when you eat Chinese food do you use silverware or chopsticks?

[idgiehkt]

For people who grew up using utensils, I mean. Mostly talking about eating out, but I guess if you are non-Asian that eats Chinesse (or other kind of Asian food normally eaten with non-utensils) take-out with chopsticks that counts too. Sorry if this poll is politically incorrect in some way...I was at a Chinese restaurant and asked for a knife and the guy sitting behind me said that it was a sin to use a knife on Chinese food. Then he asked me if I wanted to join him. I said no, so I guess the bonus question for this poll is if you are eating out and someone (a stranger) asks you to join them, would you or have you in the past? I like to go out to eat alone...the thought of eating in front of a total stranger is weird to me but I guess this is how some people hook up.

:shrug:

[youthere]

1. I don't think it's a sin not to use chopsticks..I just think it's part of the fun.

[trof]

2. Sticks, but fingers for egg rolls.

[LoZoccolo]

3. I like chopsticks because...

...you don't taste the metal of the fork along with the food. It makes for a more pure taste experience.

That having been said, at the take-out place I went to yesterday, I was just about to leave when I remembered I like chopsticks and went back and asked them for some, and it seemed like they thought I was just using them to be cool or something. Of course my suspicion plays a big factor in that assessment as well though.

[idgiehkt]

5. interesting

I never thought of the taste factor. I am just so clumsy they'd have to vacuum after I got done trying to learn to use chopstick so I never gave it a go. :hi:

[LoZoccolo]

13. I have heard that chopsticks are partly responsible for lower rates of obesity in Asian countries.

As it takes a while for your body to register that it's full, slowing the rate of eating keeps you from eating so much before you realize it.

[trackfan]

4. Silverware, if it's offered, but I won't go out of my way to ask for it.

[tjwmason]

6. Chopsticks.

As for a stranger asking me to join them...my goodness that would be scary in the extreme, I've never seen it happen over here.

[idgiehkt]

8. I know

honestly it felt kind of rude, because it put me on the spot a little and then I had to be rejectful and that kind of ruined my appetite a little because I felt guilty. I just think it's so weird for someone you don't know to say 'care to join me'...of coursethat's probably because I watch all the CSI's and Court TV forensic shows and that's how alot of them start out right before they flash forward a few hours and someone finds the body in the dumpster.

:scared:

[Jamastiene]

19. You probably shouldn't feel guilty.

That CSI analogy is spot on too. It wouldn't hurt for you to be very very careful right now especially. There is a serial killer cutting up women in our area and the local authorities are keeping the lid on the amount of dead women's bodies they are finding. If I didn't know someone who knows someone, I wouldn't even know this because ONLY the Anson county sheriff has mentioned it to the newspapers and the story didn't really get noticed. Lucky for me, a teacher warned me to keep my doors locked back when I was going to school at night. From what he told me and what I was able to read in the Anson newspaper, the women have been mutilated and slashed pretty bad too. It's sad. It has been going on in Anson county, Richmond county, and several counties in South Carolina as well. They still haven't caught the person doing it and it has been going on for several years now.

Keep safe. :pals:

[idgiehkt]

24. OMG!

I had no idea...thanks for letting me know. Man...I had accepted a job that would have kind of put me in an unsafe position six nights a week and then it feel through and now I am glad. Jeebus. I vary my times and days that I clean these buildings just because I am alone, I am more and more cleaning them during daylight whereas I used to go regularly at 3 or 4 in the morning. That is some scary stuff, thanks for the heads up. You keep safe as well. :hug: :hug: :hug:

[some guy]

7. silverware

I get hand cramps trying to use chopsticks. :blush:
Plus the food gets cold before I'mn a tenth of the way thorugh it, because I'm so slow, and uncoordinated with 'em.



I don't remember ever being invited to someone else's table when eating out, but I think I would probably decline; especially if I had to eat with chopsticks... :P

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. One's hand cramps until one is used to chopsticks

After that, it's the easiest thing in the world.

[Scout]

44. hey, I'm glad I know that now, 'cuz my hand always cramps! n/t

[some guy]

45. No pain no (rice) grain, eh?

:P

So you think I should stick with it until I can actually use chopsticks?

