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chopsticks

yukio_michael said:
The other thing though, about recycling, is that Japan seems to produce a lot of excess in packaging. You can often buy candy or sweets, crackers, cookies, that sort of thing and you'll find that sometimes each individual cookie itself is wrapped--- I thought this was genius for saltine-crackers, because they always get stale, but for that they ususally put them in pack of 5 or 6... still, a single individually wrapped cookie is a bit much.

This ain't really a exclusive Japan problem, the rest of the western world do this to a pretty extensive length too.
 
ullvarg said:
This ain't really a exclusive Japan problem, the rest of the western world do this to a pretty extensive length too.
The United States has in the past 10 yeas made decent strides in reducing excess packaging.

Packaging in the United States for food goods is no where near the excess to what Japan practices, in fact I'd say the idea of things being individually wrapped is fairly frowned upon, and rare--- notably it is similar on say--- consumer electronics, household items etc.

On the other hand, in Japan you are usually garunteed to pay more money to get less. Say 99 yen for 3 slices of ham. Every three slices of ham, you have excess packaging. There is no food or goods in 'bulk', so you really cant reduce packaging by buying more of it for less.

In fact the entire idea of saving money by buying more in Japan is anathema. The only way to save money in Japan, is not to spend it, I suppose.
 
yukio_michael said:
The United States has in the past 10 yeas made decent strides in reducing excess packaging.
Packaging in the United States for food goods is no where near the excess to what Japan practices, in fact I'd say the idea of things being individually wrapped is fairly frowned upon, and rare--- notably it is similar on say--- consumer electronics, household items etc.
On the other hand, in Japan you are usually garunteed to pay more money to get less. Say 99 yen for 3 slices of ham. Every three slices of ham, you have excess packaging. There is no food or goods in 'bulk', so you really cant reduce packaging by buying more of it for less.
In fact the entire idea of saving money by buying more in Japan is anathema. The only way to save money in Japan, is not to spend it, I suppose.

Totaly agree with you, i still cant get over the fact the japanese idea of bread is 6 slices in a bag, when in the west you can sometimes buy two or three whole loafs for around a dollar/pound.

In japan food shopping is basically going to the supermarket every evening just to keep up stocks of what i would considor basic food stuffs, while in britain its entirely possible to go to the supermarket on a saturday, and survive comfortably on the food from that shop until next saturday.

Though, moving on to my next point, how does this relate to chopsticks?.
 
We have these big warehouse markets called Sams Club and Costco. We go there once a month for lots of stuff that doesn't spoil- and buy in bulk. It is hard to get out of there without spending $200 or more.

Chopsticks- how about jello? can you eat jello with chopsticks?
 
yukio_michael said:
The other thing though, about recycling, is that Japan seems to produce a lot of excess in packaging. You can often buy candy or sweets, crackers, cookies, that sort of thing and you'll find that sometimes each individual cookie itself is wrapped--- I thought this was genius for saltine-crackers, because they always get stale, but for that they ususally put them in pack of 5 or 6... still, a single individually wrapped cookie is a bit much.
That bothers me too. Everything comes in about 5 times as much packaging as you actually need.:eek:
 
nurizeko said:
Though, moving on to my next point, how does this relate to chopsticks?.
I think that you originaly said something about disposable chopsticks, and then maybe I branched off on that about recycling, and so on and so on...

I think.
 
yukio_michael said:
The United States has in the past 10 yeas made decent strides in reducing excess packaging.
Packaging in the United States for food goods is no where near the excess to what Japan practices, in fact I'd say the idea of things being individually wrapped is fairly frowned upon, and rare--- notably it is similar on say--- consumer electronics, household items etc.
On the other hand, in Japan you are usually garunteed to pay more money to get less. Say 99 yen for 3 slices of ham. Every three slices of ham, you have excess packaging. There is no food or goods in 'bulk', so you really cant reduce packaging by buying more of it for less.
In fact the entire idea of saving money by buying more in Japan is anathema. The only way to save money in Japan, is not to spend it, I suppose.

nurizeko said:
japanese idea of bread is 6 slices in a bag

And I thought Us was mad when wrapping cookies in a piece of plastic then put allot of the single packages in a big bag, but from what your posts say I'm making the assumption that japan I way worse(especially since bulk package ain't an option)
 
I never really new there was any etiquette to using chopsticks until I grabbed the same piece of meat someone else was trying to get while eating shabushabu, which seems to bad luck because of it's relation to a funeral tradition. there's a little info at http://www.seekjapan.jp/page1.php?id=402, seems there's more to using chopsticks than most people think.
 
