Chopsticks

[Scott & Lai 12]

Side note: the chopstick offered where I ate were metal.

I believe that is a common Korean style..

[Artegal 1]

The metal chopsticks are difficult to use--but I have a secret about chopstick usage--the best way to learn is when you are hungry!

jeje, its true the Koreans were impressed that I could like use my chopsticks--couldn't catch a fly out of the air--but I could pick up dimes and other coins with the chopsticks.

They asked me how I learned so quick and proficient--and I told them it was either go hungry or learn--motivation works wonders.

[samir_shannon 0]

them damn things are so annoying... now i am craving chinese food lol

[RosaMystica7 0]

I haven't been able to figure em out yet.

[KJandSH 0]

Side note: the chopstick offered where I ate were metal.

I believe that is a common Korean style..

Yes--Koreans almost always use metal chopsticks. The only time I ever really use wooden chopsticks in Korea is when eating ramyun. I don't know why--that's just the way my host family did it. Maybe because the noodles are slipperier than other foods.

I don't think chopsticks are a fashion statement and I don't think western utensils are better. At my house we eat with chopsticks 95% of the time (of course we eat primarily Korean food) and I'm not trying to impress my hubby when we're alone or anything.

The reason I choose chopsticks is: 1) I eat more slowly and am less prone to overeat and more likely to enjoy my meal while eating with chopsticks. and 2) there are definitely some things that are easier to pick up and eat with chopsticks.

Things easier to eat with chopsticks include:

1) salad. You know those lettuce leaves you just can't spear with a fork? Well, chopsticks work great to pick them up. Same goes for kimchi and shredded veggies in general.

2) anything you don't want to put a hole in, but don't want to pick up with fingers...like pieces of kimbap--or whatever the Japanese equivalent is called. sushi? or is that only with raw fish? Anyway, you know what I mean.

3) anything you're going to dip in communal sauce. A lot of Asian food is shared with the whole table. I really think less of the chopstick goes into the mouth than a fork and therefore less mouth saliva goes into the sauce.

4) my omelet this morning. I chose to eat it with a fork and it was a pain. When I got the chopsticks I stopped having problems.

Now, I am no chopstick genius--they were elusive little tools for me until I was 24, but once I figured them out I was totally gung-ho about using them. So much so that when I was eating my sticky rice with my chopsticks, one of the teachers at my school asked me 'why are you using chopsticks to eat your rice? We use our spoons.' (Lots of Koreans do eat rice with their spoons--especially when it's accompanied by soup.)

And the cool thing about chopsticks is that you can still use them to spear things if you really need to--like that slippery cucumber. Or you pick one up in each hand and tear things apart if you need to also--like pancakes, etc.

I think forks are cute, but chopsticks are sexy.

[Mrs. Forgetful 2]

I actually just bought a new set of chopsticks

[beccaogingi 0]

Yeah there are certain foods that are way easier to eat with chopsticks: dumplings, sushi, rice, noodles. Maybe I am biased because I have been using them since I was little, my grandmother was born in China.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

chopsticks: because i am a chopf#ck!

no, seriously... because I can! also because it has helped me along the "open mind" personal growth... you know, try different things.. not just the way momma and poppa taught me.

Daniel

:energetic: