On 1/24/2012 8:32 AM, notbob wrote:
> On 2012-01-24, Jean > wrote:
>
>> food. Or maybe it's the wood (in my case) as vs. metal.
>
> There's some really nice chopsticks, out there. Everything from
> beautiful enameled Japanese sticks to stainless steel traveling
> sticks. I couldn't find any in my remote corner of the World, even at
> our one cooking specialty shop. They always seemed to be out or had
> forgot to order more, etc. Even a trip to Colo Sprngs to the one
> large Asian mkt was a bust, they having only cheap disposables. Last
> Summer, my patience was rewarded and I discovered a single pkg of
> twisted, cured, Chinese bamboo chopsticks (4 pr) at our little shop.
> Very nice sticks, being both simple, yet elegant. I use them almost
> daily.
>
> nb
>
I usually use washable bamboo chopsticks tho' I rather like the
disposable Japanese ones (perhaps a bit wasteful in these ecological
days.) I have to admit that we were given a set of four engraved ivory
ones as a wedding present many years ago and I do use them on special
occasions.

--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

"Jean B." wrote:
>
>My daughter prefers using chopstick. She claims she can't eat
>noodle-type things any other way. I tell her she should carry
>chopsticks with her.
>
>Moi? Some things seem better with chopsticks. Little bits of
>food. Or maybe it's the wood (in my case) as vs. metal.

There are disposable wooden forks, spoons, and cutlery too, for restos
they're much more sanitary and cost a lot less than using metal eating
utensils, and far greener than plastic. I would much prefer wooden
utensils at restos, disposable dinnerware too. Very nice looking
dinnerware is available made from plant starch, it's biodegradable and
costs but pennies each piece... costs more just to wash china dishes,
a lot more.

On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:56:59 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:

>aem wrote:
>> On Jan 19, 11:04 pm, notbob > wrote:
>>> Do you use them? For what?
>>
>> Yes, for eating and for cooking.
>>
>>> Are you proficient with them?
>>
>> Yes, after a lifetime of practice.
>>
>>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>>
>> Whenever it's convenient. In addition to the normal eating-size I
>> have a pair for cooking that are about a foot long, if not a bit
>> longer, that are useful for cooking. I think of all of them as "long
>> fingers". -aem
>>
>I wonder why I don't cook with them more? They sure would beat
>other utensils for some things. I even have some cooking chopsticks.

Obviously you don't use them because chopsticks are not all that
convenient for the type of cooking westerners do. And haven't you
ever looked into an open Asian kitchen, they move food around in woks
with metal implements, I've never seen them use chopsticks for cooking
except on foodtv.

On 2012-01-20 07:04:38 +0000, notbob said:

> Do you use them? For what?
> Are you proficient with them?
> How often? For non-Asian foods?

When I was in my early 20's in college I saw a non-asian eating with
chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant. I thought it was really cool and
sophisticated some kinda way.

I figured if everytime I ate Chinese food I used chopsticks
exclusively, I would eventually be expert. I don't know when exactly,
but some time over the next many years, it became comfortable, logical,
easy.

Over the past 20 years the wife and I became heavily involved in
Japanese culture beginning with the food. We've now been there for 2-
or 3-week vacations on six occasions. There's an old Japanese idea that
one must eat every last grain of rice in the bowl. I always do, and at
one time eating one grain at a time was a little challenge. No more.
We always get compliments on our ability to use chopsticks, which is
kind of silly.

We live near Westminster, CA (aka "Little Saigon") and so eat
Vietnamese food at least once a week, and just next to Garden Grove
which has a sizeable Korean enclave. We get lots of opportunities to
continue using chopsticks.

It doesn't seem that difficult, and as you might imagine, I can barely
remember not being able to use them. If I eat steamed rice, as I did
last night at home, I don't feel comfortable eating it with a fork. So
despite having broiled cod, steamed broccoli and a salad, I still used
the chopsticks to eat the rice.

