To chopstick or not to Chopstick

[guldo]

You have to ask for chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant, but in the (traditional)Japanese restaurant, they give them to you automatically.

Same here. Of course I always ask for.
The very first time I went eating at a chinese restaurant, it was with a friend of mine, who did not let me use anything but chopsticks: "You're going to eat with this, or you'd just watch me eating, got it?!"
So I never ever used a fork at a chinese/japanese restaurant, and I'll never do! Definitely!

 

[King of Tokyo]

I love to use hashi, I use them to eat anything that is possible to eat with hashi.. and It's not even because of my interest in Japan.. I really do prefer hashi to forks.. I'm good with them and like to use them.. so why use a fork ? lol..

 

[Dream Time]

Yeah, it's so Chinese. It's like every special occasion there is, you go eat at a Chinese restaurant. It's as if I don't eat Chinese food everyday already. >_>

yea

everytime like someone is getting married,a baby's birth,a farewell,or whatever celebrations, we almost ALWAYS go eat at Chinese restaurants

well,except my birthday,I prefer to eat at some Japanese or Korean restaurants during my birthdays

my white friends and I went to a Japanese restaurant
they could not use the chopsticks properly
so I offered to teach them,but the girl said 'its ok I'll use it my way'

well...

 

[Nuala]

I love using chop sticks.

 

[Jason Pitzer]

I think they should go to metal ones like in Korea.

Isant metal one like a bad omen , arn't they used to pick bones out of the crematory?

 

[Lina Inverse]

Isant metal one like a bad omen , arn't they used to pick bones out of the crematory?

Never heard of anything like that... where did you get that from?

 

[jieshi]

i eat with chopsticks. in Australia you are asked if you want chopsticks or a fork, i always take chopsticks. my usage is pretty good prob not as good as kirei na me's but when i get back from japan it should be perfect. Though there is one guy who laughs at me every time. I go to a korean restaurant regularly and im one of the only white people that goes there. im only 16 as well so when i go in there and start eating with chopsticks relatively well the waiter who is about 20 is sniggering behind the bar (i can use chopsticks so im not sure whats so funny) i think he might be shocked

 

[jeisan]

jesse, youre from sydney yeah?
in melb they never asked me usually had them on the table if not then i automaticly got a fork and had to ask for sticks. though the asian food there is so much better than in the states when i got back all of it tasted so bland i was like howd you guys managed to mess this up?!?!?!?
also once you eat with chopsticks for awhile a fork seems so weird and foreign to you.

 

[Golgo_13]

Isant metal one like a bad omen , arn't they used to pick bones out of the crematory?

The following doesn't state whether the sticks used are metal or not, but in Japanese cremation, the corpse is not completely burned to ashes but down to some bones which are picked out and kept in an urn. There's no reason why they should be metal since it's not burning hot.

From: Japanese Funeral Customs (see text in bold)

The Crematorium

The casket is unloaded from the hearse at the crematorium and placed on a sliding tray connected to the oven. The family members watch the casket as it is slid into the crematorium and are told by the attendant at what time to return to get the remains. A key that will unlock the crematorium portal (most crematoriums handle more than one body at a time) that the body was slid through is sometimes given to a representative family member.

The family goes home or waits at the funeral home until the appointed time. In some areas, the route used to travel home is changed to prevent the deceased spirit from following the family home. At some funerals, the family has food and drink catered for the family members and close friends and it is partaken during this interim.

At the appointed time, the family members go to the crematorium and the burned body is slid back out. Each of the family members is given a set of chopsticks to pick up the bones to put into the urn. The attendant usually points out the important pieces to pick up to put into the urn, the most important being the Adam's apple. The family members pick up the bones and put them into the urns with two persons grasping the same bone fragment together and putting it into the urn in unison. This custom explains why when two Japanese reach for the same piece of food at the same time with chopsticks, both will quickly pull back, as this is the only time two people hold the same thing with two sets of chopsticks.

 

[sky888]

my many friends use it as "Poke" sticks

 

[mushroom hunting]

i love chopsticks, its got so much more finesse than using a fork.

 

[seaweedhair]

I can't eat unless I have my pink wooden chopsticks to eat with.
I feel pretty confident about my ability to eat with them except I seem to have a bad Italian habit of talking wih my hands and I tend to do that while I'm eating which means I'm waving the chopsticks all around and I guess this is considered pretty offensive. It's hard to eat ramen also because I'm used to twirling spaghetti so it feels a little awkward.
My husband says that in Japan his teacher made them practice picking up azuki beans and grains of rice one by one until they were able to do it perfectly. I'm not sure if this is common or if he just had a teacher who was a perfectionist. It's kind of cute though. :gohan: :gohan: