So how good are you with chopsticks?

[Jenise]

That is, when 'you' aren't someone who grew up using them.

Bob and I got to talking about this when we went out for lunch on Sunday at our favorite sushi hole-in-the-wall in Surrey BC (standard order: tempura shrimp, crag-mango roll, veggie dragon roll, green tea). I guess that to someone who doesn't use chopsticks at all, we look pretty proficient. But the truth is that we both struggle to get some of those rolls to our mouths in one piece, and I'm sure we look like total spazzes to the pros. And rice defeats us both every time. I have NEVER figured out how to gracefully get a reasonable mouthful of rice up to my face.

Maybe one of these days I should just admit to one of my servers how inadequate I feel and ask for lessons.

I could stab something with one. That's about it.

I'm proficient. Most everyone I know here is pretty good with chopsticks. I guess it's because Chinese cuisine is quite common here. Japanese too. My children started learning how to use them at a very early age, as did I.

I recall the first time I went to Thailand many years ago - for some reason, I expected that chopsticks were commonly used there. Of course, I was wrong.

As regards using chopsticks on rice, it is easier with Japanese cuisine as their rice is a bit stickier. In any event, holding the bowl up to the mouth and pushing rice in should make things easier. This is done by the Chinese, and is considered proper. I'm not sure how polite this is in Japan though. In Korea, picking up the rice bowl is not proper. Lots of other rules that vary depending where you are.

Best,

N

They are my instrument of choice for eating rice and noodles. And, I feel like a complete idiot eating Asian meals using a fork. I taught both my children how to use them when they were young and my son uses them almost exclusively. My daughter will only use them when they appear as her eating utensil in a restaurant. My husband always asks for a fork, no matter what, which is why he won't go to an Ethiopian restaurant.

Chopsticks were something occasionally seen on tv - not in real life - where I grew up.

I like to give the pointy, lacquered, Japanese chopsticks to novices. It really helps their confidence.

I thought proper etiquette was to eat sushi pieces and rolls with your fingers, not chopsticks.

I can use them in public without embarrassing myself, but it feels like hitting a left-handed golf club. I can do it, but it feels awkward.

Oh, just fork it!

Like a native. I've been using them for four decades. So has my favorite wife.

Pretty good.
For rice, picking up the bowl and shoveling is standard practice in Japan.
I found, traveling on business, that after half a dozen beers each, the average Japanese businessman and I were about on par with each other. Which may or may not be meaningful.

John

We and all our kids are as comfortable with them as we are with silverware. Of course it could be because we lived in Hawaii for 4 1/2 years and went to a restaurant at least once a week that didn't have any silverware.

I could stab something with one. That's about it.

I use one in each hand.

I know how to use them, but feel uncomfortable, and usually resort to the fork. My guy won't go near them.

Reasonable.
I happily eat with chopsticks at restaurants. We tend not to use them at home, although we have a supply of good chopsticks to use. It took me a while to get used to the idea that picking up the rice bowl and shovelling it in was the right thing to do but I got over that and now happily pick up and shovel. Someone suggested to me once that eating with chopsticks is good for the digestion as you are forced to eat more slowly and with smaller mouthfuls than with a fork or spoon, so you don't overload your mouth and stomach by proceeding to fast.

I'm good enough with them to pick up a single grain of rice (but I usually hope the portion is sticky enough to hold together on its own).

I like to give the pointy, lacquered, Japanese chopsticks to novices. It really helps their confidence.

Might look for some that are teflon-covered - that would help even more!


I'm guess I'm ok with them. Not great, but ok.

I think every person who considers themselves a food person should take a few minutes to learn how to use them. Damn, folks. What the hell?

I took away the knives and forks at a couple of meals at my school.

It only took a Chinese hooker a few minutes to teach me in Vietnam. I mean, damn.

I'd estimate somewhere between ham-fisted and totally inept.
Rather than embarrassing myself and my dining companions, I always request a fork which seem to be available most places these days.

It only took a Chinese hooker a few minutes to teach me in Vietnam. I mean, damn.

Chef, Hi....

If you've done the Chinese hooker route, be sure next to master the hookah

Best
Rogov

It only took a Chinese hooker a few minutes to teach me in Vietnam. I mean, damn.

Chef, Hi....

If you've done the Chinese hooker route, be sure next to master the hookah

Best
Rogov

I like to smoke my hookah while riding in my howdah with my hooker.

[David M. Bueker]

I have been trying to learn for most of my 43 years & I am still not good at it. I can get away with using them when/if I have to though.

I use chopsticks pretty well. When I went to college, I was surprised and impressed when my boyfriend at the time (a real country boy from New Orleans) took me out for my very first sushi dinner and ate his meal with chopsticks. Determined not to be outdone, I decided to learn how to use them proficiently. So, I ate all my meals for 3 months at school only using chopsticks.

My husband is also very good with chopsticks and we are now teaching our children to use them.