Why eat rice with chopsticks?

Why?? This makes no sense.

I understand that using chop sticks is the traditional way of eating rice, particularly rice in some sort of asian meal.

But when I am really hungry and I have rice, I forgo the chop sticks and don the old trusty tablespoon. Big heaps and piles of fried rice complete with chicken bits are shoved into the mouth with ease. I bet I get 3 times as much food in my spoon than I would have in a pair of chopsticks.

So -- why DO people use chopsticks on rice? is it to look cool? you know.. mr traditional .. hes sooooo cooooool because he eats with chopsticks, how culturally conscious of him..

You'd be surprised how much "sticky rice" you can shovel into your pie hole.

BY shovel, I mean literally. You put the bowl of rice to your lower lip and push it in. It's the traditional way.

I guess it could be considered rude in the west.

I don't exactly know why use chopsticks instead of spoon. But sometimes it tastes better if you use chopsticks, don't understand that either. Perhaps the food aroma comes out more if you using chopsticks. And it's definitely a different experience. And when you are already accustom to using chopsticks, maybe you simply don't want to change.
I use spoon all the time for practicality.

it's less 'barbaric' cause you are not stabbing food and you must not be eating sticky rice dude...unles you're good, you can't eat uncle bens with sticks...

go to a restaurant and get some sticky rice and you'll get just as much as with a big ass spoon.

when i go for japanese, i use sticks....

Ancient Chinese proverb say

"Diss my sticks I'll break your bits!"

Also

A billion Chinese people can't be wrong!

On a more sensible note, you are forced to eat slightly more slowly (even me and I rock with a pair of chopsticks) which is better for your health.

MonKey

Originally posted by ChiKeyMonKey
On a more sensible note, you are forced to eat slightly more slowly (even me and I rock with a pair of chopsticks) which is better for your health.

I would go with this as a health "win". It forces one to eat slower and, as was mentioned, it makes food more enjoyable. I haven't seen many fat Chinese or Japanese indigenous people. Yes there are but not like in other countries where it is at epidemic proportions.

Originally posted by shearder
I haven't seen many fat Chinese or Japanese indigenous people.

I might be wrong but this could be due to the ratio of carbs to protein in most Asian dishes. It's usually lots of rice and very little meat. Western food tends to be lots of meat and a small portion of potatoes.

At any rate, for me I'll use whatever implement they provide with the dish.

reply to post by x-phile
Oh yea! No problem here either.



Like you said, the trick is to bring the rice bowl close to your mouth.

Originally posted by Beachcoma
I might be wrong but this could be due to the ratio of carbs to protein in most Asian dishes. It's usually lots of rice and very little meat. Western food tends to be lots of meat and a small portion of potatoes.

You may have a point there. I don't know - lol - i am not a nutritionist by any stretch of the imagination

At any rate, for me I'll use whatever implement they provide with the dish.

Me too. I enjoy eating with chopsticks for example. I can handle them long enough to get done with a meal. I have seen some chefs, however, go all "ninja" with them and i just go "DAMN"!! hehehe some Japanese chefs do some serious sushi presentations with chopsticks alone - awesome to say the least.

Originally posted by dgtempe... the trick is to bring the rice bowl close to your mouth.

YEAHHHHHHH hahaha
just shovel it in. I have tried but then i get self conscious - so i suffer, though mildly at the worst of times, with the chopsticks. I can pick up a grain of rice or a single peanut with a chopstick - so i can hold my own hehehe...

Yeah I love chopsticks, even pulled a karate kid and snatched a fly out of the air (really I did, only once though), I then had to throw the sticks away because I was eating with them and didn't think I could do it. Was one of the coolest things I've ever done.