I eat with what ever utensil is the closest. And if the nearest utensil happens to be chopsticks, then I will attempt to eat icecream/cake/random things with them. I prefer my food in my mouth, I'm not very picky about how it gets there, though. :devilish:
 
BamaFan2989 said:
Hey guys! I have a question. Do you eat everything with chopsticks? I was just wondering. Also, what is Somen. I would appreciate if there were any suggestions about chopsticks.
I know this post sounds noobish, but I was wondering.
🍜


I eat with chopsticks when I can find the damn things XD;
I eat both Western and Eastern food with chopsticks whenever I can.
I like to show off that I can eat rice with them.
I really don't think I use them properly, but I'm trying! 😌
 
celtician said:
Chopsticks are for picking up large objects like a chunk of meat/fish but I prefer the more sensible Thai way of Spoon & Fork when dealing with noodles or something wet and small. Think about it chopsticks are primitive!

Chopsticks aren't just used for picking up large piece of meat or fish. There are two main types of chopstick. The Chinese and Japanese ones.

The Chinese ones are longer and has a wider tip due to the fact that Chinese eat alot of meat and need a chopstick that can perform "heavey duty" task such as dissecting a big piece of meat. The longer length also helps in exerting more force (moment). On the contrary, Japanese chopstick is shorter and has a more narrow end. This is because Japanese diet is composed of alot of fish and narrower tip is useful in picking out fish bones (small ones). Shorter length is for better for "handling" the chopstick.
 
Here is an interesting tip in finding a genuine Japanese restaurant. Japanese place the chopstick horizontally infront of them while the Chinese place them vertically. Next time when you go to a Japanese restaurant, if the chopsticks are placed vertically then it's probably operated by Chinese.
 
godppgo said:
There are two main types of chopstick. The Chinese and Japanese ones.
The Chinese ones are longer and has a wider tip due to the fact that Chinese eat alot of meat and need a chopstick that can perform "heavey duty" task such as dissecting a big piece of meat. The longer length also helps in exerting more force (moment).
Since I haven't seen many Japanese chopsticks, I can't really judge the difference. But I have seen quite a number of Chinese chopsticks, from heavy duty ones in a posh restaurant to the cheapest stuff in some small takeaway. There doesn't really seem to be one favoured style.

Dissecting a big piece of meat doesn't happen that often in Chinese cuisine, either. Most of the time the stuff is chopped into little pieces, fit for chopstick use (that's one of my main criticisms at Chinese cuisine, because I hate all those bone smithereens in the meat).
 
hahaha i like this topic becuase its a habit of mine to not eat any asian food without chopsticks.. unless its korean.. then i use the spoons because its so much easier...

and its also funny about the difference between the chinese and japanese chopsticks. I have japanese chopsticks with me but it took me some time to get used to holding them because im chinese. Then my korean roomate used my chopsticks and complained that they were too skinny because hers are like huge blocks of wood lol!!
 
Your korean friends chopsticks are like huge blocks of wood? Interesting, what part of Korea is she from? Everywhere I have been in Korea has been inundated with metal flat chopsticks. Or the 'wooden blocks' for cooking, but they really are VERY long, and not at all practical for eating with.
I would say that Chinese chopsticks (from my experience) most resemble huge blocks of wood.

I started using chopsticks when I was about 7 or 8. My father would always yell at me at the table for not using my knife and fork properly. Still cant, same with holding pens... cant do it 'proplerly'. I can however use chopsticks properly, and I was self taught!

I've even advanced enough to use my left hand too.... hahha thats just something fun to do when drinking and eating though. I'd get knocked out with somene elses elbow in my house if I tried it at home.

The other night my friend and I went out for dinner at a 'japanese' style bar thing here in Seoul. Both of us are confident in using chopsticks, and both of us speak Korean. However the next table (very close to us) decided that they must think we are stupid. So they had a nice long conversation about us, and how great we are at using chopsticks, then another girl with them was getting grumpy, coz we were better at it than her. All the while we knew what we were saying, and they just didnt stop talking and staring.
 
:LOL: :giggle: OH that just got me Kara chan....nice one....hee, hee...

I've been in that situation before, and know how either fun it can be or how worked up you can get inside before saying something--but in Japan that would cause embarressment to the other party, they would lose face, and it would end up being 'ME' who would be in the wrong. . . so silently I sit.

Yeah, after reading another post, I was just gonna say. . .hey, don't the Koreans usually use metal chopsticks? My Korean friends in college always did.

As some may recall, on the day that I was born, my father WAS in Japan. He had brought back a lot of chopsticks with him so I have had them around all my life. I have often been told that I am good with them and have no problem picking up that last grain of rice, or the dumpling out of the nabemono. (athough sometimes it does split) I basically enjoy eating with chopsticks.

My Japanese students think it funny that I use a fork for eating curry rice though, instead of a spoon.
 
There was once a Japanese woman who murdered her husband, what finally drove her to do so you ask (perhaps you didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyways). She watched him at an Italian restaurant EATING PASTA WITH CHOPSTICKS! Now that just isn't the way to eat pasta! Pasta in Japan should and ought to be eaten with a fork and spoon!

Anyways, this husband just didn't care about image at all. His wife was very image conscious, and when she found a like-minded man, she wanted out of the marriage. She opted to poison her husband if I remember correctly.

So, the moral of the story is..... use chopsticks for chopstick food, and western utensils for western food. Oh right, and also don't murder your spouse to get out of marriage, that's what divorce forms are all about.
 
LOL !!! I'll keep that in mind, and watch my back at all times...hee, hee....

One question, though. . . should I now eat my curry rice with my right hand?
 
Sometimes I really find chopstick not a very convenient design compared to fork and spoon. Even though I used chopstick all my life but most of time I find fork and spoon are actually better in picking up food. For example, I find it very difficult to pick up round-shaped food(eg, egg, meat ball) using chopstick.

Also, rice is difficult to pick up with chopstick (what?!). Let say fried rice, they are fried so they aren't sticky anymore so it's difficult to pick up a big chunk of rice intact with chopstick. You started out with a chunk of rice on your chopstick and they start to fall apart while you're moving the chunk to your mouth. By the time the chopsticks reached your mouth, there are only 1/3 or 1/4 of the original rice left when picking up from bowl.

I am always wondering about something. When I go eat at some Japanese or Chinese place, I always see some westerners trying to eat fried rice with chopstick. Like I said, I find it extremely difficult to eat fried rice with chopstick but I still see people do it. Is it just that they felt pressured to do it because they are dining at an asian restaurant? Spoon works soooo much better in eating rice... anyways just some thought, maybe I am just bad at using chopstick
 
When in Japan I do as the Japanese. Actually, recently when I was in Korea I could not get used to use the spoon for the rice. A few times kind waiters came over to show me how to use the spoon. Recently, I have learned how to swirl the hashi around in one hand when picking items from the tray - is looks cool, and I am shure the get impressed and encouraging from my Japanese friends. 👍

I guess the only things I do not use hashi for is "non-japanese" food and things which are specifically for the hands such as onigiri and temaki.
 
Mars Man said:
:My Japanese students think it funny that I use a fork for eating curry rice though, instead of a spoon.

I also prefer to use fork, and I have been wondering why? I think that it is because we as babies and small children primarily use spoon for our food. Later we "graduate" to using knife and fork. Therefore we feel that the fork is more appropriate except for soup etc.
 
godppgo said:
I am always wondering about something. When I go eat at some Japanese or Chinese place, I always see some westerners trying to eat fried rice with chopstick. Is it just that they felt pressured to do it because they are dining at an asian restaurant?

Maybe to show off?
 
Mars Man said:
Maybe to show off?

Maybe... But I guess it has more to do with wanting to blend in? Once I used chopstick to eat french fries and I don't even remember why I did that..... My gf was so embarassed by what I was doing she took my chopstick away.... Now come to think of it, what the heck was I thinking??!?!?
 
Interesting !! And funny too. . .from time to time I space-out too.

Yeah, it could be a combination of both, depending on the person about going out of the way in such a restaurant to chopsticks....
 
I ate my pasta at home with chopsticks last night... I eat everything with chopsticks at home... its just so much easier to clean them! :p
 
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