What do you use to eat? As more Asian millennials become parents in Western societies, will the use of chopsticks decrease?
Let’s talk about chopsticks.
It’s a huge part of my culture and a tradition to use chopsticks. How will this change with the future generation?
Growing up, I used chopsticks for pretty much every meal I ate. Rice, noodles, chicken, veggies, dumplings, eggs, shrimp, soup, tofu…everything can be eaten with chopsticks.
Ever tried eating potato chips with them?
It’s fantastic because your hands don’t get oily!
Fast forward…
Moved out, got married, had the kids…I realized I don’t use chopsticks that often. It’s only during the times when I go out to eat for Chinese food or sushi.
Spoon, forks and knives fill our dishwasher every week as my daughter keeps asking me to teach her how to use chopsticks.
I make a lot of Chinese dishes at home but it’s only when we eat noodle soup that we actually use chopsticks.
We’ll have burgers and roasted veggies one night (eaten with hands and forks); then fried rice another (eaten with spoons). Then we’ll have soy sauce chicken and stir-fried bok choy with rice (eaten with forks and spoons).
I’ve been procrastinating teaching her because I don’t want to make a mess and I’ve never been the perfect chopsticks holder.
A part of me is like…eventually she’ll have to learn when she goes out with her friends for dim sum or whatever…she’ll just pick it up herself.
Also, I’m secretly hoping my parents will just do it for me.
But then I’m like,
“I should just buckle down and teach her.”
I just find it interesting because, in my head and heart, chopsticks are a huge part of who I am. It’s something I always thought would be crucial to preserve but practically it hasn’t been.
One of the reasons I use forks and spoons is because it’s faster. Scoop a big spoonful of rice versus a few grains with chopsticks.
However, isn’t it a good thing to eat slowly and mindfully?
Chopsticks have become one of the utensils that everyone, Asians and non-Asians, uses to eat. And that is a practice that transcends all cultures.
So Readers, what do you use to eat? How often do you use chopsticks?