I do have some around home, and I do eat lots of wok food, so I guess I could keep at it...

:hi:

[Left Is Write]

9. A little from column A, a little from column B.

[jpgray]

10. Depends what's there, if I'm at someone's house, etc. But normally I go with what I'm familiar with

And that's silverware.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. Choopsticks only. I hate silverware. And silverware with Chinese - impossible.

I prefer chopsticks for pretty much everything, and for the most part (though not always) cook in a way that I can use chopsticks. Except steaks, of course. :yum:

[Flaxbee]

12. chopsticks, but I have a crisis of conscience about throwing

out chopsticks b/c I don't think trees should be cut down for chopsticks (I don't think tree should be used for toilet paper, either - we should be smart enough to make tp out of kudzu or something else that grows like crazy).

Anyway. I bring them home with me and wash them. I realize I should just get a nice 'permanent' pair that I carry with me, and I probably will. But my silverware drawer is full of washed chopsticks that I couldn't throw away.

Rather weird, I know. Can't help it. :shrug:

[Jamastiene]

20. Years ago, my aunt and I found a decorative bird cage

made entirely out of chopsticks and bamboo skewers. That's one idea on what to do with all those chopsticks if you like to do crafts. For the record, I think most chopsticks are made out of bamboo anyhow, which grows almost as profusely as kudzu. Trust me. Anyone who has ever had bamboo growing at the edge of their yard knows that it's extremely tough to control, much like kudzu.

I agree with you, btw, about the environmental concerns, but wanted to mention that many chopsticks are made out of something that isn't going to go extinct anytime soon.

[Flaxbee]

32. ok. whew. I know bamboo, as a grass, can grow something

incredible like 3 feet a day if the circumstances are ideal.

thanks! :hi: Maybe now I won't feel so guilty next time I get my veggie fried rice....

[Jamastiene]

38. My aunt was stationed in Japan in 1960 while she was a WAC.

A nice family that she met while stationed there gave her a set of the non disposable kind of chopsticks. I finally talked her into letting me keep them with my pretty things/keepsakes. They came in a pretty lacquered box that fits them perfectly. I would say that if you do still want a set of non disposables, just shopping for them can be very pleasing to the eye. Some of them are absolutely gorgeous. The boxes they come in aren't too shabby either.

For the record, the way you can tell for sure about whether chopsticks are bamboo or not, is to take a close look. If the wood is very lightweight yet very strong, and if the grain of it is almost stringy in appearance, it's probably bamboo.

In any case, I like your ideas and I love the fact that you care about the environment. It's the little things that really count sometimes. Keep up the good work. :thumbsup:

[FloridaJudy]

47. You can get gorgoeus chopsticks

In almost all Asian grocery stores. I usually have a bamboo pair around the kitchen as a household tool. Drop a piece of jewelry down the sink? Lose a dog toy under the sofa? Voila! I don't use those for eating take-out, though (dog and drain germs - ugh). For that I use the pretty plastic or wood ones.

[hatredisnotavalue]

14. kind of a funny story

my daughter and I, we are whiter than white, went to lunch at the largest Chinese restaurant in the area and were eating our food with chopsticks. We were sitting next to a large table with about 20 Chinese grandparents, parents and kids. They were all using silverware. The children saw us eating with chopsticks and just kept staring at as. We knew they were talking about us using chopsticks because after they talked to their parents and grandparents in Chinese, they were soon delivered chopsticks and they stopped looking at us.

[SoxFan]

15. I can barely use a pencil without injuring myself

So I stick with plastic flatware, thank you very much.

[Jamastiene]

16. I don't care what someone else uses to eat Chinese food.

They could use their fingers for all I care. As long as they don't touch my damn plate, they can use whatever they wish. I use silverware. It took a long time for my mother to get my whole face out of my plate growing up. Since then I have gotten quite proficient with forks, knives, and spoons.

