The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss - Latest Comments in How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Gennaro — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:18:48 -0000

Best thing about chopsticks is that it tends to slow down the eating process. More appreciation for the cuisine that way.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

jim — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:50:47 -0000

With respect to the sticking chopsticks in rice, I was always told that it was because it resembled incense sticks in a bowl of stand, which is typically used in memorials and other rituals.

Another no-no is for two people to take food from a single bowl at the same time, or someone holding down a piece of food as another pulls from it (say separating pieces from one another), again for the same reasons as why you shouldn't pass food from chopstick to chopstick

Great notes on etiquette though, you don't see many people write about that enough.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Eric — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:24:27 -0000

Tim,
What is your Pandora playing? How many stations do you have listed?

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Rusty Moore — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:08:21 -0000

Tim,

I learned using chopsticks, by not allowing myself to use a fork or spoon for 30 days, but that video is very helpful.

You have crazy pen skills.

Do you know how to "walk" a coin down your hand. I always wanted to know how to do that with a quarter.

Love this stuff!

Rusty

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Shane — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:43:35 -0000

Tim,

Great chopstick video. Unfortunately I learned by having them around at a bank job when I was younger and just had them in my hand all day for a week.

I was more curious what you guys had on your table there in Vietnam??

It looks great!

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Lesley Carol — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:27:15 -0000

Good tips - as noted there are various techniques in chopstick manipulation. Who eats sushi with chopsticks? Use your fingers.

When I was ten, a Chinese waiter promised me that he could teach me to use chopsticks by the end of the meal. Amazingly, he did. Perhaps his ploy of not serving another dish until I had used my chopsticks successfully, did the trick!

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Lai — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:24:13 -0000

Chopstick is more convenient for me. While eating noodle in soup, if I use chopstick I can firmly hold them and put them into my mouth. if I use fork, when i lift the noodle, it may fall down and will spill the soup onto my clothes.... If you hold it correctly, you could just cut noodles with chopstick. And this looks so amazing that I learn the correct way to hold chopsticks.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Bkid — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:10:35 -0000

Great tips... lol...left handed chopsticks.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Sa1ntc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:41:47 -0000

Great tip.

I hold my chopsticks in a different way and I only realised it recently when I saw a Thomas the Tank training chopsticks. Someone showed me which finger goes where. I still do my old way but will try to relearn the "correct" way soon.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean food just doesn't taste the same without chopsticks with the exception of soup of course. That's not a normal spoon, but that's another story.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

skatoolaki — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:17:05 -0000

Thank you so much for this - the use of chopsticks has alluded me for years! On a trip to our favorite sushi restaurant here in Baton Rouge, the server took one look at me and offered to tie the top of my chopsticks together to make it easier for me. Apparently my chopstick ineptitude was written all over my face. ^_^ Using them that way did teach me a few tricks, but I still wasn't able to master the technique and felt I may never. Tonight I'm going to break out a pair of chopsticks from a sushi serving set I have and practice with this video 'til I look like an old pro. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge & helping others.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

CaptRobLee — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:31:20 -0000

Fun post Tim.

Informative chopstick video and instructions. Unfortunately, I'm left-handed and I've never been able to find any left-handed chopsticks!!! ;-)

Arrrrrr. Captain Rob

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

vvvlad — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:25:14 -0000

Nice videos... :)
FYI, all these have names!
Check out this site for all the info: http://www.pentrix.com/

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Peter — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:21:25 -0000

There's not "japanese" way of using a pair of chopsticks. The lady next to you were just doing it wrong. As for your method, you're wrong about holding it between your pinky and ring finger. It should rest on top of your ring finger with your thumb pressing on it to hold it there.

Many rural area-ed/young children in Asia tend to use incorrect methods of holding the chopsticks, as are Western countries with pencil holding.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Simon — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:59:44 -0000

Hey - I know this sounds like a weird stalker post, but what pandora station were you listening to? I'm not even sure why I'm curious.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Dan Massicotte — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:33:31 -0000

Cool! Nice to have some fun (maybe useless if we're talking about the pen) info on stuff we know we all do.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Aw Guo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 09:23:49 -0000

My grandpa was always blaming me for sticking straight my chopstick in my rice as a place holder when I was very young.. That's really not a good action in China.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Dwayne Phillips — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:25:54 -0000

Years ago while stay in Asia for a few months at a time, I learned to eat with chopsticks left handed. There are very few people in the world who can do this. The reason is that the culture says "you eat right handed." This has nothing to do with the toilet as many suppose. Some of these same cultures also say "you write right handed."

Try the left hand for a while to test your technique.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

warcraft gold — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:34:00 -0000

This is the best tip ever - "Bring your rice bowl closer to the serving dish with your free hand to cut down on distance and potential for splatter disaster" I've been doing this for a long time and it really improves the way I handle the chopstick , and I guess it's a trick.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Okizoo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:29:38 -0000

You guys are obviously not sitting at the cool table.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

chopchop — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:47:34 -0000

I am asian and i learned how to use chopsticks just like every kids in asia. My grandparents told me the fastest way to teach a 2 years old to wield chopsticks was to give him/her no alternative at the table. Competition for foods at dinner with hungry and greedy siblings alone will prove to be the best teacher of all.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Hunter Nuttall — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:32:28 -0000

I thought "the helicopter" was called "the thumb around," and "the drummer" was called "the charge." But whatever the names, they look cool!

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Andy Fossett — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:10:53 -0000

Nice. I grew up eating Chinese and Japanese food pretty often, so I already had it down before I moved to Japan. What I wasn't prepared for was Japanese people making a huge deal out of it. For example:

Japanese coworker: Wow! Andy! Oh my god, I can't believe you can use chopsticks - that's amazing!

Me: Really? I've used them all my life.

JC: I can't believe it! Hey, everyone look. Andy can use chopsticks. Isn't that great?

Me: Yeah, whatever. By the way, do you know how to use a fork?

JC: Of course, what do you mean?

Me: Wow! Great! etc...

Older Japanese people learned a good bit of nihonjinron in school, so they may have a hard time when confronted with evidence that non-Asians can learn their language and manipulate their tools. Younger people, on the other hand, tend to expect foreigners to figure Japan out rather quickly (which isn't all that unreasonable).

Anyway, cool post.

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Wendy Kenney — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:35:58 -0000

Makes me hungry just watching!!

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Julia — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:46:49 -0000

Tim, great trips in general. And I do enjoy reading your blog.
This time, I do not think you nailed it exactly. In Japan--and looks like people at your table--people use chopsticks this way: the bottom chopstick rests on your fourth (or ring) finger, not on the pinky. And the top chopstick is held the same way as you hold a pen, between second and third fingers. There are some variations from country to country, but pinky is never really used.

Cheers,
J

Re: How to Use Chopsticks - Become an Expert in 90 Seconds

Jose Castro — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:40:35 -0000

........Oh, and yes it works : ) I have adopted that style since learning it that day. Thanks again Tim!

Cheers

Jose