chopsticks vs fork [and knife]

As for chopsticks, they allow for greater precision. Selecting a gyoza from a tray, dipping it in sauce, and conveying it to the mouth requires some degree of tenderness so as not to destroy the wrapper. This is much more easily done with chopsticks.

Not to get all effeminate or anything, but the chopsticks in the hair thing…can be very sexy…same with forks, not so much.

And I’ve heard the same about Americans switching hands to cut. Maybe it was time in the military, but I don’t like to waste the time. Fork remains in the right hand, knife (when needed) in the left.

i hold my knife in left and fork in right, but im the 1st generaton of my family to be born in the USA…

I’m that same, my mum and grandma realy hate it. But I mean come on what diffrence does it make?

1 chopstick in each hand! then i sorta rub my knuckles together…

lol I can eat with 4! :smiley:

I do that. It always seemed silly to me, but it also seemed natural for some reason.

A yes… the ultimate stirrer.

:smiley: :smiley:

Introducing the drumroll… CHORK!


That’s cool… It would make me feel like I was eating with tweezers. Like I just disected something and then proceeded to injest my victim. :astonished:

I think it all depends on what type of food you are eating and how skilled you are at using certain utensils.

If im eating noodles, i 'll most likely use chopsticks.
If im eating rice or other food in a small boll, chopsticks.
Steak chicken or other peices not cut up on a plate then i’ll have to be knife and fork. Rice and cut up food on a plate, spoon and fork.

As someone else said before. Its cutural differences sometimes.

Alot of asians believe “Why spend the time cutting up the food. Surely thats all part of the cooking / preperation process”.

Where as food kept as a whole might be to keep the juices in and not dry out a dish.

It all boils down to… right tools for the right job.

What ever you do, enjoy… and dont be afraid to learn.

And yes… i have eaten spagetti with chopsticks before. but i wouldnt do it at an itallian restaurant.

I think i will have to do that next time and see what peoples reactions are like:D

Ok, you’ve had a year. Did you try it yet?

I’m going to eat ramyun or spagetti while unicycling. Just to see the same.

(Gina, if you are reading this, I PROMISE to wear knee pads or 661’s. :smiley: )

This is the only reason I see to use western utensils. To cram AS MUCH FOOD AS POSSIBLE into one’s mouth. Why not just use a shovel and a funnel?

Chopsticks allow one to enjoy their food… one tasty morsel at a time.

As an added benefit, chopsticks are better for your digestive system… eating slowly makes the body work less to digest your food.

Who needs a funnel? Chopsticks and a bowl are quite effective for shoveling food into your mouth.

I often carry my own chopsticks to asian food restaurants.

I had learned as a kid, from the drawings on the pack of chopsticks.
Then at a Ramen-bar in Korea an older gent was obviously SO offended by my technique - that he showed me the “proper” way to use chopsticks. Works much better and is easier to do - once you get the hang of it.

This is the wrong way:

This is a little better:

I have already taken some pics of the proper eastern way to hold :slight_smile: chopsticks…I will have to post a tutorial.

i love trying to use them at fancy resturants.

I use chopsticks to play music with. If you hit different parts it gives different notes and gives a nice woody sound (with wood chopsticks only of course). I do this at all the chinese restaurants I go to until my dad gets mad at me. One time when I did my dad said “wow that is nice music” then he turn and saw me do it with the chopsticks and told me to stop, obviously it was not that good.

I can and do do this with fork and knife but it is not the same. Also you can not put the forks and knifes in between your teeth and lips and say “look I am a walrus!!!”

For cooking I would say Chopsticks definatly beat out a fork, they are basically a cross between using two forks (in one hand) and using tongs.

The problem with tongs is that they are big and cumbersome, also they get messy easily and are harder to clean quickly than chopsticks.

The only problem that I can see with chopsticks is that they take skill to use effectively. But if you are skilled with them, then they definatly become much more versatile and faster than forks. I can think of very little where I would use a fork over chopsticks.

The only upside to a fork is that our society is based around it, so if you are eating something like noodles with chopsticks it can come across as being pretty uncivilized. Although I would much rather use chopsticks than a fork just because I would find it easier and faster.

Once you work in an asian restaurant for a while you quickly learn why chopsticks are so effective and are used by so many people in the world.

I know what I’m about to say is going to come off as very rude and please, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but myself and my colleagues often laugh at people who do this. I really don’t understand why anyone would do something like that. Do you bring your own fork to a european restaurant? Do you bring your own towels to a hotel?

I can understand if the restaurants you are going to use the wooden ones that they throw away, but regardless of whether you use them or not, they will probably throw them away anyways because they are in a hurry to clear tables and anything that isn’t getting washed is garbage.

Thats really funny because alot of the Koreans I know who are quite fresh, are all horrid with chopsticks. I don’t mean to sound offencive but he probably was more shocked that a foreigner was using chopsticks and didn’t know how than the fact you were using them the “wrong” way.

I have spent the last year and a half eating 90% of my meals with Chinese, Korean and Japanese people and I watch probably about 50 people a day eat their meals with chopsticks and you will find that there are almost as many correct ways to use chopsticks as there are incorrect ones.

So here is a question to folks, who can use their chopsticks in their left and right hands! Better yet who can use tethered cooking chopsticks in both hands!

No laughing matter.

Disposable wooden chopsticks are a very big waste. Which is why at my house we use metal ones. And why yes, I do have a spare set in my car for eating out. Mostly I use them for on the road eating… you know… take out or supermarket lunches. But bringing them into a restaurant is not a bad idea.

Thanks for the tip.