kain_kusanagi said:
I can use chopsticks just fine, but prefer a fork, spoon and knife. Sometimes it's fun to use chopsticks, like when your out with friends and a Chinese restaurant. But in all honesty chopsticks are the worst utensil for eating just about anything. Even noodles can be eaten more efficiently with a fork and a spoon then chopsticks. |
Lived in China for five years and would argue that chopsticks are much better suited to traditional chinese food and service. The food is already cut so you don't need a knife and you can pick up anything regardless of texture. Mainland Chinese tend to eat lots of meat still on the bone which can't easily be stabbed with a fork, along with things like soft tofu, pulling flesh out of a whole fish etc. Many of these foods could be eaten with a fork and knife or fork and spoon combination but the food is in the centre of the table which would require you to reach with two hands rather than one like you can with chopsticks i.e. you can't reach as far with two hands which can be a problem at a larger table. Chopsticks are also useful for offering food to other people (a gesture of hospitality) because you can easily pick up and drop food in someone else's bowl, stabbed with a fork you would need a second utensil to remove the food from the fork.
I've been to many dinners in China where the new visitors have asked for a fork and knife because they don't how to use chopsticks only to realise they are actually not suited for the kind of foods often served. Most, if not all, changed their ways very quickly regardless of how poor they were with chopsticks to start with.
