Chopsticks etiquette

[tinker]

I just can't resist this empty sub-forum.

I'm not sure if chopsticks are considered "cutlery" but they are eating utensils, right?

While out for dinner with some friends, one of them brought a Chinese girlfriend so we ate at a Chinese restaurant. I made a mistake, (or so I was told) of sticking my chopsticks on the rice in my bowl while I did something, and I was told this was impolite.

Does anyone know if this is only true with the Chinese, or if this is viewed as improper at all (because I've always done that and nobody commented on it till that day)?

[ainjel]

I've heard of this before, too. I think technically you're not supposed to stick your chopsticks vertically into any food. Sticking chopsticks into to rice is something that is only done at funerals for the rice that is placed on the altar.

[oldbay]

For me eating with chop sticks is like walking on stilts. I never learned to eat with chopsticks, and always feel embarassed in the Asian restaurants when I try to. I eat at a Vietnamese Pho soup place all the time and see people eating soup with chopsticks, but I need a spoon and fork.

[alice.b.toklas]

I've never heard of this. Is this a superstition or a formal eating rule? Like most of the time forks are served on the left in the US, but I don't know how many people would care if they were served on the right in non formal occasions.

[ainjel]

I think it's superstition that has become a formal eating rule.

We have soooo many chopsticks in the house. When we go out somewhere our four year old always wants to use them, too. She's actually getting pretty good at it. Our nearby Asian grocery store even had cute "kid-sized" ones so we couldn't resist and bought a few pairs of those.

[DrPepper]

I have tried on several occasions to eat with chopsticks and have failed miserably each time. I even have a Vietnamese friend who has shown me how to use them and I still can't get it right. I guess I have uncoordinated fingers. Thank goodness most restaurants let me use a fork or I would starve. Any good tips that might help me, I'm willing to try again.

[ainjel]

For me, the easiest way to start eating with chopsticks was to hold the first one as you would hold a pencil. Then I add the second one in a similar fashion and after some practice it has become pretty easy. I think it's one of those things that is kind of hard to explain and needs to be shown. Maybe that friend's way of holding the chopsticks just isn't right for you. Not everyone uses them the exact same way.

[Mrs. Chipotle]

I have heard that rule about not sticking the chopsticks vertically into any food somewhere before. Hmmmm....

I think ainjel has it right in regard to how to hold the chopsticks...that is how I do it. At least, I think so. I haven't used chopsticks in quite a few years. The places we get Chinese food from don't give them to us.

It's kind of fun to eat with them though, so I would like to try again soon.

[Mama Mangia]

I have a lot of chopsticks! Can't eat with them at all!!! But they do come in quite handy for cooking, stirring, baking, etc. I get more use out of them that way than if I made a fool of myself trying to eat with them!

[ainjel]

I use them for more than just eating utensils, too. I've taken to using them to stir up cafe drinks, especially when I make myself an iced chai. : )