Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Chop Goes the Stick


This is also a photo from the Korean restaurant.

I thought it was interesting how Koreans use both the chopsticks and the spoon for their meals. Although we have spoons and forks in Japan, traditionally we only use chopsticks.

Korean chopsticks are made of metal and are flat, as you can see in the photo, as apposed to Japanese chopsticks which are usually made of wood and are round or squared. I like how a lot of the Korean chopsticks have interesting designs carved in the metal.

Curious to hear how many of you have chopsticks at home!

20 comments:

  1. first time i see metal shopsticks , they are beautiful ! at home ...10 pairs ;)

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  2. Those chopsticks look very fancy! I've never had much success with using them myself.

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  3. My wife is Japanese, so we have MANY pairs of chopsticks. We use them much of the time.

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  4. I am glad to know this: I am lost with chopsticks...

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  5. I don't know how many but lots which my Dad bought in... Tokyo! :-)

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  7. Just a few.

    Wiki to the rescue again. Don’t put those Korean chopsticks on the left of the spoon! We could make an exception for Boris when he comes to the table, though.

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  8. My daughter buys these metal chopsticks for her hair.

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  9. I do! But they must be Japanese (or maybe Chinese?) because they are wooden and squared. These are lovely!

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  10. We have both spoons and chopsticks like that at home, and they're brought out when we have guests. Korean food often includes soups so the spoons are essential. We also have the regular wooden chopsticks too for everyday use. Of course, I'll use whatever's easiest for me - if I'm eating an American or European dish I'll use a knife and fork, but chopsticks are so much better for things like vegetables and kimchi.

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  11. Babzy -- I often see wooden chopsticks but I think Korea is the only country that used metal ones :D

    Lois -- I remember seeing a joke that said "Of all the possible utensils that could have be invented to eat rice with...how did two sticks win out!?" haha ;D

    Pat -- Hi! Thanks for the comment! If you have any Japanese people in your family, it's a pretty sure sign you'll have chopsticks at the table! :-D

    VP -- You're not the only one, don't worry! Glad I could help ;-D

    Ciel -- Wow, you must have quite a few pairs! Very cool that they're from Tokyo :D

    Tall Gary -- It's like how we don't stick our chopsticks into the rice bowl here in Japan! :-)

    Ann -- That is a very creative way to use chopsticks! She must have very long hair ;-)

    Becky -- Reading your comment, I've just realized that I don't really know the difference between Japanese and Chinese chopsticks! Will have to look it up :D

    Al -- That is very true! Spoons are really useful when eating Korean soup dishes. I use the spoon also when eating the rice dishes, too. It's nice that we have many choices in utisils ;D

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  12. I do like their cutlery, which is usually really lovely.

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  13. Very nicely composed photo, Kaori.

    «Louis» had not noticed the difference in shape between Korean and Japanese chopsticks.

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  14. A couple sets. My husband uses them but I am not dextrous enough!

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  15. Evelyn -- I do, too! The designs are really pretty :D

    Louis -- Thank you! I sometimes have a harder time with the Korean chopsticks because they are flat :-)

    MinP -- Oh I'm sure you'd be able to use them...just need to find a pair that fits into your hands! :D

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  16. Cool that there is a difference between Japanese and Korean chop sticks. I would never have known that if you hadn't told us! - I absolutely have never been able to use chopsticks. If I was given them as the only utensil to eat with I would use them to scrap the food to the rim of the dish and eat it from there and I would look like such a barbarian doing that!

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  17. We have maybe ten sets, all wooden, some plain and functional and some decorated prettily. No spoon for you? What do you do with the soup?

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  18. A little bit about the differences between Korean, Japanese, and Chinese chopsticks here.

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  19. Are the sticks for chopping as well as eating?

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  20. Korean chopsticks rule. I really wish that they made chopsticks from metal in Japan, too, instead of throwing away countless wooden ones everyday.... ><

    I should by myself a new pair of "my hashi."

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