How to use Chinese chopsticks. Chinese chopsticks are fashionable, convenient and beautiful

The well-known Chinese chopsticks are used not only in China but also in many other eastern countries. And today they are very often used when eating in the West. A very large number of sushi bars are opening in our country and in other countries of the world, which serve very tasty exotic Chinese food, and in order to get maximum satisfaction from eating, you need to eat with Chinese chopsticks. But many who decide to try Chinese cuisine for the first time do not know how to use their cutlery, and in order not to look stupid they begin to look for ways quickly learn how to hold Chinese chopsticks.

Learning to use them is very simple, first you need to understand how to hold them in your hands, and then how to hold food with them.

How to hold Chinese chopsticks correctly

1. First, completely relax the hand in which you hold the chopsticks, otherwise you will never learn to use them. Next, straighten your index finger and middle finger, then bend your little finger and ring finger slightly.
2. The sticks should be parallel to each other in your hand. One stick is upper and the other is lower.
3. Place the bottom stick between your thumb and ring finger. The thin edge of the stick should rest against the ring finger. It must be fixed in this position and be motionless.
4. As for the top stick, everything is the other way around; it should be movable. It is with this that you capture all the food. Place the top stick parallel to the bottom and grip it the way you would hold a pencil or pen. It should lie between the thumb and index finger.
5. Then, with small bends of your index finger, you can bring the chopsticks together and pinch the food you so desire with them.

Chopsticks appeared a very long time ago; judging by archaeological excavations, chopsticks were first used in China around the 11th - 18th centuries BC. Then only the emperor and his servants used chopsticks.

They were made from bamboo and were called " kuaizu" Now they are made of wood or plastic, about the thickness of a pencil and 20 centimeters long. In Japan they also eat with chopsticks, but here they usually use chopsticks that are a little shorter and are called “ hashi" (or " Khasi»).

Chinese and Japanese food is best served with chopsticks, as the ingredients are always cut into small pieces. If you are going to visit any Asian restaurant, then you simply need to learn how to use chopsticks. The disposable chopsticks served in such establishments have instructions on the packaging on how to use them. It makes more sense to spend some time and prepare. Some people are able to use chopsticks the first time, while others will need about an hour of time, patience and dexterity. Well, now to the point, let’s look at the technique of learning to eat with chopsticks.

Technique for learning to eat with chopsticks

Let's look at the technique of using chopsticks.

1. The right hand (if you are right-handed) should be relaxed. Thumb pointing towards you, then pinch and hold one stick with index finger and thumb at a distance? the entire length from the top. You need to hold the stick with your thumb and ring fingers; a ring is formed from the thumb, index and middle fingers.
2. The second stick is taken parallel to the first and held with the thumb, the distance between the sticks is about 1.5 centimeters. You can move the sticks apart by straightening your middle finger, and bring them back together by bending your index finger. That's the whole simple science of how to learn to eat with chopsticks.

It's worth trying first big pieces, since small particles may cause difficulties. One stick is stationary (the one you took first), and the other will complement the index finger. Take pieces that you can put into your mouth at one time without biting.

Ideally, sticks are selected individually for each person. In ancient times, sticks were made only to order. Now average copies are being sold.

If you just can’t use chopsticks, then you can always ask the waiter for a spoon or fork at the establishment where you came. If you are not lazy and learn to use chopsticks, then the feeling of immersion in the culture of the East will be more complete. Those who have mastered this science believe that chopsticks are more convenient to use than the forks and spoons familiar to Europeans.

Now we suggest you watch a video on how to learn how to eat with chopsticks correctly.

Video tips

Chopsticks came to Japan from China BC, originally they resembled tongs and were used only for service in Shinto shrines as offerings to spirits.
Over time, chopsticks began to be used by the Japanese nobility for everyday meals, and around the 7th century AD, the use of chopsticks became widespread.

Chopsticks are called in Japan - 箸 (hashi, hashi, hashi), and translated into English language- chopsticks.

Chopsticks are an important element in Everyday life Japanese, they are selected individually, beautiful stands are bought for them, the chopsticks are stored in a special case, often with skillful decorative finishing. Many Japanese people prefer to use personal chopsticks even in public catering establishments.

