Do you love Asian food, and would you like to live it fully by managing to eat like a real expert, using chopsticks? Some swear that the taste of food is even better, and you want to test this theory without looking like a clumsy. Still others make it seem like a very simple practice, but when you try it you inevitably end up asking the waiter for a fork. It's time to put that fork aside once and for all and start juggling chopsticks.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: The Movement
Step 1. Take the first wand in your hand and place it between your thumb and middle finger
Keep your hand stiff for a better grip. Let the end of the wand rest between your thumb and forefinger. Then place the thin front part of the wand over the end of your ring finger and hold it steady with your middle finger. It should be virtually immobile. It looks a lot like the way you hold a pen, but slightly lower.
Someone may prefer to hold the wand with the ring finger, and hold it steady with the tip of the index finger
Step 2. Hold the second wand steady with your index finger and thumb
This is the wand that moves. Place your thumb on the side of the second wand, so that it can stay positioned on the first. Try to find a comfortable and sufficiently relaxed position. Make sure that the two thinner ends of the chopsticks are at the same height to prevent them from crossing and to get a good grip on the food.
To keep them aligned, you can use the table top as a support base. If the sticks are not even, they will be difficult to manage
Step 3. Practice opening and closing the chopsticks trying to pick up small objects
Make sure the tips don't cross too often if you don't want to risk being left on an empty stomach. Is it just the upper wand that is moving? Perfect!
If this helps, you can try running your hand along the wand to experiment with different types of grip, but remember to keep the same finger position. Some find it easier to have a grip close to the base, others prefer a higher grip
Step 4. Start Grabbing Food
An angle of about 45 ° between the plate and the chopsticks might be ideal at the moment. After securing the bite between the chopsticks, slowly lift them up, and if it feels unstable, put it back on the plate and try again.
Once you are familiar with a particular type of food, try shifting your attention to something of a different size and texture. When you feel like an expert, practice your noodles
Part 2 of 2: The Etiquette of Wands
Step 1. Learn the rules for shared meals
When sitting at an Asian table (at home or in a restaurant), you will often have to share large plates shared with other diners. It is not at all advisable to sink your chopsticks into the common tray after having previously brought them to your mouth! You are left with two options:
- Use a pair of serving chopsticks that will only come into contact with shared dishes.
- Grab the food using the rear ends of your chopsticks which are not normally brought to the mouth.
Step 2. Know how to use them when you are not eating
Unfortunately, the rules regarding chopsticks do not end once you have managed to get the food into your mouth. Each company has some variations, but in general:
- Avoid sticking chopsticks into your food in an upright position. It is seen as a bad omen, and evokes the incense used during funerals.
- Do not pierce the food with the tips of the chopsticks. This may seem like the best alternative in case all other techniques fail, but know that it is seen as a gesture of rudeness.
- Avoid passing food from wand to wand. This gesture is also associated with the funeral protocol, and in any case considered bad behavior at the table (sometimes even inauspicious).
- Do not cross the chopsticks. If you're done eating, place them flat to the left of your plate.
-
Don't point at other people with your chopsticks. Pointing the finger at others is in itself a wrong attitude in Asian culture, and the same is true in this area.
If it were necessary to list all the rules, this page would never end. Those shown are simply the basic ones
Step 3. When you eat rice, be ready to jump into it
If you happen to have a bowl of rice in front of you and all you have are two bamboo sticks, you may feel slightly disarmed without a nice spoon. But don't worry, it's perfectly normal to bring the bowl of rice to your mouth, and start eating from there. You will not seem a fool, you will rather be considered a sailor!
-
Maybe you might feel a bit like "the beast" having dinner with his "beauty", but that's exactly how it behaves. Don't binge on rice like a caveman, but politely raise the bowl to bring it closer to your mouth to prevent your station from turning into a paddy field.
Japan has particularly strict rules on this last point. If you are in China or Vietnam, for example, you may be forgiven for throwing rice into your mouth as if you were shoveling snow
Advice
- Table education often reflects education in other aspects of life. Watching someone hold their chopsticks will let you know a lot about them. Remember not to put your fingers too close to the front end of the chopsticks, you risk coming into contact with food. Never use chopsticks as if they were forks: piercing food is considered an insult to the person who prepared it.
- Start by holding the chopsticks in the middle, or slightly closer to the front ends - keeping them aligned with each other will be easier. As soon as you become more confident, move your grip outwards, thus increasing the distance between you and the food.
- While holding the sticks in their front may feel easier, only by moving outward will you be able to use them to their fullest. You can keep them parallel, for example, and pick up the rice more easily or choose to pick up bigger bites.
- The method illustrated here is the most correct one; in any case, at least initially you can decide to customize the use of your sticks. The important thing is that you are able to feed yourself.
- Some people prefer to keep the first wand resting on the tip of the ring finger and little finger while locking the position with the thumb. Moving the second wand will allow you to collect the bite.
- Buy chopsticks to practice and try picking a peanut or small fruit or using them with meals.
- Soft foods like cured meats and cheeses are great for practicing and will let you know how much pressure to put on to get an effective grip.
- In fact, applying the right pressure is the secret of eating with chopsticks. Practice and you will discover how to avoid losing food by bringing it to your mouth, pulping it or throwing it and how not to constantly cross your chopsticks.
- Be patient. Give yourself time to learn how to use chopsticks correctly. The first few times you can alternate its use with that of a spoon or fork, avoiding excessively frustrating.
- Wooden or bamboo sticks are ideal for beginners because they allow a more stable grip, plastic ones could be slippery. Korean metal chopsticks are the most difficult to use. Start with the simplest, then level up. Your friends won't believe their eyes.
Warnings
- Avoid leaving chopsticks in rice. It is a very offensive gesture in Eastern culture. Place the chopsticks on top of your bowl or next to it. Chopsticks stuck in rice are very reminiscent of the way rice is offered to deceased loved ones.
- Avoid passing food to other diners using chopsticks; place it in a saucer and hand it out. As in the previous point, passing food with chopsticks is reminiscent of a typical funerary custom in Japanese culture.
- Some cultures allow you to bring the bowl of rice in front of your mouth to facilitate the use of chopsticks - the Chinese one, for example. The same gesture, however, is considered in bad taste in other cultures, for example in Korea. Always make sure you know and respect the rules of morality.
- Don't use your chopsticks as a toothpick, even if you have nothing else to clean your teeth with. Try to always keep them parallel to each other.
- Remember that passion is a great teacher; put the right effort into trying to learn how to use chopsticks.
- Hitting the bowl or plate with chopsticks is bad taste in Chinese culture.
- Do not play with the food and try not to dwell too long in choosing the bite, it is considered very rude.
