Chopsticks

Orwell

Alright...I'm really curious about this.

My friend and I were at a sushi restaurant, and I was really having trouble picking up the yellowtail rolls with the chopsticks. The waiter noticed, so she offered to give me a fork instead. I politely declined, because I really wanted to learn how to use them properly (and because I wanted to save face). Eventually, my friend taught me to hold them by holding them between my index finger and thumb, while manipulating one with the end of the index finger and the other with my thumb.

My question is (since I'm sure I'm doing it wrong), are there alternative ways to hold chopsticks? Who taught you to use chopsticks in the first place, and how often do you use them on a day-to-day basis?

Alternatively, if any of you are from a background where chopsticks are traditional, do you use forks at all?
 
Not from a chopstick area, but I still can use them. I don't really follow the "Standard" method for them, but I don't think it really matters. Just develop a way that is natural for you and you shouldn't get many criticisms. It's kind of like holding a pen/pencil.

I learned in elementary school from my Chinese friend using pencils.
 
Vyacheslav said:
I'm not from a culture that uses them very much at all, but I have to actively concentrate to use them correctly.
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Same for me. It took me a long time to get to the point where I can pick up just about anything with chopsticks (aside from rice, fuck that, it falls right off), but I have to be very focused or I'll drop it.
 
I hold one with my index finger and thumb, and another with a separate finger, hold one chopstick static, and use the other to move and pick up shit by holding it against the static one. I'm not sure if this is the "correct" method of chopstick usage or not but fuck it, it works just fine.

To answer your other questions, I taught myself the first time I ate sushi. Sushi restaurants are the only place I use them.
 
That's how I do it, Surgo, and I learned how to use them when I lived in Japan.

I'm also fond of the "impale your food" technique when I'm very hungry.
 
One morning I was at Cambridge with McGraw and kiera we went to have brunch at some Chinese-ish restaurant. I seriously had no idea how to use chopsticks, and like you I was offered a fork (though this was just kiera asking instead of a waiter, so I wouldn't need to save face since this was just a person from the internet after all). But I liked her suggestion of just jabbing the food and handling it like a slightly more annoying fork better so I just went with that. Less work for their dishwasher and waiter too.
 
the first one i hold with index and thumb, the second one is on my ring finger, but still being pushed/held by my middle finger

it just came naturally as i was born into an asian family
 
I'm Chinese so I learned how to use chopsticks since I was like...5. I just hold it like a pencil.
 
Well, I used to use them with this sorta scissor type action. It worked pretty well except when I had to pick up anything large, which would usually spin out of my grasp. But then I got told to do it properly, and I struggled with that for a while (McGraw can confirm) and then I gave up and went back to my own way..

Have a nice day.
 
I really don't know how to explain it, but hold one chopstick like you hold a pencil, and then stick the other chopstick in between your middle finger and your other 2 fingers.

I saw that on TV once.
 
aragornbird said:
I'm Chinese so I learned how to use chopsticks since I was like...5. I just hold it like a pencil.
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Me too...except I learned how to use them as soon as possible. I always went to my grandma's before and after school (parent's were working) and she was one of those "If you can't hold them, you don't eat" types -.-

Anyways... For me, I hold the secondary one (the one that stays still) on top of my knuckles where my index finger meets the joints and the end lies on top of the ring finger. The main one lies slightly above the secondary one (on the third second of the index) and I move it with my middle and index fingers while using my thumb to hold down both ends.

Er...confusing, much? Just practice I guess.. each person has their own way of use I guess. My sister uses it extremely strange to the point where it looks like she's making an X all the time with her chopsticks but it works. Haha, on a side note, my mom told me that if we were living in China, my grandma would slap my sister's hand every time she held it like that -.-
 
I use the 'standard' method too. I've never had much problems with chopsticks though. I was taught by my korean friends when I used to eat with them!
 
Well, I'm Vietnamese and I've known how to use them since I was three :/ I'd just hold them like a pencil also.
 
I hold one with my index and thumb, and the other involves the use of my middle finger and ring finger but I don't really know how to explain how. I don't know when I learned to use them. I think I was about 4 or 5.

I'm not Asian but I love Asian food!
 
I'm Chinese and my family goes to a Chinese restaurant every week. I just got used to them, though much earlier I did use a fork because that was easier. It depends on the chopsticks - the throw away wooden ones are great, easy to pick up noodles, while the shiny ones are a pain to deal with.
 
Yeah, the shiny ones kind of suck. No friction.

Anyways, for a race that reputedly thought up all these groundbreaking major inventions and shit, you'd think that they'd be able to make a fucking utensil that was a little more efficient. I cry for my people.
 
I don't really pay attention to how I hold them, but I can pretty much guarantee that its not the correct way. I also don't hold pencils correctly, according to everyone.
 
Orwell said:
While manipulating one with the end of the index finger and the other with my thumb.
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while manipulating one
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manipulating
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lol. (sorry for zoom in, manipulating is a hilarious word to me)


My question is (since I'm sure I'm doing it wrong), are there alternative ways to hold chopsticks? Who taught you to use chopsticks in the first place, and how often do you use them on a day-to-day basis?

Alternatively, if any of you are from a background where chopsticks are traditional, do you use forks at all?
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Firstly, yeah, there's alternative ways although I believe there's a "proper" way to hold them that's considered the norm. However yes, there are many ways to hold them; I myself hold them a way different from the norm I just mentioned. I taught myself how to use them.

Second question: I'm not from a background that normally uses them but I believe forks and spoons are used sometimes with particular dishes in Japan.
 
CupofLifenoodles said:
Anyways, for a race that reputedly thought up all these groundbreaking major inventions and shit, you'd think that they'd be able to make a fucking utensil that was a little more efficient. I cry for my people.
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In their (your) defense, the ladle-spoon.
chinaspoon.jpg
 
mkay, well, for me being chinese and all, i do use chopsticks, and i do hold it differently, i wouldnt say how i hold it is wrong. i mean, as long as you arent stabbing your food like you would with a fork, then im sure the exact positioning of your index and forefinger isnt going to change much

and yeah, i use forks too. i find it quite difficult to eat steak with chopsticks
 
I snap the chopsticks and get a fork. I never really understood the point of them, although they do usually look pretty cool.

am i doin it rite
 
I once ate with a "real" japanese family (well, the grandparents were old school Japs anyway) and I learned chop-stiks are a sham...they just held the plates to their mouths and used the chop-stiks to shovel it all in, it was kinda gross to be honest.
 
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