I'll be having left-over rice today for lunch with some furikake
sprinkled on it, as I always do the day after steaming rice. I'll be
using chopsticks.
--
I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.
-- Galileo

On 2012-01-21 21:46:39 +0000, notbob said:

> On 2012-01-21, Ross@home <Ross@home> wrote:
>
>> They were very proficient with their chopsticks, deftly using them to
>> push the food onto their forks.
>
> That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard and have never witnessed such
> a preposterous exercise in my life. In short, yer a lying troll!!

I see this frequently in Japanese restaurants, but not with a fork.
They use the chopsticks to place the items they want into a soup-spoon,
neatly meticulously; a little piece of park, a few pieces of this green
or that. Then they put the spoon in their mouth. I've seen kids do
that too, but particularly women.

Why they do it just so, I can't say. I prefer a more rapid way of
getting it in my mouth.
--
I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us
with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.
-- Galileo

On 1/24/2012 7:55 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2012-01-21 21:46:39 +0000, notbob said:
>
>> On 2012-01-21, Ross@home <Ross@home> wrote:
>>
>>> They were very proficient with their chopsticks, deftly using them to
>>> push the food onto their forks.
>>
>> That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard and have never witnessed such
>> a preposterous exercise in my life. In short, yer a lying troll!!
>
> I see this frequently in Japanese restaurants, but not with a fork. They
> use the chopsticks to place the items they want into a soup-spoon,
> neatly meticulously; a little piece of park, a few pieces of this green
> or that. Then they put the spoon in their mouth. I've seen kids do that
> too, but particularly women.
>
> Why they do it just so, I can't say. I prefer a more rapid way of
> getting it in my mouth.

We always eat ramen with chopstick and Chinese style soup spoon. I have
no idea how people eat that dish on the mainland. Probably wrongly.

On 1/24/2012 10:23 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:56:59 -0500, "Jean > wrote:
>
>> aem wrote:
>>> On Jan 19, 11:04 pm, > wrote:
>>>> Do you use them? For what?
>>>
>>> Yes, for eating and for cooking.
>>>
>>>> Are you proficient with them?
>>>
>>> Yes, after a lifetime of practice.
>>>
>>>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>>>
>>> Whenever it's convenient. In addition to the normal eating-size I
>>> have a pair for cooking that are about a foot long, if not a bit
>>> longer, that are useful for cooking. I think of all of them as "long
>>> fingers". -aem
>>>
>> I wonder why I don't cook with them more? They sure would beat
>> other utensils for some things. I even have some cooking chopsticks.
>
> Obviously you don't use them because chopsticks are not all that
> convenient for the type of cooking westerners do. And haven't you
> ever looked into an open Asian kitchen, they move food around in woks
> with metal implements, I've never seen them use chopsticks for cooking
> except on foodtv.

If you want to see skillful use of chopsticks for cooking maybe you
could get someone familiar with NYC to take you to a restaurant that
features tempura. There are at least 3 I know there that are just like
being in Japan.

On 1/24/2012 12:55 PM, gtr wrote:
> On 2012-01-21 21:46:39 +0000, notbob said:
>
>> On 2012-01-21, Ross@home <Ross@home> wrote:
>>
>>> They were very proficient with their chopsticks, deftly using them to
>>> push the food onto their forks.
>>
>> That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard and have never witnessed such
>> a preposterous exercise in my life. In short, yer a lying troll!!
>
> I see this frequently in Japanese restaurants, but not with a fork. They
> use the chopsticks to place the items they want into a soup-spoon,
> neatly meticulously; a little piece of park, a few pieces of this green
> or that. Then they put the spoon in their mouth. I've seen kids do that
> too, but particularly women.
>
> Why they do it just so, I can't say. I prefer a more rapid way of
> getting it in my mouth.

I've seen people who look that they may have used chopsticks for a long
time doing something similar in Pho restaurants. Dipping sauce in soup
spoon, picking up meat in chopsticks, dipping meat in sauce, then
eating. I'm not expert enough for that and just use a plate with the
dipping sauce (1:1 hoisin:sriracha, usually)
--
Jim Silverton

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.

