Chopsticks or a knife and fork?
 

Which one do you prefer? I cant really choose because there is only certain stuff i can eat with chopsticks XD But i would like to know what you prefer using.

My hands :). Just kidding, chopsticks, I like to keep it authentic :D.

chopsticks deff.
its all a matter of practicing, especially with things like rice.

Depends on what I'm eating.

Fork.

I'm hopeless...my 1/2 Korean Fiance and my full Korean friend tried to teach me how to use chopsticks and I fail.

It honestly depends on what I'm eating- if it's Japanese or Chinese, I'd most likely use chopsticks. Plus, using chopsticks makes what you're eating seems more tastier IMO. ;)

Depends on the food. You will never see a Japanese person eating spaghetti or curry and rice with chopsticks, for a good reason.

I like to eat with chopsticks, because then the food doesn't taste metal, but it's difficult with the food we eat at home, so I usually just use regular knife and fork.

I love using chopsticks when in Japan. I seem to be able to use them pretty much flawlessly even though I rarely used them before I first went to Japan. A natural knack?

Saturday afternoon my cousins from Atlanta were rather amused when I had to go in search of chopsticks to eat my lunch. I tend to eat even non-Asian food with chopsticks when given a choice. I usually have a pair in my purse, but I had only grabbed my wallet & phone on the way to pick them up at the airport.

What had them smirking was that we were at a Chinese buffet!!!
The staff assumed that white people need silverware. :mad:

mmm it really depends on my mood, and what im eating. But usually i perfer chopsticks.

humm... i'd say that i prefer my 180mm ebony handle moribashi =3
w/ a retail value of $130 ^_^

I like to use chopsticks if the oppertunity presents itself.

I can use all 3 so it depeds on the meal :)

My first post in a long time btw - hello JF!

Stop it, Yuujirou!!! You're making me have hot flashes.

I swore I was not going to add to my collection of chopsticks and you went and sabotaged me.:rolleyes:

If I'm not in a rush, it is nice to eat with chopsticks. If I'm hungry, I give up on the knife and fork and just settle for the shovel!! :D

If its supposed to be eaten with chopsticks, it gets eaten with chopsticks.;)

well it actually depends on what i'm eating,
but if i were to eat japanese food i'd use chopsticks <3

Knife & Fork...actually just fork.

Maybe the question should be "which is the actual easiest to use" because then of course the fork is easier. The difference between chopsticks and knife & fork = evolution

Specially it depends on what I am gonna eating actually.......

However, chopsticks deff will be more preferable to me.
Thanks for your nice post...........

If I have chopsticks and the food is chopstick friendly.

both utensils can be used crudely or eloquently.
however, chopsticks do require a little more skill to utilise effectively than silverware.

honestly, i have no true preference as i prefer to use the ware that's suitable and respectable to the cuisine.
ex. butcher a finely cooked whole fish with a knife and fork, or delicately pick away the flesh with chopsticks?
or slice through an 8oz rib-eye with a knife and fork with ease or exert pitiful amounts of force to unsuccessfully portion the same cut to bite-size pieces >.>'

Normally I would agree with pairing the utensils to the cuisine being consumed. However, the past few decades have seen the standard western fork made with progressively rounder and duller tines; to the extent that many will not pierce a lettuce leaf. Whatever happened to forks really having tines? Were there too many accidental stabbings from running with table forks that now they have to resemble the points of scissors made for pre-schoolers?

Oops, didn't meant to unleash one of my pet peeves. I will just go back to my ceasar salad and chopsticks. They really do work better for salads than forks these days.

There is no "of course" about this at all. That a fork is easier to use is just your opinion and plenty of Japanese people might disagree with you. It can also depend on the food- like TalnSG I find it way easier to eat a lettuce salad with chopsticks than a fork because the lettuce will move around on a fork (if you can even get it onto the fork) but is more controllable with chopsticks.

And forks did not evolve from chopsticks- when in European history did people use chopsticks for them to have evolved into a fork?

The chopsticks came from Asia, i believe China, and Japanese adopted the customs from the land they came from.

Yes, I know that. From China, via Korea, to Japan, most likely. My point is that for chopsticks to have "evolved" into forks, people in Europe would have had to use chopsticks first, and later forks, with some utensil that was an in-between stage as well- that's the meaning of "evolve".

if you trace history way back... i believe europeans used to eat w/ knives >.>'''
like... hunting knives, lolz

the chopsticks were actually used first by royalty for a number of eras before they eventually descended into the lower classes of society.
>.>''
this is in japan, of course. I have no idea as to the role of chopsticks in chinese history >.>''

Evolution of a utensil usually includes not only having pre-dated the use fo the untensil in question, but the replacement of it for common usage.

Not only did western flatware not succeed the use of chopsticks as common utensils in western culture, chopsticks have certainly not been replaced in any culture where they were ever in common use.

To even suggest that chopsticks are archaic, or that european flatware is an evolutionary advance over them, is not only incorrect, but hints of european arrogance.

And before anyone goes there, check your history before you cite the use of spoons or ladels. You will find their first documented use is not in western culture.

shovel :D

yes fork is not good at bending leaves. :)) but eating steak or sausage would be funny bit with chopsticks, wouldn't?

That is a good point. Is it actually considered arrogant eating with fork in Japan? What would ppl look at someone who comes to a restaurant and bring out his own fork to eat?

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anyway, whether you eat with one or another, or with hands, your meal was most likely prepared using knife and spoon :P

I use chopsticks whenever the opprotunity presents itself. I find them easier to use eating, except when it's like a steak or something...

Depends on the food. Completely.

the food?
or the preparation of? o.O""

eat a cow w/ a big ass knife....
eat a steak w/ a knife and fork....
eat steak cubes w/ hashi....
>.>''
same food eh? x]

Could someone tell me a dish in which using chop sticks is easier to eat than using a fork?

Ramen, udon, soba, rice, Japanese style yaki-niku, sashimi, sushi, (though hands are the traditional method) shabu shabu, sukiyaki, shoga-yaki, gyoza. Shall I go on?

Lol. Hamburger=hands. Steak=knife and fork. Steak cubes=chopsticks, maybe. I've never had steak cubes. I suppose the preparation of, if ya wanna get technical. :P

It depends what I am eating. For a lot of food knife and fork/fork and spoon is way easier. Big chop sticks are awesome for cooking though. Great for turning stuff over etc. Sent my mom a pair and she loves them too.