Wooden chopsticks!

I was eating at my favorite sushi bar again tonight. Unfortunately I got a bad pair of those pull-apart-wooden-popsicle-stick-rejects that split in the wrong place and left little fibers all along the length.

I should have asked for a new pair once I noticed that my attempts at "deburring" them were not very successful. I think I nearly started a fire by rubbing them together so much.

I did a good job of roughing up my index finger during the meal, though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Luckily I didn't get a splinter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif


This doesn't happen very often, but my restaurant's 'sticks are never as nice as the lacquered ones I've used before.




Why does every sushi bar in Texas and Colorado have cheap wooden chopsticks? What if your favorite steak house gave you a wooden spork to eat dinner with?
"Excuse me, waiter, but you seem to have given me a wooden spork instead of a proper metal utensil."
"Yes, sir. It's tradition. Plus, you know it's clean; look at the nice paper wrapper it comes in..." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
(and it's not like most places would steam sterilize the metal utensils anyways)


Anyone else run into this problem? How do you prepare your eatin' out 'sticks?


Maybe I should just bring my own from now on...

wooden chopsticks are cheap and no washing needed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I still havent figured out how to use chop sticks, whenever I go to a sushi resturant, I start out using them, only to ask for a fork later because it takes too long to eat!

I kinda like the wooden ones as they grab things better IMO. After you break them apart rub them together to get the strands off.

As for sushi, it's actually proper just to pick them up with your hands and eat them according to this article, and according to a couple of sushi restaurants where I have asked. I have sometimes done that but I have to say that even though it's a crazy American custom to use chopsticks on sushi I usually do since that's what all the other crazy Americans are doing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Eat as you like, both ways are accepted.
And if you don't like cheap wood, how about these Ti chopsticks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Thanks for straightening me out Nekomane.

Those are amazing. I've seen nice lacquered chopsticks but not titanium. Can you translate the price?

ohhhhhhhhh, how cool! chopstick w/ chopstick holder and cup set. looks nice! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif is it metal though? btw, it looks like it would grip better than the smooth kind.

Every now and then I'll get a bad pair - I just get a new pair.

Believe it or not, I prefer the cheap ones in paper to my good ones at home. The good ones usually are larger at the end rather than tapered like the cheapies and I do better with the smaller tips.

I don't think that I've ever eaten Chinese food with anything but chopsticks since I was 5 or 6.

how would you know it's titanium, drizzle? and if the price's in yen, then that would be $189 USD. tooo bad. i really like it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

You had me at Ti /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif


$189 is just a wee bit too much for something I'm probably just going to loose /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mecry.gif



I might have to start eating with my fingers, but that would mean washing my hands before I eat...and I can't let my mother win now--not after all we've been through!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The set of 3 items is about 170$ at todays rate. And yes they are titanium. I've handled these at a trade show before and they felt quite heavy. The machinist told me they look like chrome after polishing and that he personally prefered unfinished Ti. Impressive work though, it must be difficult to machine these narrow chopsticks.

Back on topic, most people who bring homemade lunches to work or school will carry around a pair of chopsticks in a matching case. You can find 'bento' boxes with built-in chopstick cases for children who tend to lose them too.

Don't see it often but some eco conscious people will use their own when eating out, prefering it over the throw away wooden chopsticks. Why not try that?

Deleted: unnecessary after Nekomane's post.

These may be acceptable in a casual sushi place.

I like the throw away wooden ones that are rounded and only attached together at the top. I always like to use chopsticks when I go to a Chinese, Japanese, or Thai restaurant. I use them at home when I'm eating noodle bowls, too. For the one who said they liked the narrowing point the wood ones have over the plastic ones they've got at home: you can get some nice plastic ones from Yoshinoya that have a very narrarowing point. I couldn't resist and bought a pair of them even though we've got several plastic pairs at home (the long, square-ish, ivory colored ones) and plenty of wood ones.

sorry to hijack this thread, but anybody know where I can get Chinese styled Ti chopsticks?

Geoff

Geoff, what are the differences between styles?

Chinese style chopsticks are the ones that Kitelights was talking about. Bigger and not as much taper and a bit harder to use IMO. The cheap wooden ones are the easiest to pick stuff up with.

In Japan, many young people can't use chopsticks the right way! It's similar to how many kids hold a pencil the "right" way. I recall a few years ago that a Japanese fire station wouldn't accept new hires if they held chopsticks incorrectly.
nisshin

Singaporeans use chopsticks too when eatin' sushi..... nothin' wrong with that.. much more hygienic i guess.. yay.. traditional chinese chopsticks are much slimmer at the end.. giving you a very small food gripping area.. fishballs and sushi are very difficult to grab with chinese chopsticks. Wooden ones are juz nicE! oh and yes.. the art of holding a chopstick is gettin' lost as the generation changes... it's supposed to be elegant.. but some use them like they stranglin' someting.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

I have tried both thin tipped and the thick tipped ones.
I have alway failed to use them, give me a fork,spoon and knife every time. Irish-American Indian (Black Foot) chop sticks are neat but not for me. As I typed with two fingers
on my right hand I tried with my left to figure a pair out.
No dice: it seems some extra fine motor skills needed are lacking in me.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif