Chopsticks

[spinbaby]

Poll question: Chopsticks

Anyone have a spare pair I can have my leftover Chinese lunch with? I hate plastic forks.

[GOPisEvil]

1. I've got a set of fancy-looking plastic ones at home.

I've never used them. :shrug:

[tridim]

3. Plastic chopsticks suck IMO

They're too slippery. Bamboo is the only way to go..

[GOPisEvil]

6. Exactly. Which is why I've never used them.

But, I have no others to offer, sadly. :evilfrown:

[King Coal]

2. I use a chopfork and a chopspoon.

[Another Bill C.]

4. I use stainless steel

chopsticks to eat salads and other dishes of small or chopped-up stuff. It seems to be a much more civilized way to eat and most of the people in the world eat with them.

I picked this up while I was working as a technical advisor in Korea. I ate lunch in the factory every day and they made a big production of finding a fork for me. I was determined to get them to stop that and learned to use the sticks.

Stainless steel chopsticks can be found in Korean grocery stores.

[supernova]

5. I love chopsticks

I eat with them whenever I eat asian food.

[ironflange]

7. Love them

I even have some extra-long ones I cook with all the time.

[veganwitch]

8. i use them all the time.

for everything that doesnt require cutting and stabbing.

dumpings, noodles, kale or watercress, home-made curries.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. I have a hard time eating East Asian food with a fork

It's just feels weird to me, especially since living in Japan and spending five weeks in China.

My hint: practice with pencils and try picking up small objects. Your hands will cramp at first, but after a while, using chopsticks (Japanese: o-hashi, Chinese: kuaizi) will seem totally natural.

Another hint: The Japanese do not use chopsticks for any food that they consider "Western." This includes curry rice. If you order curry rice in Japan and it comes with a spoon wrapped in a napkin, you are not being singled out as a foreigner. Everyone eats curry rice with a spoon.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. I would be lost without my chopsticks. Totally lost.

I can't cook wihtout 'em, and I can't eat without them.

Salad? WAY easier to eat with chopsticks.

Flipping stuff in the frying pan? Chopsticks WAY easier.

Eating soup? Chopsticks rock, especailly noodle soups, or soups with big chunks of stuff.

Stirring things in pots and pans? Chopsticks rock (though some things definitely need a whisk)

Unless I've served myself a steak (because I always want the whole slab sitting, uncut, in front of me, yum yum) I rarely have knife and fork at my table.

Perhaps too long being influenced by Asian styles of cooking and eating, I don't know, but so many things are easier with chopsticks: peas, green beans, rice, asparagus, noodle soup, chunky soups, stir fry, etc. etc. etc.

I LOVE CHOPSTICKS!

[Az]

11. While visiting Japan

My host took me out to a restaurant. He asked if I knew how to use Chopsticks and offered to teach me. I asked him "Like this?" and proceeded to pick up a grain of rice and eat it.

[eyesroll]

12. I remember going to a Chinese restaurant on a group date

I was maybe 16. The waiter asked if we wanted forks or chopsticks. The girls said, "chopsticks." The boys said, "forks," and then told us they weren't going to wait around for us to finish if we ended up fumbling.

Needless to say, the girls were a lot more adept with the chopsticks than the boys were with the forks.