PrintDo you know how to use chopsticks?
I can't remember having learned to use chopsticks, I just always did. If you use chopsticks, when did you learn? If you don't know how, what's holding you back?
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16 Comments:
I do, and I don't remember learning either. I'm pretty sure my technique is not correct, but it gets food from my plate or bowl to my mouth.
Alaina Browne at 11:17AM on 02/08/07
I do, my best friend growning up was chinese, and he taught me. I just bought my niece "starter' ones for kids.
monica at 11:31AM on 02/08/07
I do... i remember teaching myself as a kid how to use them... though, I'm sure I don't use them correctly.
Alm25 at 11:37AM on 02/08/07
I manage them ok. But I always end up with a cramp in my hand. I wonder if I am doing it wrong.
ThatGirl153 at 11:43AM on 02/08/07
Absolutely. Years of dim sum with my wife and not wanting to stand out even more as the guy who couidn't. Nothing like social pressure to force adaptation.
Husband at 12:11PM on 02/08/07
I do. My mum taught me how when I was a kid. She is a chopstick champ for some reason - I think it has to do with her hippie days.
caley at 12:11PM on 02/08/07
In 7th grade when we learned about Asia, we were given extra credit if we could eat our lunch with chopsticks. I had used them before, but I got really good at that point.
Recently, I tried to teach my great-aunt how to do it, and she had no success. As with almost everything else, maybe it's just easier to learn when you are young.
Rescriptrix at 12:14PM on 02/08/07
I'd be a pretty bad aZn if I didn't know how to use chopsticks.
JadedOne at 12:16PM on 02/08/07
i remember when i was little i would go to a habachi grill and they would always fix a rubber band around the chopsticks to make them easy to use. eventually i stopped needing an elastic, but that's how i learned!
Stacy at 1:49PM on 02/08/07
I remember being about 7 or 8 and an older uncle of mine commented to my mother, "She knows how to read, so why can't she use chopsticks?" Well, my mom was mortified and I learned right then with a nice big dose of pressure. I've taught lots of friends to use them, too; popcorn works great because of all of its nooks and crannies.
RA at 3:15PM on 02/08/07
I used forks until I was about seven. My mom started me out on forks because I kept dropping the chopsticks. I still can't hold them properly, and what saddens me most is that every non-Asian American person I've met holds chopsticks better than I do. I've had more practice at shoveling food in my mouth, though, so I guess it evens out.
toastykitten at 9:16PM on 02/08/07
I've used chopsticks since I was a child. Mom would always put them on the table next to the forks when she cooked Chinese or Japanese food. I just picked them up and now can't eat Asian food without them.
Funny story - the hub and I were in New Orleans for the World's Fair in 1984. We ate at the Japanese pavilion's restaurant. The restaurant only provided wooden chopsticks, the kind that you have to break apart, no forks. The couple at the table sitting next to us had no idea how to use them. They were scooping up the food with the chopsticks still joined. It was comical. I believe they left hungry...
pageycooks at 11:51AM on 02/09/07
i learned in college, when i ate sushi for the first time with a really cute guy (who is also japanese). it was worth the effort -- he's now my husband!!
altosaxchica at 9:29AM on 02/10/07
I am horrible at chopsticks and at times it can be quite embarassing. I did manage to make it through an entire meal at Nobu 57 though w/out needing to use a fork that the server graciously brought over. But I know my technique is not the proper way.
rosielucchesini at 11:22AM on 02/10/07
I do! I learned from the friend who introduced me to Japanese curry rice. I have no idea if my method is "authentic," but at least it doesn't look ridiculous. I've been told by some Chinese friends that I have a funny way of doing my chopsticks, but their corrected way made my hand hurt! :( I guess I'll just stick with my gaijin/gweilo ways.
Adam Kuban at 1:49PM on 02/12/07
My dad lived in various parts of Asia while he was in the Army and learned how to use chopsticks there. He, in turn, taught my brother and I. I never had a problem using them, but when I got to college, my Korean roommate took one look at my technique and laughed her butt off.
Adam, the way I figure it, I'm still getting the food up to my mouth, so technique be damned.
segalbraith at 8:40PM on 02/13/07