2.Push viscous material out of a funnel with a chopstick.
3.Place chopsticks in a jar and air dry wet mittens or socks on them.Thanks to my mother for this great idea.
4.Use them to stir paint.
5.Kindle your fireplace with them.
6.Use them to loft frames or boards when doing painting projects. (I found this idea on Project Polermo.)
7.Unclog bottle tips. (Thanks again to This Old House.)
8.Clean dirt out of the crevices of shoes. (Ditto.)
9.Clean up mastic when grouting tiles. (Ditto.)
10.Mark potted plants with care instructions. (Only the ever-fabulous Martha Stewart could create instructions for this one.)
11.Use them to clean electronic devices. (This idea came from Apartment Therapy.)
12.Use chopsticks as shims for wobbly tables.
13.Make a doorstop in 30 seconds. (Thanks to Curbly for this idea.)
14.Make attractive stakes for potted orchids. (Martha. Who else?)
15.Fill a stripped screw hole. (Idea found on This Old House.) This can also be done with toothpicks.

Crafts You Can Make with Disposable Chopsticks
1.Stick them in your hair to hold up a bun.
2.Build an iPad stand. (Get instructions on ReadyMade.)
3.Make a place mat. (Learn how on Right at Home.)
4.Make coasters. (Found on Curbly.)
5.Make a retro-style clock. (MakeZine shows you how.)
6.Make an Ikea-hack pendant lamp. (Full instructions on ReadyMade.)
7.Play pick-up sticks. (Thanks to Planet Green for this archaic but cute idea.)
8.Use them as knitting needles. (Tutorial found in the Craftster forum.)
9.Make an eco-bird feeder.
10.Create 4th of July "sparklers" or magic wands. (Thanks to Merriment Designs for this idea.)
11.Build furniture with your used chopsticks.
12.Make a DIY scented oil diffuser. (Idea found on Remodelaholic.)
13.DIY a hanging sachet for your closet. (I'll give you one guess who published this idea. It starts with an "M".)
14.If you live in San Francisco, you can donate them to the Waribashi Project to be upcycled into art.
15.Make a rubber band gun. (I found this idea on Instructables.)
16.Build a crossbow. (Instructions can be found on Storm the Castle.)
17.Chopsticks are part of the process of making custom clay gift tags.
18.Win an egg drop contest.
19.Greenpeace created a forest of trees made from chopsticks. I suppose you could also sculpt with them.
20.Build a stool made from a bamboo steamer and used chopsticks.
21.Make a lampshade. (Thanks to How Joyful for instructions for this project.)
22.Replace dowel rods in projects like mobiles with a bunch of chopsticks tied together in the middle.

They make great kindling too.

[ejvette]

Originally Posted by searchart

i use chopsticks, they are easy to use and it completes the experience.

x2

[tbonesteak]

Chopsticks only with sushi for me.

[Sperry]

Left or right-handed. A skill everyone should have.

[imperio]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

Pardon my lack of culture, I'm quite unsure if this is a tongue in cheek comment but it begs the question, how do you eat your steak?

With chopsticks, of course!

[GB-man]

Yes but I suck at it. My wife is half Korean and usually asks the servers to get me a fork even if I don’t want it. Then when it arrives I begin eating twice as fast lol

[BristolCavendish]

A Millennial's vapid complaint about not getting a knife and fork with his order + a middle-aged diner making a total abomination out of eating sushi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVPxfSS7aJw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMlXhdqdKCE

[tbonesteak]

Originally Posted by imperio

With chopsticks, of course!

[droptopman]

I use them but not very effectively. As much Sushi as we eat, you would think I would be better with them. I really should practice at home.

[Wesley Crusher]

Originally Posted by droptopman

I use them but not very effectively. As much Sushi as we eat, you would think I would be better with them. I really should practice at home.

If you eat rolls or nigiri, it’s acceptable to use your hands. Sashimi is chopsticks only.

[droptopman]

Originally Posted by Wesley Crusher

If you eat rolls or nigiri, it’s acceptable to use your hands. Sashimi is chopsticks only.

[The Libertine]

I do; however, it seems that fewer Chinese restaurants put them out with the utensils.

[Art 1]

Three of my favorite inventions. The knife the fork and spoon.

[FTX I]

chopsticks

[locutus49]

In Japan I preferred the disposable chopsticks that you would break apart. They would grip rice, etc. better than the smooth plastic or ivory ones.

[Brenngun]

Yes. In fact I have my own set that I also bring with me to various restaurants where it's appropriate to use them.