On Jan 21, 7:42*pm, "Polly Esther" > wrote:
> "spamtrap1888" When I make gai lan, I slice it diagonally across the grain
> so I can
> eat it with chopsticks. But Chinese restaurants leave it whole, making
> it difficult to eat with their plastic chopsticks unless you don't
> mind (a) nibbling a little off the ends in public, and (b) running the
> risk of it escaping your grip and caroming off the table or plate.
>
> I wear chopsticks. *My hair is quite long so I wind it up on my head (
> somewhere between Princess Grace and Ma Kettle) and poke a chopstick
> through. *It's a trick I learned from a Chinese friend who showed me that a
> plain old pencil works quite as well. *I sew with chopsticks. *When easing
> lace onto entredeux, firm guidance is required. *A wooden chopstick won't
> break if a sewing machine needle hits it and no trip to the ER results.
> Polly

LOL- Ma Kettle was quite the character!

gtr wrote:
>
> When I was in my early 20's in college I saw a non-asian eating with
> chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant. I thought it was really cool and
> sophisticated some kinda way.
>
> I figured if everytime I ate Chinese food I used chopsticks
> exclusively, I would eventually be expert. I don't know when exactly,
> but some time over the next many years, it became comfortable, logical,
> easy.

When I first arrived at college the guys at from the dorm went to a
Chinese place that had no forks. They put me through a lesson and
expected me to eat. With practice it went from hard to easy.

> Over the past 20 years the wife and I became heavily involved in
> Japanese culture beginning with the food. We've now been there for 2-
> or 3-week vacations on six occasions.
>
> We live near Westminster, CA (aka "Little Saigon") and so eat
> Vietnamese food at least once a week, and just next to Garden Grove
> which has a sizeable Korean enclave. We get lots of opportunities to
> continue using chopsticks.

Torrence Bowl isn't that near to you but it is in the metro area. They
used to have very good Japanese food at a good price. Not what you'd
expect for a bowling alley.

Brooklyn1 wrote:
> "Jean B." wrote:
>> My daughter prefers using chopstick. She claims she can't eat
>> noodle-type things any other way. I tell her she should carry
>> chopsticks with her.
>>
>> Moi? Some things seem better with chopsticks. Little bits of
>> food. Or maybe it's the wood (in my case) as vs. metal.
>
> There are disposable wooden forks, spoons, and cutlery too, for restos
> they're much more sanitary and cost a lot less than using metal eating
> utensils, and far greener than plastic. I would much prefer wooden
> utensils at restos, disposable dinnerware too. Very nice looking
> dinnerware is available made from plant starch, it's biodegradable and
> costs but pennies each piece... costs more just to wash china dishes,
> a lot more.

Ah yes. I do have a wooden fork... which I have never used. It
isn't disposable though.

And I have a hard enough time pondering washing by hand vs. in the
DW (although here, I rarely use the latter) without thinking about
the pros and cons of that biodegradable dinnerware. If you
mention a brand, I'll try to look into that.

--
Jean B.

Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:56:59 -0500, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>> aem wrote:
>>> On Jan 19, 11:04 pm, notbob > wrote:
>>>> Do you use them? For what?
>>> Yes, for eating and for cooking.
>>>
>>>> Are you proficient with them?
>>> Yes, after a lifetime of practice.
>>>
>>>> How often? For non-Asian foods?
>>> Whenever it's convenient. In addition to the normal eating-size I
>>> have a pair for cooking that are about a foot long, if not a bit
>>> longer, that are useful for cooking. I think of all of them as "long
>>> fingers". -aem
>>>
>> I wonder why I don't cook with them more? They sure would beat
>> other utensils for some things. I even have some cooking chopsticks.
>
> Obviously you don't use them because chopsticks are not all that
> convenient for the type of cooking westerners do. And haven't you
> ever looked into an open Asian kitchen, they move food around in woks
> with metal implements, I've never seen them use chopsticks for cooking
> except on foodtv.

But they must be perfect for some things!

--
Jean B.