Can You Use Chopsticks?

[sharkythesharkdogg]

Yep. Though if the option is there I'll sooner take a fork.

Went to a Japanese place once the had wooden chop sticks that were obviously very cheap, ended up getting a splinter in my lip while dealing with some pretty soggy nooddles.. Let me tell you, that was not a pleasant experience!

Ouch! Even though wooden chopsticks are meant to hold the food better and have better grip, poorly made ones aren't worth using.

It's supposed to be rude to rub the chopsticks together (to get rid of splinters) because it indicates you think the chopsticks are cheap and that the restaurant is cheap.

Of course the alternative is being polite, and choking to death on a splinter.

They're easy enough to use for me.

The only time I'm probably overly rude with them is when I scoop food from the bowl directly into my mouth. Soup is one thing, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to hold your rice bowl under your mouth and still attempt to pick up the item with your chopsticks and place it in your mouth.

....but that can get tiresome when you have the last little bits of your meal left in the bowl. I've seen plenty of native Japanese bend the rules on stuff like that, so I don't feel too bad when I do it myself.

Especially when it's a pretty casual setting.

Good news - it's perfectly acceptable to do this! As is drinking from the bowl with soup, and loudly slurping your noodles. The Japanese see this as an enthusiastic appreciation of food and it is perfectly polite. Just don't use your chopsticks to point at anything, that's like slapping someone's mother in the face.

See, I knew about the slurping and drinking soup from the bowl, but I've always been told you're not actually supposed to scoop food from your rice bowl into your mouth. If you have a big piece of food, you're supposed to move it to your rice bowl, bring the bowl to your chin and eat the object from there holding it in the chopsticks.