How to eat with chopsticks

Chinese sticks

Chinese chopsticks or “Hashi” are tableware that are widely used in East Asian countries, especially in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. They are an integral part of eating utensils in China, and the Chinese were the first to use chopsticks. Some people are surprised by the method of eating with these chopsticks, as it requires experience, concentration, and mastery of some movements in using them. Chinese chopsticks are mostly made of wood or bamboo, sometimes they are made of metal, and sometimes of ivory or plastic.

The percentage of those who use Chinese chopsticks to eat is about thirty percent of the world’s population. They are used for more than one purpose while eating. They are used to hold food, cut it, stir it, and pick it up. They can also be used to remove small bones while eating fish. They replace Just like a fork and knife, there are many rules and etiquette for using these chopsticks.

types

There are several types of chopsticks, including “mioto-bashi” sticks, meaning couples’ sticks, “iwai-bashi” sticks, meaning celebration sticks, “rikyo-bashi” sticks, meaning kaiseki sticks, which is a meal eaten at tea ceremonies, and “sai-bashi” sticks, which are used in the kitchen. Only, and “Wari Bashi” sticks, which are sticks intended for use only once, then thrown away. Regardless of the different purposes for using the sticks, the shape of the Chinese sticks is the same, as they are thick at the top, which is the part that is held by the thumb and the fingers of the other hand in one hand. Not both, and it is thin at the bottom, which is the part where food is picked up and cut.

How to hold it

• We bring the first oud, hold it from the upper part, using the thumb and index finger, and place the middle finger to support the oud from the bottom.
• We bring the other stick and insert it from the palm of the thumb, so that the stick is supported on the joint of the thumb finger, or on the ring finger, at the beginning of the nail growth.
• We move the sticks in an open and closed manner, while maintaining the distance between the upper third of the sticks.

Etiquette of its use

• Do not move the chopsticks randomly, because this indicates confusion in picking up pieces of food from the plate.
• Exchanging your chopsticks with someone else's chopsticks is considered taboo.
• Do not use it to make sounds, attract people’s attention, or point at them, as this is considered very bad behavior.
• Avoid using chopsticks to move food plates.
• Avoid leaving chopsticks on the plate after you finish eating.
• Avoid using chopsticks, such as a fork, to pierce a piece of food and then pick it up, unless the chopsticks are used to cut meat and vegetables.