can you use CHOPSTICKS?
 

granted i work with miners, and got into a culinary discussion with them. they were amazed i eat with chopsticks. chopsticks are not special, are they? i am not convinced miners even use forks, but chopsticks are not unusual are they? i am chinese, but i didnt grow up using them, and was horrible with them. after moving to california, and meeting my wife, i can now use them with either hand! i dont eat with them often, but i cook with them everyday. from flipping donuts in hot oil to quick whipping eggs, they are a fantastic multitasker.

my mom and stepdad, never use them. they live in texas. is it a geography thing?

I probably eat the majority of my dinners with them.

I grew up in SoCal. I grew up using them. I am not Asian.

The only thing I can't do with them is eat rice very well.

I'm an ABC and grew up using them, so not really a fair question.

I've mastered eating rice with them i eat with them frequently.

Nope... Not at all... Of course here in OK there are very few places that you would traditionally eat with chopsticks....

Although not correct in my technique, I would not starve using them.

Well, I'm a wasp from the northeast and I can use them quite well. For our ten days in China a couple of years ago I would have starved without.

The trick with rice is to scoop not pick. Chopsticks together and scoop. And ideally it will be in a bowl that you can bring close to your mouth.

Ian

Think I watched a TV show where someone said "You know you are good with chop sticks when you can pick up a single grain of rice" So I practiced eating with them until I could do just that! My children 11 & 15 now have been eating with them for years... One thing that I have noticed and I don't know if it is psychological or not, but food seems to tastes better with the chops versus the fork...

yup I can use chopsticks.

Yep, but I'm a drummer, so it's pretty easy...

Yes. grew up using. But until I was 10 I used them incorrectly. Finally learned the right way to hold the chopsticks.

I have a monster set for cooking - like 2 feet long.

Yup, 2nd nature.

yes, self-taught and not a traditional part of my culture. Probably not technically correct but like others have said I would not starve.

Once had a challenge with a friend of mine who was born in China and used chopsticks every day of his life.. We each had a small rice bowl full of M&M plain and M&M peanuts, and I was victorious, haha. Hmm.. Maybe I was just more hungry?

Yup, I can eat everything but soup with them.

Although my parents are white kiwis we ate a lot of chinese food. My mom knew an old Chinese guy who gave her something to put in her pork fried rice that REALLY made the meal. Many years later, long after the old guy had passed away, she ran out of the stuff without taking it to someone who could identify it and get some more and the pork fried rice just never tasted as good. Not msg or five spices, or varoius other strange things tried.

Actually... Living in this corner of the world I would be embarrassed not to be able to use chop sticks.

The key to rice is to shovel. And rice doesn't go on the plate, it goes in a bowl. So you can shovel.

Yep, really well. White guy, but I lived in Japan for several years starting when I was 8. With regular cheap square wooden chopsticks, I can eat a plate full of fried rice down to the last grain. I've used chopsticks to get stuff that has fallen through grates (well, maybe 2 pencils or twigs). It's great to know how.

My mother went to a new "Japanese" restaurant with some friends in here little country town in the Florida panhandle. They were all amazed when she started eating with chopsticks. She was shocked because it didn't seem like that big a deal.

My 2YO uses them, then again we currently live in the biggest Chinatown in the world.

I think the spoon and fork were better inventions...nothing against Asian culture

Yeah.

I was stationed in Okinawa for two years when I was in the Marines. I did not know how to use them when I got there, but I sure could when I left. I was one of the lucky guys that found a local girlfriend who taught me how to use ohashi, and showed me parts of the island that most Americans did not get to see.

I remember one intoxicated night chasing a peice of tofu around a bowl for a half an hour or so before finally pulling my pocket knife and solving the problem.

I guess European cavemen thought stabbing something to pick it up is easier than using twigs. ;)

I'm good with them. Can you grab an ice cube out of your water glass?


KT

Yes, and my kids do as well. Not of Asian heritage either.

My wife is Korean, I'd starve if I couldn't. :D

Yea I like em.

i catch flies. to eat, not so much. i'm hungry, so a fork is better.

I like them, too. It took me a little while to figure out how to shovel noodles and rice with them, but I do tend to eat with chop sticks now whenever they are offered.

Yes. Been using them for as long as I can remember, but I only use them for noodle soup, Pho especially. The engineer in me says they are to inefficient, so forks and spoons get more use.

Grew up using them. Still use them often.

First used the Chinese versions then later the Japanese versions. Chinese are a lot easier as are the wooden ones you usually get.

Eating single grains of rice with a set of Japanese chopsticks builds patience...

Still have a set of Ivory Chinese chopsticks that my Father brought back with him. Use them rarely but they sure are nice.

Yes, learned at a very early age..
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1258087806.jpg

I'm pretty good with them but still use a fork in Asian restaurants sometimes depending on the dish. You can never beat a fork if you want a nice bit of rice plus meat and veggies in every bite w/ some Chinese dishes.

Something like Pad Thai or a Chinese chicken salad I will eat w/ sticks. I ate a CCS from Chin Chin yesterday while driving in rush hour traffic on surface streets and the freeway w/ sticks and got chicken and sliced almonds in every bite. I know, I know... I should not admit that but sometimes I'm too hungry at dinner time to wait and I don't have time to stop and eat because I need to be somewhere.

Using chopsticks in traffic is hard core. I'm pretty good with them, but I can't do that :)

The other day I went for lunch to a Chinese hole in the wall place with an all Asian group of coworkers. The waitress very discretely slipped me a fork while taking our order. I was the only Caucasian on the entire block. We got a good laugh out of that one.

I learned to eat with chopsticks as a kid. If I remember right, my older sister brought a couple pairs home and we practiced and picked it up quickly. You'd look like a fool in Southern CA if you wouldn't know how to use chopsticks. Especially with a high percentage of Asian coworkers and buddies. I love Asian food and I agree that it tastes better with chopsticks.

Now, would someone slip you a pair of chopsticks in a German restaurant if you are Asian and go for lunch with all Caucasian group of coworkers? ;)

George

Yup, have truly mastered the use...otherwise would have starved in Japan.

I can use them very well and so can my 4 and 5 year olds. I actually prefer chopsticks to a fork fork when eating salads. Much easier to "pinch" that to try and stab with a fork. FYI. Not even close to bieng asian....just out of shape old white guy...

I can use chop sticks, but I'm not very good with them. I always ask for a fork. When I go out to lunch with office workers, there's always some knob who has to try and teach everyone how to do it, but he's basically just being an idiot. I tell the tool "hey, you're just as talented as 1.2 billion Chinese people who use chop sticks every day."

Growing up in the SF Bay it's close to impossible to avoid using chopsticks. We were taught in school. First grade, I think.

I'm completely comfortable eating with sticks. It makes me eat more slowly and I enjoy the food more that way.

Folks in Asia see forks and particularly knives to be the height of barbarism.

Imagine - cutting your own food, at the table!

Also, the word "chopstick" is a horrible one. In Japanese it is: o-hashi or o-temoto. Much nicer words..

My mom thought we should always use chopsticks when we ate at Chinese restaurants, so yes.

It was funny last year when I went to Japan with 3 other rednecks. They just about starved to death, while I gained a couple pounds.