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Do you eat (East) Asian food with a fork or spoon rather than chopsticks?
- Thread starter DiipuSurotu
- Start date
I do not know about any other Asian country but...
In China, it is normal to lift the bowl and bend down your head to eat your food, especially rice. We also just push the last few kernels of rice into our mouths.
I think a lot of westerners think we have these mad skillz where we lift loose kernels of fried rice off a plate with a chopstick and deliver bites to our mouths while maintaining a perfectly erect posture like western dining or something. Not really. We have different table manners that are more conducive to using chopsticks to eat rice from a bowl and chopped up dishes from common plates.
Giant plate of Yangzhou fried rice? There is usually a ceramic (or plastic these days) spoon for that.
In China, it is normal to lift the bowl and bend down your head to eat your food, especially rice. We also just push the last few kernels of rice into our mouths.
I think a lot of westerners think we have these mad skillz where we lift loose kernels of fried rice off a plate with a chopstick and deliver bites to our mouths while maintaining a perfectly erect posture like western dining or something. Not really. We have different table manners that are more conducive to using chopsticks to eat rice from a bowl and chopped up dishes from common plates.
Giant plate of Yangzhou fried rice? There is usually a ceramic (or plastic these days) spoon for that.
I just have my servant person drop the food into my mouth. Isn't that the way food is meant to be eaten?
This. The poll is flawed and biased.
"Whatever is appropriate to the cuisine."
basically where I'm at with it. My group of friends were predominantly Asian growing up so I put forth the effort to learn so that I didn't look like a rube if we ever went to one of the many local restaurants we would hit up.
depends where i am. At home, forks most of the time (easier to grab a fork vs digging around for two matching chopsticks lol). At the restaurant, chopstick 100% of the time
I eat with the tools available. That often means chopsticks, sometimes means fork, and back when I lived in Korea often seemed to be chopsticks, knife, and spoon for whatever reason.
I'm East Asian native but I would admit I'm bad at using chopsticks and would rather use a spoon if I could.
I think the material used for producing chopsticks matters too. Chopsticks made from bamboos are the best. The extra friction from the surface of bamboo sticks make it so much easier to pick up stuff. They are extremely light-weight, and very comfortable to be held.
Bamboo sticks are more environmental friendly as well. Bamboos grow extremely fast so unlike wooden sticks, we don't have to destroy forests to make them. They are also more easily decomposed compare to plastic and stainless steel ones.
Plastic and stainless steel chopsticks are the worst. Environment impacts aside, the slippery surfaces on them make them infinitely harder to use, and the weight is all wrong. In restaurants that only provide plastic/stainless steel chopsticks, I would prefer to use spoon instead.
Bamboo sticks are more environmental friendly as well. Bamboos grow extremely fast so unlike wooden sticks, we don't have to destroy forests to make them. They are also more easily decomposed compare to plastic and stainless steel ones.
Plastic and stainless steel chopsticks are the worst. Environment impacts aside, the slippery surfaces on them make them infinitely harder to use, and the weight is all wrong. In restaurants that only provide plastic/stainless steel chopsticks, I would prefer to use spoon instead.
Spoon for rice, but chopsticks for everything else... aside from when I go to something like a steakhouse
I'm not a fan of the thick/flat ended disposable chopsticks. Much prefer the ones that come to a point - way easier for separating things
Chopsticks for nearly everything.
If it's a plated dish then chopsticks plus spoon. Or if it's something like Pho or ramen then it's chopsticks and spoon.
If it's com tam dat biet then it's knife and spoon or knife and fork depending on my mood.
If it's a plated dish then chopsticks plus spoon. Or if it's something like Pho or ramen then it's chopsticks and spoon.
If it's com tam dat biet then it's knife and spoon or knife and fork depending on my mood.
OP
OP
I wish I were better with chop sticks. I can do sushi all right, and bite-sized pieces of chicken and veggies. But rice? (or bigger items?) forget about it.
Sure. Some examples. If you want to look for them, I would recommend against using videos specifically about one person eating, because those can be a bit exaggerated for effect.
1. Starts eating around 5:25
2. Starts from 0:00
3. Starts from 0:00
Generally, you can see that we bend down and lift the bowls a lot, partly to avoid dropping things and partly because it is annoying to move the chopstick a huge amount of distance repeatedly.
Needs a most of the time option!
I mostly use chopsticks with SE Asian food but get lazy and resort to a fork at times. Not for sushi, though. Not for East Asian food either.
Once you get the hang of eating rice or slippery stuff like maybe soupy wontons with chopsticks you can do most foods. I find the thick plastic chopsticks harder to use too.
Definitely took me a while in my teens to get my stumpy white boy fingers holding them even vaguely right.
I mostly use chopsticks with SE Asian food but get lazy and resort to a fork at times. Not for sushi, though. Not for East Asian food either.
Once you get the hang of eating rice or slippery stuff like maybe soupy wontons with chopsticks you can do most foods. I find the thick plastic chopsticks harder to use too.
Definitely took me a while in my teens to get my stumpy white boy fingers holding them even vaguely right.
Chopsticks only if I'm at a restaurant and that's what they give me by default.
Fork or spoon is just easier and quicker to use in every single situation.
Fork or spoon is just easier and quicker to use in every single situation.
It depends.
Usually I use chopsticks but when it becomes too difficult (some noodles or small vegetables) I put my pride aside and use a fork.
Usually I use chopsticks but when it becomes too difficult (some noodles or small vegetables) I put my pride aside and use a fork.