I can use them easily. I can't catch a fly in mid air, but if my target isn't moving, I can handle it.

One common error is to try to hold them too close to the points. But if you have watched videos, you probably know this already.

Or try this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12160...11ef8d014c4945ffe314

Just remember, when eating with chopsticks, the rice goes in the bowl, everything else is on a plate and you eat over the bowl which you're holding in your other hand.

If you strictly try to eat off a plate, you're gonna end up chasing your meal around the plate.

My daughter appears to have the technique down perfectly.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
When my (Korean) wife and I first got together almost 18 years ago, I couldn’t do much with chopsticks. I used them more like a prongless frog gig. Now, I can eat anything I want with them. In most cases they are easier to use then a fork. It’s like wooden fingers, instead of a four pronged spear.

The two things I can say about chopsticks, it takes a lot of practice and it’s a huge help to have a seasoned user available to watch and correct your mistakes. Watching that guy’s video, most of what he says is correct. Finger placement can be different for everyone. Here are a couple pictures of how I hold chopsticks. It’s different than the video, or how my wife holds them, but it works for me. The lower stick stays stationary, and the stick controlled by my index finger, is the only one that moves.

That's exactly how I do it also.

I used them in Korea and had a set made with Ivory and a case but lost them many years ago while moving.

Now I use a fork.

I have no desire to learn. With Chop Sticks how do you cut a steak? How do you eat mashed potatoes? How do you eat a baked potato? Etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
I have no desire to learn. With Chop Sticks how do you cut a steak? How do you eat mashed potatoes? How do you eat a baked potato? Etc.

How do you eat soup with a fork? How do you eat pudding? How do you eat chili? Etc.

You don't. You use a spoon.

Just like with spoons/forks, it's not an either/or. The Chopstick Police aren't going to bust down your door and make you throw out all your forks if you buy some chopsticks.

Believe it or not, you can have both chopsticks and forks on hand at home, and just select whichever is better suited for that particular meal.


...Or just get you a set of Sporksticks, that way you'll be prepared no matter what!

I watched the video. How do you keep the bottom chopstick stable without using the middle finger to braced it against the ring finger?

Another one who uses the Beancooker chopstick method. I can use some of the other methods but his method seems more natural for me.

I have no problem using them. My coworker took me out for sushi once because I never had it, by the end of the meal I was picking up the little scallops that had fallen off the rolls like a pro.

My girlfriend on the other hand, can't work them sticks to save her life, so I bought her these. Sjhe thinks they're hilarious and loves to pull them out when we get sushi.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I just can’t operate the damned things. If I try to pick up a morsel it’s unlikely to make it to my mouth. More likely to fall back. Or the sticks will suddenly slip past each other, flipping the morsel to the table top – or the floor. Sigh.

From your description, it sounds like you are holding your chopsticks too tightly and trying to apply pressure to insure food is securely being held in place. One of the "tricks" to easy manipulation of chopsticks is balance. The more pressure you apply with the top stick the more likely you are to lose control of the lower stick. That is what causes the tips to slip pass each other...you've changed the alignment. The further from the tips that you hold the chopsticks the better your control will be

It is a lot like hitting a good drive in golf. You have to align correctly and then let the club swing without trying to "powering" it.

Neither of my first two Occidental girlfriends cold use chopsticks when we first met. I was able to teach them both, using a method similar to that in your video, during our first meal and they were able to pick it up pretty quickly

quote:

Originally posted by Keystoner:
I watched the video. How do you keep the bottom chopstick stable without using the middle finger to braced it against the ring finger?

It is braced with the first knuckle of the ring finger and the last knuckle, away from the tip, of the index finger on one side. Applying pressure from the other side with the second segment of your thumb. It is lateral, side-to-side, pressure on the stick.

Trying to brace it with the tip of the middle finger causes loss of control of the top stick.

A common mistake when folks use chopsticks is they think you are trying to pinch the food with both sticks...like using pliers. The bottom stick is just the base/foundation that the top stick pinches the food against

My stepmother used to have us picking up marbles with chopsticks as kids to train us how to use them. Once you figure out that the bottom one never moves and the top one basically pivots open and closed to the bottom one, it's pretty easy.

I got pretty good with them. A chick I dated forever ago was big into Thai boxing. So she was big into Thai food. She used chopsticks so to impress I learned quickly.

I remember someone watching me eat steamed rice with chop sticks and they just proclaimed: "HOW?!"

The last time I felt a need for chopsticks was when I was a child. In my adult life, not once have I ever said to myself, I wish I had chopsticks to eat with.........

I'm right handed, but I can use chop sticks better with my left hand.

I hold very similar to how beancooker shows in his pics. When tips are matched up when closed before picking up, I find it easier to grasp the morsels.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
The last time I felt a need for chopsticks was when I was a child. In my adult life, not once have I ever said to myself, I wish I had chopsticks to eat with.........

It is easier to eat pasta with chopsticks...whether you are a picker or a shoveler

I also recently learned that they are also handy when eating salads

quote:

Originally posted by ersatzknarf:
We use them daily and for pasta, they can't be beat!

I also learnt whilst living as a student in Japan. One of our teachers made certain we became proficient.

The key is holding the bottom one rock steady against your ring finger, using the v of your thumb. The top one is held as one would a pencil.

Yes, practice is your friend and you can master it. Don't bother with the kiddie practice ones that are spring loaded at the top, just get some break apart ones and keep trying.

I've found that it's better to hold them more towards the rear and that helps with leverage and comfort; holding them too close to the front is probably why it's not working well to hold things.

Once you can pick up a grain of rice, without thinking, you are there.

Just zen out and go for it!

I can vouch for ersatzknarf as a true master of the "knitting needles"!

Practice.

Thinking about it (which I don’t do when doing it), I believe the base of the thumb holds the lower chopstick in its fixed position. Almost all movement is in the index and “social” finger. If the tip of the thumb moves, it isn’t much.

I’m not sure when or how I learned it,but 9mmepiphany is absolutely right. It isn’t about death gripping with the sticks, it is just enough pressure and more balance.

I was totally hopeless initially, then at some point it just clicked. A knowledgeable instructor probably would have brought the click along a lot sooner.

It isn’t rocket science and a whole lot of people have learned to do it, some of them probably not as smart as you are. Give yourself some time to practice at home, not under pressure, and just play with it, seeing what works for you and what doesn’t.