Chopsticks: rules for using appliances

2025 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2025-01-22 17:55

It's no secret that Chinese culture is one of the oldest. In addition to unusual medicine and the amazing abilities of Tibetan monks, the Celestial Empire boasts of unique eating appliances.

Chopsticks are a special attribute of Chinese life. The first mention of them is recorded in the book of the Western Zhou dynasty before our era. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the Chinese have been using chopsticks for over two thousand years. At the same time, they successfully migrated to other countries and became the property of Vietnam, Korea and other eastern peoples. Japanese cutlery also does not exclude Chinese attributes, but Westerners are truly surprised by the dexterity of the East. These people somehow manage to pick up huge chunks of meat and rice in some amazing way, and do not feel discomfort eating vegetables drizzled with oil.

The Chinese pay a lot of attention to proper food intake, so the manufacture of chopsticks has become a mass production - and today it is already an art. They are made of wood, bamboo or eco-friendly plastic. Butthe most exquisite analogues are made only from wood by hand. In some cases, chopsticks are made from animal bones, and their tips are decorated with silver, jade or gold.

Sticks are the same stilts for legs: the fingers seem to lengthen, while they have huge advantages over the usual tableware. Due to their shape, Chinese chopsticks act as a kind of lever, with the help of which a larger amount of food is captured. In addition, they protect fingers from dirt, they do not have sharp ends and cutting edges, so they are much safer than forks and knives. The chopsticks are not made of metal, which preserves the true taste of the food.

Chinese cuisine is inherently devoid of knives, as all food preparation involves finely minced ingredients.

The eternal question of Europeans: how to use chopsticks for sushi? This dish is quite popular in the West, and in specialized restaurants, eating with chopsticks is most often expected.

Visually it seems that they work on the principle of scissors, but this is a hoax. In fact, only the upper stick moves, the lower one remains absolutely calm. To use chopsticks, you need to place one of them two-thirds of the way from the top between the thumb and forefinger. In this case, the middle finger serves as a support. The second stick is placed on top of the first, it is also located between the thumb and forefinger and rests on the ring finger. Thus, when moving the ring finger, the chopsticks should converge and diverge.

If the Chinese eat rice, they try to position the bowl so that it is closer to the chin. Thus, the chopsticks put together allow (like a shovel) to throw food into the mouth.

Chopsticks are not the only exotic attribute of the table of Eastern peoples. There are also scented sticks or candles. Previously, they were used for incense in temples, but today they are used everywhere to flavor rooms.