Most often in Japan, wooden chopsticks are used; their size may vary slightly in length and thickness. On especially special occasions, varnished sticks with very sharp ends are used, from which food easily slides off, especially raw fish.

The ability to properly use and hold chopsticks is an art, accompanied by many etiquette rules.

How to hold chopsticks (picture)

The palm should be relaxed, not clamped.

In this case, both sticks can be moved freely, and it is important that they work not only towards convergence, but also in the opposite direction.

So, by holding a large piece of fish or meat with chopsticks and moving the chopsticks to the side, it can be divided into small pieces.

The top stick, indicated in red, is held almost like a pencil, with the thumb, index and middle finger.

Basically, the upper stick makes the movements, the lower one should be practically motionless.

The chopsticks should be held approximately in the upper third at a distance from above; too high or too low is considered bad manners in Japan.

In addition to the process of correctly gripping sticks, there is much more important rules, which you need to know when using Japanese chopsticks and which are absolutely unacceptable at the table.

How to eat with chopsticks, this should NOT be done

Here's how the rules sound in Japanese:

Children in Japan begin to learn how to hold chopsticks at about three years of age. For this age, they sell special small sticks with ring attachments that are placed on the fingers so that the sticks do not fall during training.

Once upon a time, or more specifically, in 1997, fate took me on a business trip to South Korea, the city of Incheon. I lived there for about three weeks and, therefore, I had to learn to use chopsticks - there were no forks at all in the local catering establishments, and the prospect of starving for two dozen days in a row did not appeal to me.

It must be said right away that chopsticks in South Korea slightly different from similar devices from other eastern countries - South Korean chopsticks, so to speak, are flat and made of metal. There, in Korea, I bought Japanese chopsticks as a souvenir - they turned out to be round, and the Chinese chopsticks sold in numerous souvenir shops are often wooden and rectangular in cross-section. In general, metal chopsticks are produced only in South Korea; in other countries, chopsticks are made of wood.

Despite the fact that in different countries sticks have different shape, the principle of their use is the same everywhere, and, having learned to use one type, then you can easily eat even with the help of a couple of pencils. So, how can you learn to eat with chopsticks? It turns out to be very simple! Does everyone know what the ring finger is? Great! One chopstick should be placed in the hollow of the palm between the thumb and forefinger and on lateral surface specifically the ring finger. Most of the length of the stick should be on the plate side. If everything is done correctly, the wand lies calmly on ring finger and in the hollow between the big and index fingers, and is “fixed” by the second phalanx thumb.

Next, we collect a “pinch” from three fingers – thumb, index and middle – and take the second stick. The whole structure looks like this.

The first, lower stick lies motionless on the ring finger and is held by the middle of the thumb, and the second, the upper stick, is movable and controlled in the same way as a pencil - with three fingers. That, in general, is the whole theory - such a design can be used like tweezers and, having learned to hold Chinese chopsticks correctly, it is quite easy to grab pieces of food or rolls.

A few words about how to eat with Chinese chopsticks. Well, as already mentioned, grab pieces of food like tweezers and carry them into your mouth. But what if there is a piece of fish on the plate? With some skill, it’s quite easy to cut up food with chopsticks - the whole structure can work not only as tweezers, but also as a bird’s beak. In this case, you need to use chopsticks to divide the large piece into small ones and gradually carry the food into your mouth.

The most common dish in the countries Far East, this is fig. Only they cook this cereal there so that it is not crumbly, but knocked into lumps. So, you can even eat rice with chopsticks. Because it does not crumble, I was able to easily pick up a lump of rice and carry it into my mouth.

A little etiquette. As you know, the East is a delicate matter and a European person most likely does not need knowledge of all the intricacies of using chopsticks. But the main points should be remembered.

• Chopsticks are used only to take a piece of food and carry it to the mouth. And for nothing else!
• Your palm and wrist always point downwards or towards you - no one should see them.
• Nothing can be pinned onto sticks, i.e. chopsticks are never used as a fork.
• Waving, knocking, etc. Actions with chopsticks are also not allowed.

I think that after reading this article, you can feel confident in a Chinese restaurant, bistro, or if you were invited to visit, “for sushi.”

