Cynthetiq

Do you need to eat with chopsticks for Chinese or Japanese food? Some people even wrongly think that 'sticks are used for Thai food also. (No, fork and spoon please.)

Does it not "taste" or "feel" right? How do you feel if you don't have access to 'sticks?

I don't get it, but some of my friends cannot eat Chinese or Japanese food without breaking out a pair of chopsticks.

Me, it's food. I feel most comfortable with a fork and spoon, but fork and knife works well for me too.

But chopsticks, I can take them or leave them. In fact if I'm really hungry, no chopsticks at all for sure.

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jewels

Chinese: A fork is fine.
Japanese: I think it's illegal to use anything but chopsticks.

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Willravel

Need? No. Want? Yes. I'd use chopsticks with cereal if I could.

onesnowyowl

I prefer to use chopsticks when eating Chinese or Japanese food, especially noodles. But no, I don't need them. Our favorite Chinese restaurant doesn't put chopsticks on the table; you have to ask for them. I don't bother as I'm usually too hungry to care.

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Daval

Need? No. Want? Yes.

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anti fishstick

i am more likely to use chopsticks with japanese food, particularly sushi. i just use a fork for chinese. besides, chinese restauarants don't usually have chopsticks as readily available, or i would use that instead.

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Jozrael

Honestly, I love chopsticks. That might be because of the novelty since I only use them rarely though, a couple times a year. But they're so useful.

When I was a kid I didn't like them because I wasn't manually dextrous enough to really utilize them properly. Years of videogaming have trained my fingers properly now, though

sapiens

I don't need them, but I prefer them. Reminds me of going out for Dim Sum with my friends in college. Looking around the table, chopsticks, chopsticks, chopsticks, chopsticks, chopsticks, fork/knife/spoon. Everyone was given chopsticks except me. My friend told me "You no need chopsticks, round eye!" (I was the only Caucasian at the table).

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genuinegirly

I like using them when I get a chinese dish with noodles - much quicker to consume with chopsticks. Rice, though... haven't quite figured it out.

I rarely eat Japanese food.

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lostgirl

You don't need to, but some people are snobs about it.

I'm glad I learned to use them.

Manic_Skafe

I'm a total snob about it - sticks with anything Asian.

Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese....

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roachboy

i prefer chopsticks with most asian food, but i wouldn't say i need them necessarily. they're just easier to manage.

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Daniel_

Chopsticks impose a tempo on the meal.

It is not possible for most westerners to wolf down their food with 'sticks as fast as with irons and that makes it be savoured.

I'm a southpaw, and when I was in Asia my hosts were fascinated with left-stick-using white guy.

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twistedmosaic

Any Asian cuisine that is prepared in bite-sized morsels ready for chopsticking should be eaten with chopstick. I see no reason for it to be folded/spindled/mutilated with fork knife and spoon.

Also, I wish it was appropriate to eat Italian pasta with chopsticks...it's so much easier!

Charlatan

I typically use what's on offer... Here the custom changes from cuisine to cuisine. Malays and Indian are typically a hand only affair (though a fork and spoon are OK too). There are also times when it is chopsticks and a chinese spoon (don't put the chopsticks in your mouth, you put the food in your spoon and that goes into your mouth). Other times a fork... but rarely a knife.

I have grown comfortable with any form of cutlery (or lack thereof).

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noodle

yes. i actually tend to drop more food on myself with a fork when consuming asian cuisine.
i really wish they had them at the indian restaurants, too.
i think it's the rice and noodle thing.

i'd eat my cereal with chopsticks too, will.

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KellyC

Hey, where is Vietnamese food in the list??



Chopsticks are my preference since I've been using them my whole life. I feel weird using a fork to pick up the food.

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CinnamonGirl

I have not yet mastered chopsticks... so I always use a fork.

One day, though...one day.

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Eweser

I try to use chopsticks, but I'm not very good at it. It's fun to me because it's different than what I use 99.99% of the time.

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dlish

asian=chopsticks

anything else - depends on what it is.

arabic food has some dishes that are a hand only affair too. with bread. i use a fork and knife for 99% of my meals...unless its a kebab..or cold pizza

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jorgelito

Wait, how do you eat cereal with chopsticks?
-----Added 25/9/2008 at 09 : 27 : 07-----
That's a bad sign if there are no chopsticks on the table. The good Chinese restaurants (the ones that cater to Chinese people and not white people) have chopsticks on the table, menus in Chinese, and dubious sanitation.
-----Added 25/9/2008 at 09 : 29 : 20-----
Yeah, if you see a fork at a Chinese restaurant, then it's a bad sign. You must live in an area with very few Asians/Chinese people. The good restaurants all have chopsticks on the table. Ditto if they give you plates instead of bowls.

For all you fork people, how the heck do you eat with it? I find it impossible to eat Chinese food with a fork.

Oh and also to clarify, sushi is actually meant to be eaten with your hands.

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onesnowyowl

Given that I live in a college town of 50,000 people, there really aren't many native Chinese to cater to.

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jorgelito

Yes having a lefty at the table is disruptive to the harmony of the dining experience. Chinese cuisine is eaten at round tables, the perfect shape for harmony, balance, and equality. Very zen. As a result, a left hander at a table of right handers will bump elbows with the person at their left and disrupt the flow, rhythm, and harmony of the table. We usually have the left hander eat with their right hand.
-----Added 25/9/2008 at 09 : 32 : 55-----
I actually do eat Italian pasta with chopsticks! Much better.

My dad eats his pizza with his chopsticks.
-----Added 25/9/2008 at 09 : 33 : 32-----
Have you had Palestinian pizza?

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LoganSnake

Need? No. Want? No. Can't use them to save my life? Yes.

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Katyanna

I can't say I have to have them, I will go either way. Sometimes I am in the mood to use the chopsticks, other times I am not. I also would base my decision on what I happened to order. Some foods I find rather challenging to eat with chopsticks others I wouldn't try.

Medusa

I have never mastered the art of using chopsticks. Fork, please.

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