If I had been in your situation, that guy would have likely lost in eye with my fork when I pointed it at him and told him to mind his own damn business. My food, my money bought it, my plate, my dinner, back the fuck off, buster. O8)

I'm not nice when anyone interrupts me while I am eating. :evilgrin:

[idgiehkt]

22. roflmao

I'm glad the semester is over, I'd forgotten how funny you are!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Jamastiene]

39. I am too.

That had to be the most horrible semester I have ever had. I ended up with my second and third B since entering college. I'm so happy my engineering days are over for now. I'm moving into web technology next.

I love to make people laugh. :pals:

[cwydro]

64. Love it!

great answer!

[AlCzervik]

17. Chopsticks always, it takes me longer to eat so i don't eat as much.

[SmokingJacket]

18. Silverware.

I grew up using it, and chopsticks are awkward for me, and give my hands cramps.

I wouldn't look down on or disrespect an Asian person for using chopsticks on western food, so I feel it's okay.

Also... I went through a period in my social life when there was a lot of snobbish pressure to use chopsticks... so silverware is my small rebellion!

I'd say okay to the stranger... but I think it's weird. I like to be alone.

[tonekat]

21. Depends on mood and food

I have noticed that people who are a lot more agile with chopsticks than I am sometimes use them held together and employ them like a "shovel" for rice, holding the bowl with the rice close to the mouth. I think I prefer silverware for that task but that's me.

[wildhorses]

23. chopsticks, left-handed

is that so very wrong:shrug:

[SPKrazy]

25. are you left handed?

if not then i am doubly impressed, i am impressed by people who eat with chopsticks.

i would likely starve if required to use them

as it is

i would rather use silverware...

is that so wrong?

:rofl:

[wildhorses]

26. yes, i am left handed but, some cultures see using the left hand

to eat with as very rude :shrug:

by all means use your silverware:)

[SPKrazy]

28. not just "rude"

but in some culture it is the "wiping" hand

the eating hand is the right hand

so the unclean hand is the wrong hand

:shrug:

rude

crude

socially unacceptable

but you aren't ;)

:pals:

[wildhorses]

29. well, i was trying to be delicate about it --

but, yes. i do not know if the asian culture looks at the left hand with such disdain but, i believe the arabaic cultures consider it very 'unhealthy'.

thanks:pals:

:blush:

[SPKrazy]

31. i guess i don't know either

although asia is a large continent and some parts of it i believe do consider that to be unclean.

:pals:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. Not a problem in China or Japan, except that they think it's weird

Until a couple of decades ago, Japanese schools forced all children to write right-handed, so the sight of me using chopsticks left-handed freaked some people out.

[wildhorses]

54. i have often wondered about that, thanks lydia.

it seems i read somewhere they (like we also in previous generations)preferred the right hand.

[swag]

27. I use spoons for the steamed dumplings and soup, and chopsticks for everything else.

[lizerdbits]

30. I have to use silverware

The last time I used chopsticks I got so fed up with my inability to use chopsticks I had to resort to stabbing the food with them. Can't really do that to rice....

[wildhorses]

33. just now read the whole op...as for your bonus question --

i would have to decide that on a case by case basis. my first instinct is that it is a nice gesture and old-timey and i like that but, nowadays life ain't so simple is it?

:hug:

:hi:

[idgiehkt]

34. true, plus telling me I have bad Chinese-food-eating table manners

isn't a good way to endear yourself to me. Not that I would have accepted if he hadn't insulted me first, because I don't even go on first dates with people I know where you have to eat food in front of them. :hi:

[wildhorses]

36. yeah, that would be a definite turn-off for me, also.

but, i am so damn ornery (depending on my mood) i might just have to eat with him just so i could swap insults:evilgrin:

i doubt this happens at lunch time...this is more usual late night behavior after i have had several libations;)

so, you are sensitive about eating food in front of strangers? i can get that way sometimes...but, i LOVE to eat so i usually get over it pretty quickly:P

[grace0418]

35. Chopsticks mostly, unless it's soupy. My husband always chuckles when he sees

people using chopsticks at Thai and Filipino restaurants though. He's Filipino, and Filipinos and Thai eat with spoons mostly. Not chopsticks.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

42. My Thai friends in Japan told me that they use chopsticks only when

eating Chinese food.

[av8rdave]

37. Chopsticks. When in Rome...

[gemdem]

43. I lack the dexterity to use chopsticks

Clumsy that way I am. :shrug:

[Redstone]

46. The guy sitting behind you was a pretentious asshole for making that comment.

I know how to use chopsticks. I prefer not to. Any stranger who wants to judge me for that is less-than-cordially invited to kiss my ass.

Redstone

[FloridaJudy]

48. Was the guy Chinese?

If so, I expect he was offering to show you how to "cut up" a piece of Chinese food with chop-sticks. It takes two people: one grabs one edge of the egg fu yung or fish (for example) with his chopsticks, and the other grabs the other side, and they gently pull it apart.

I personally prefer to eat alone rather than with strangers, so I'd have politely declined - and continued to surreptitiously saw unmanageable chunks of food apart with the edge of my hot-and-sour soup spoon.

BTW, if that guy was a devout Confucian, he really did believe that cutting up Chinese food after it's been prepared is a sin. Confucians forbid the use of sharp utensils at meals. They believe it's less likely to tempt one to injure fellow diners. I've often wondered what Confucius' family was like: mine was pretty dysfunctional, but we still made it through many an acrimonious holiday dinner without homicide.

But even if he was a practicing Confucian, I'd think it was rude to point that out to someone that doesn't share his faith.

[idgiehkt]

49. interesting

he wasn't Chinese or Asian but I bet you anything that that is what he was alluding to, the confucian stuff because he looked and sounded really smart. Thanks for the info. :hi:

[Nicole]

50. I use silverware in restaurants, chopsticks at home.

I don't want to make a mess in public, I save that for at home. At home I can clean up the mess before anyone else sees it. :rofl:

As for your bonus question: Yes, I have joined strangers at their table in the past. I have even invited strangers to sit at mine. Would I do it now? Probably not.

[MsKandice01]

51. I have absolutely no problem with asking for silverware

I am a messy enough eater with a regular knife and fork. I'm constantly dropping something on my shirt (or on my "shelf", as my friend likes to call it).

[barb162]

52. I was never able to use chopsticks

[BluePatriot]

53. Chopsticks!

I use chopsticks now but used a fork when I was younger. I just decided to learn one time and now I have great fun with it. *shrug*

[eyepaddle]

55. I am perfectly capable of using chopsticks, but choose silverware

First, if you are diggin a hole, which end of the shovel moves the soil? And second, Americans generally use chopsticks like a different kind of silverware, with the plate sitting on the table and face a fair distance from the food and individual pieces are transported the whole way, one at a time.

If I'm gonna fuck up a tradition I might as well not do any halfway measures.

I will make exceptions however, like the time I was at a Japanese restaurant and was informed that the air mixing/temperature profile brought about by "slurping" was essential to truly taste the food as it was meant to be tasted. That's an important reason. If I'm just having a plate of Szechuan Duck at the local Hunan though it'll be fork and spoon.

[crim son]

56. Chopsticks.

I have lots of them at home to eat home-made Chinese/Japanese/whatever food, too.

[bridgit]

57. silverware...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

58. Plastic sporks

no doubt made in china. I like being authentic about my ethnic cuisine.

[Lil Missy]

59. Chinese with sliverware. Sushi with chopsticks.

And I can barely hold sushi with chopsticks. I have two left hands and always make a mess. I'd NEVER be able to hold rice.

[NewWaveChick1981]

60. Chopsticks.

:) I learned to use them when I spent the summer in Hawaii in 1983. I'm pretty good with them too.

[Beausoleil]

61. I used chopsticks for the first time recently

and I'm over 50. Did pretty good. Left-handed, too.

[TommyO]

62. Chopsticks, most definitely!

I started using them when I found that I actually do like, make that love, sushi. Forks are definitely not appropriate for that. When I have Chinese food, I always make sure that I grab chopsticks as well. I've also stocked my cutlery drawer with a big pack of disposable bamboo chopsticks, though I have my eye on some very nice, and very expensive, hand-crafted chopsticks.

[Arkansas Granny]

63. I use silverware. I'm chopstick challenged, so if I want to get any

in my mouth, I have to use silverware. My DIL recently got me a device that's kinda like training wheels for chopsticks, so I guess she plans on training me before her parents come over for a visit.