Eating with chopsticks

[Cordilow]

I love to eat with chopsticks.  I find that they work remarkably well for all kinds of non-stereotypical foods.  Food even tastes better with them (I don't have an explanation for this, yet).  If I had my way, I might eat with chopsticks all the time (too bad there's not a section with the silverware for them in my apartment; I'm tempted to buy about fifteen pairs, throw them in there, and see what happens: i.e. what my roommates do).

Would you believe ice cream is remarkably easy to eat with chopsticks, so long as you don't let it get too runny?  Just dip them in and get what you want: ice cream on sticks.

So far, the most difficult thing I have found to eat with chopsticks (at least the most difficult thing I often eat with chopsticks) is freshly made macaroni and cheese.  It's slippery stuff, and the size/consistency is weird for chopsticks.  I used to think spaghetti was hard, but now I think it's pretty nice.

I started out with wooden chopsticks, but had longed for stainless steel.  One day, I got some stainless steel chopsticks for Christmas.  People had warned me they would be slippery - but I was up for the challenge.  Anyway, I found that they worked well - however, wooden ones worked better with non-stick pots, and were better for cooking in general (even if using them with cooking made them not last as long - they still lasted a long time, though).

Anyway, I should get some new wooden ones.  I miss my old ones.  Now, I just have stainless steel and the Chinese-style plastic ones.

One of my favorite things to eat with chopsticks is oats mixed with applesauce and crushed pineapple (all cold and uncooked - believe me, it's better that way).  I like to call it Chinese porridge (although I tend to prefer Japanese-style chopsticks; the pineapple is what inspired the Chinese part, mostly).  Unfortunately, I can't eat oats right now without dire consequences to my skin (I think I actually need that cholesterol they tend to take away), though I love to eat them, and they give great strength for hiking and such.

I better go down to Chaos and buy a wooden pair for a dollar and seventy-five cents - it's not a huge investment, but the rewards could be great.  That's a great store, by the way.

[nadiag]

I have always had problems eating with chopsticks. I don't know why, food always seems to slip away whenever I try to use them, so I finally gave it up and started to eat with a fork even when I ate Asian food. I do have to agree that food seems to taste better when I use a chopstick, though, but it must be more of a psychological reason than anything else. Can it be that smaller bits of food make your sense of taste sharper in some way? I doubt it, but it does work.

Eating with chopsticks makes sense when you are eating something that is cut into small pieces, otherwise it gets tough. I also wouldn't imagine using chopsticks for a dish with a heavy sauce, somehow they don't fit in. I am surprised that it works for ice cream...

[Cordilow]

Yep, they work great for ice cream.  I don't know why it surprises everyone so far, but it does.

As far as the heavy sauce goes, I just recommend putting something in the sauce, like rice or other pieces of food - that makes it much easier to eat.

Hmm, that's cool that you notice the taste-thing, too.  I think it might have something to do with the amount you put in your mouth.  It might also be because you're not tasting stainless steel with every mouthful (unless you use stainless steel chopsticks, though you wouldn't taste it as much with them, either).  Maybe it's just because you have to think more to use them (even if you eat just as well, or better, with them as with a fork) - or at least, those are my thoughts.