Perhaps nothing is more symbolic of Asian culture than a humble pair of chopsticks. In mandarin, they are known as ‘kuai zi’ (筷子) – ‘quick little ones’ but in English, they are known as chopsticks. How did that ‘chop’ come about? According to Oxford dictionary, the word ‘chopsticks’ first appeared in the late 17th century. ‘Cop’ is pidgin English for quick, as in ‘chop chop!’ which means hurry up/quickly.
The design of chopsticks haven’t changed since its first design, it is so versatile, we use it to grip, pull, tear apart, whisk, stir and even cut pieces of food. It’s a cooking and eating utensil all together! It is known that the proper use of chopsticks by a person indicates the person is of good breeding.
Chopsticks were developed in China and have been around for 5000 years. With the evolution of time, people starting cutting their food into smaller pieces. Not only could they cook faster, but the use of a knife on the dining table was also not needed anymore. The first mention of chopsticks in recorded history is by historian Sima Qian, who wrote that Zhou, the last king of Shang dynasty (1600BCE – 1100BCE) used ivory chopsticks. However later in Imperial palaces, the material of choice for chopsticks was silver as it can turn black if they came in contact with poisoned food.
As for the common people, chopsticks were made of simple wood or bamboo. They are even some that are lacquer painted. The most favoured material would be bamboo because it is light, easily available and resistant to heat. It also has no perceptible odour or taste, a key trait for keeping the true tastes of dishes and smell intact.
By 500AD, the use of chopsticks spread to japan, Korea and Vietname. Unlike the Chinese, Japanese chopsticks looked like tweezers. They are made from 1 piece of bamboo with the end joined together. Chopsticks there were considered precious and used only in religious ceremonies. It took around 400 years before they split the chopsticks into 2, like the Chinese design.
For every little Chinese kid, the day when they can use chopsticks on their own was considered a stage of life, where the kid can eat on his own without the mother having to feed him. Well, for me that is. I feel a personal pride when I can use chopsticks to hold up a fishball (without having to spear them of course) Ones chopstick skills can be seen when eating at a reunion dinner steamboat (usually the eve of Chinese new year) The competent can peel a prawn with the chopstick and spoon, the average users are able to pick out the food they want from the boiling steamboat just by ‘feeling for the food through the chopsticks’ while the incompetent ones, need to spear through the fishball in order to get it into his mouth. I’m proud to say that I can peel a prawn with the chopsticks but the shell has be hard, not the soft and undercooked ones….
But really, it takes a no brainer to master chopsticks but there is a debate on how to properly hold a pair of chopsticks. The first picture shows the proper way to hold chopsticks while the second picture is how I (and a bunch of my friends) hold chopsticks. But really, whatever way works for you is just fine.
Correct way
Popular but wrong way
Holding methods aside, there are also etiquettes to using chopsticks:
1. Do lay them on chopstick rests or horizontally on your bowl when not in use
2. Don’t stick them into your bowl of food, it resembles incense sticks and symbolizes food for hungry ghosts (Serious pantang!!)
3. Don’t gesture with chopsticks
4. Don’t tap your bowl with chopsticks, it was how beggars ask for food in ancient China
5. Don’t try to move things on the dining table with your chopsticks
6. For those nifty chopsticks that you see in Japanese restaurants that needs you to pull apart for use, pull them from the eating end of the chopstick where it is already split to get an even break.
Like so! Split from the tip
7. For eating from the chopsticks, don’t pull it out from your clenching teeth, you don’t want to scrape the paint off do you?
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