Eating with chopsticks simplified

chopsticks

The Chinese and Japanese cuisines are one of the most popular cuisines around the globe today. One aspect of these cuisines that intrigues many people is the use of chopsticks to eat the many dishes these cuisines have to offer. The chopsticks are always in a pair, and the two partners in a pair are of the same length and taper at one end. Though these chopsticks originated in China, they are traditionally used to eat foods in the Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese cultures. It is indeed a marvel to see the people from the above-mentioned cultures to scoop food so smoothly between a pair of sticks and that too quite quickly.

In India as well, the Chinese and Japanese cuisines have many fans. However, hardly any people really make use of chopsticks to relish this cuisine. So, if you want to enjoy these cuisines in true way then why not try your hand at using chopsticks. Sounds a tough thing to do? Well, I do not think so. A little patience, a little effort and lots of enthusiasm are just what you need to master the movement of chopsticks between your fingers.

Therefore, let’s get started on this eating with chopsticks lesson.
Step I: Begin with holding one chopstick at its broad end between the palm and the base of the thumb and support its tapering end with the help of the fourth/ring finger. The thumb is used to move the stick down while the ring finger is used to move it up to give it the correct position. Once this position is determined, the stick should be stationary and very stable.

Step II: The second chopstick should be held using the tips of the thumb, index and middle fingers to mimic the holding of the stick like a pen. It is important that the tips of the two sticks line up.

Step III: Rotate the upper stick up and down towards the stationary lower stick and it is with this movement one can pick up food easily and lodge it into the mouth.

Some points to remember while using chopsticks:

Put down the chopsticks in front of you with the tips to left when you are done eating or you are not using the chopsticks.
Do not use your chopsticks like fork.
Do not wave your chopsticks in the air, point them at something or someone, or play with them
Bowls and plates should not be moved around the table with the help of chopsticks.
In the event you have already used your chopsticks for eating, then make use of the opposite end of your chopsticks to move food from a shared plate to your own plate.
It is not considered appropriate to stick chopsticks into rice because it is at funerals chopsticks are stuck into the rice that is placed on the altar.
It is bad manners to pass food with your chopsticks to some other person’s chopsticks directly. The reason being that at funerals the bones of the cremated individual are given in that manner from person to person.

Image: Bookofjoe

Source: Wikipedia, Japan-guide

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