An Expatriate in Taiwan

How to use chopsticks

Being able to use chopsticks is an essential skill when living in Taiwan (or China or Japan or anywhere else in Asia). Most restaurants will have chopsticks and spoons available for use (the spoons being for soup). Rarely will you find forks and knives, unless you go to an American restaurant or steakhouse, etc. Chopsticks are not the easiest utensil to master; fortunately, there are a variety of ways of holding and employing them, so there’s almost no way to get it wrong. Basically, if it works for you, then so be it.

I took the opportunity last week during lunch with some coworkers to make some videos about how they all use chopsticks differently. First up is my method.

Basically, I hold the bottom chopstick between the meaty part of my thumb and my ring finger. The top chopstick goes between my thumb and middle finger. To grab food, I just move my middle finger up and down. I find this to be the easiest for me.

My friend, Summer, has a very different way of holding chopsticks. I cannot, despite my best efforts, use chopsticks this way. She has, however, been doing it this way her entire life and finds my method rather peculiar as well. To each his/her own.

So, she holds the bottom chopstick between her thumb and the top of her ring finger. She then puts the top chopstick in and holds it in place with her middle and pointer finger. Now, what’s different about this is that, instead of spreading the chopsticks apart (like I do), she uses them backwards. The top chopstick goes down, the bottom chopstick goes, up, and she grabs the food in between them.

Another coworker of mine holds her chopsticks very similar to me, but she uses both her middle finger and pointer finger on the top chopstick.

Another coworker, Anna, holds her chopsticks very close together, but her method is otherwise very similar to mine.

I haven’t found too many other variations, although I’m sure there are other ways than just these 4 methods. Do you have a different method? Make a video and post it on youtube and I’ll gladly share it here!

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The Expatriate

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8 responses to “How to use chopsticks”

  1. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    I hold my chopsticks like you! Is it genetic? Is it regional? Is it cultural?

    More research must be done!

    Reply
    1. The Expatriate Avatar
      The Expatriate

      I think it’s just because that’s the most simple, most natural way to hold them, so foreigners naturally do it that way. I’m not sure why my friend Summer holds hers so oddly; Miss Expatriate’s father also holds his like that, but Miss Expatriate holds her chopsticks like me as well, so she didn’t learn her awesome chopstick skills from her father.

      Reply
  2. YellowFlag Avatar
    YellowFlag

    I’ve used chopsticks nearly all my life since I was 3.
    However I have never encountered anyone who has ever used it like me.
    I use the index finger and the middle finger to hold the top chopstick and then I lift the top chopstick up.
    Kind of like a pencil. The thumb doesn’t do much to direct anything. The bottom chopstick just lies there resting on the inner thumb.

    I’m Vietnamese (half Chinese).

    Reply
  3. sb Avatar
    sb

    (from a Taiwanese-American)
    You have the best and most conventional form and technique by FAR. I have never seen anyone use chopsticks so awkwardly as your coworkers, aside from children and foreigners just learning. My parents were a little strict but I would have been smacked at the dinner table for using chopsticks so strangely.

    In case you haven’t been told already, it’s also very bad manners (and luck) to stick anything especially chopsticks into a bowl of rice so they’re sticking up. It resembles the burning of incense to honor the dead.

    Reply
    1. The Expatriate Avatar
      The Expatriate

      The odd thing is, many of them learned this from their parents. Mrs. Expat’s father also uses chopsticks in a rather backwards manner, yet both Mrs. Expatriate and her little sister use chopsticks normally.

      Reply
  4. Elizabeth Taylor Avatar
    Elizabeth Taylor

    :,’ I am very thankful to this topic because it really gives up to date information *-;

    Reply
  5. May Avatar
    May

    Hi! I know this is an old post of yours but I feel compelled to mention that I as a foreigner used to hold chopsticks just like you. Now that I’ve gotten used to them, though, I usually hold them like your second or first coworker here, depending on the food. Do you still use chopsticks like in the first vid?

    Reply
    1. The Expatriate Avatar
      The Expatriate

      Yes, I still use chopsticks the same way. I’d find it too difficult to switch styles now.

      Reply

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