Can you use chopsticks properly to eat Asian food?

Question

Especially rice.

Just wondering.. for non Chinese-Japanese-Korean people.

Answer 1

Yep, I am an excellent chopsticks user and have been told numerous times that my chopsticks style and manners (there are so many rules of etiquette) are better than a lot of Japanese people. Rice is not so hard. Green peas and tofu are the hardest!

Answer 2

Why doesnt everyone use sporks with a serrated edge? That would be the ultimate all-in-one utensil :) And I think you know the answer, its mostly tradition. And probably ease of production; up until probably the 50s-60s, making a set of Western cutlery even out of something like wood would have taken a lot more effort than carving a chopstick. And materials like metals and plastics would have been even more expensive. Since the Industrial revolution and mass-production have reached Asia, the population there has exploded, and its probably still more economical to use chopsticks than try to produce enough cutlery for 1.5 billion people. And there really hasnt been enough time, only a generation or two, for new traditions to permeate the culture and replace old habits. That being said, with the permeation of Western restaurants like KFC and Taco Bell into the Asian markets, cutlery is becoming a lot more commonplace and something that young Chinese and Japanese and South Korean people are going to grow up being familiar with having around.

Answer 3

When she was 9 or so, my friend's daughter used chopsticks for the very first time, and was able to pick up a single pea. (This was a blonde girl--very non-Asian.)

I can use chopsticks, with the exception of the advanced techniques, like cutting food one-handed, using the chopsticks like scissors. I'm Filipino (Asian, but chopsticks are not part of my culture.)

Answer 4

Yes you can. But you need a lot of practice to hold them correctly and pick up pieces of food with it.
In a lot of Asian countries, the rice is sticky or glutinous or lumpy. In that case, it makes it easier to use chopsticks.
For solid food you use chopsticks and for liquid, well...you slurp it from the bowl.
Better to use fork and spoon, if you dont want to stay hungry, that is! Chopsticks are fun too..you need to hold them correct, in the crook of the index and the middle finger...just learn how before you venture to use them, though.

Answer 5

Chopsticks are archaic? Really? More so than stabbing your food with a pointy metal object? What an ignorant jack***.
I use chopsticks all the time. It makes a lot of food easier to eat, especially noodles, which I eat at least 6 times a week.
Even works great on popcorn for those times when I dont want to get my fingers all greasy.

Answer 6

If I'm eating Asian food, I like to use chopsticks... it seems to be the right thing to do. I can't say I do it very well, but it's fun trying.

Answer 7

I'm Asian, and DH isn't. When we have Asian food that doesn't require chopsticks, he insist for chopsticks. I don't know why, I myself preferred a spoon and fork unless I'm eating noodles.

Answer 8

I am a white-bread American and i can pick up one piece of rice at a time with my bamboo chopsticks. I learned how to use them when I was about 8 yrs old. Its like holding a pencil.

Answer 9

I'm Irish
when prsented chopsticks I use them..
it is in keeping with respect of the culture.
and proves my knowledge and skill.
since I chose an asian resturant because of the menu and service.

Answer 10

Yes.

I have issues with rice though. I just don't like the bowl 2 inches from my face shoveling method.

I use a spoon for my rice, unless it's super sticky and I can put up a whole bite in one chunk.