The theme of etiquette in the land of the rising sun is one of the most important points of Japanese culture, which has not changed for centuries. Asians do not part with their traditions, and willingly introduce them to the world community, where the ritual of eating and chopsticks is of particular importance. Master this cutlery at first glance, maybe only a magician, but everything is not so difficult if you familiarize yourself with all the dietary rules of the Japanese.

Chopsticks are an important everyday element in the life of the inhabitants of the land of the rising sun. They are selected individually for each person, and special attention is paid to their storage. So, special stands and elaborately decorated cases are purchased for these cutlery. Most Japanese even in cafes and restaurants prefer to use personal chopsticks.

History and geography

In general, the ancestors of this amazing kitchen attribute are the Chinese.

It was in China, 3 thousand years ago during the Shang era, that a certain Yu first used two wooden sticks to pull a piece of meat out of boiling oil. Subsequently, these cutlery was dubbed kuaiji, which translated means “dexterous object.”

After some time, Chinese bamboo kuaizi, which looked like tongs, came to Japan, where they were called hashi - “chopsticks” and were used in religious rituals.

Already by the 7th century AD, all the nobility and the imperial family of the land of the rising sun deftly operated such devices at the table.

In general, chopsticks are mainly used in 4 countries: China and Korea, Japan and Vietnam, however, even in Thailand, these devices have a place in serving, for example, for eating noodles and stews.

From what and for what...

There are incredibly many varieties of hasi. Some are used for desserts, others for noodles and soups, and others for culinary products.

These serving items also differ in material. Mostly, sticks are made from willow or bamboo wood, but the most popular are still those made from ivory, which acquire an amber color over time.

Often such individual devices are covered with elaborate designs or carvings. For celebrations, they use lacquered pointed hashi, the food from which tends to slip away. Yes, this is the whole charm of oriental cuisine with all its traditions and subtleties.

Today, plastic chopsticks have also become common, which are often offered in expresso cafes and sushi bars, but metal ones are increasingly used in cooking.

By the way, with regards to silver, chopsticks made of this noble metal were the main serving item on the imperial tables of China, because it was with their help that the presence of poison in food could be determined.

The art of hashi

The skills of using chopsticks in eating can be considered a real art, which goes hand in hand with a whole list of rules of Japanese etiquette. However, we will leave the rules for later, and now we will learn a lesson on how to hold chopsticks correctly, which we will also support with a visual video instruction.

How to hold chopsticks correctly

Japanese etiquette rules

In addition to the skillful use of hashi, the Japanese meal has many instructions, if not followed, it is easy to be considered ignorant among the inhabitants of the land of the rising sun. Here we will present a set of prohibitions, that is, what you should not do in a Japanese restaurant.

1. Wave hashi in the air;
2. Poking around in a bowl of soup, sorting through food on a plate, looking for pieces of a tasty treat;
3. Put the chopsticks on the table. For this purpose, a special stand is provided - hasioki;
4. Dragging chopsticks across the table is considered bad manners;
5. Lick hashi and hold them in your mouth;
6. Move, push dishes using chopsticks;
7. Stick hashi into food, such as rice or noodles;
8. Pass food with chopsticks from one eater to another;
9. Allow the sauce to drip from the piece of food in the chopsticks;
10. Dropping food from chopsticks.

In addition to taboos, the Japanese eating ceremony also has some regulations. For example, they are extremely irritated when the eater, wielding chopsticks in right hand, leave the left one indifferent. Many tourists, without realizing it, caused anger and indignation among Asian culinary specialists. According to the rules of etiquette left hand must hold the bowl during libations.

One more point. If you ordered noodle soup, then first of all you should eat the grounds, raising the bowl higher to your mouth, and only then drink the broth.

There are also rules in Japanese etiquette that would cause a flurry of indignation among Europeans. Slurping while eating certain dishes is considered by the inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun to be something like praise to the cook. If the client does not make smacking sounds, loud sucking sounds and other similar sounds during the meal, then the culinary master may be offended by such “silent” behavior.

Also on the menu of Japanese cafes and restaurants there is a dish - sushi, which is more advisable to eat with your hands rather than using chopsticks. This is neither forbidden nor condemned

Japanese cuisine is a true art, which lies not only in amazing dishes, but also in observing all the nuances of food culture.