Without any doubt, a couple of Asian cuisines have managed to overtake the whole world. No city in the world doesn’t have at least one of these restaurants. Just look around you, and you are bound to see at least one of these. Not only that it provides a lot of tasty dishes, but it also provides a feeling of a distant culture to the people in the Western Hemisphere.
That’s the reason why so many people have become interested in it. Just imagine that you are able to both enjoy food and learn about the culture. Without any doubt, eating with chopsticks is surely a major part of the whole experience. It’s needless to say that some dishes are adapted and can be eaten by a fork, but then consumers will not feel all of the experience. Let’ say you want to embrace the Asian culture of delicacy but do not know anything about how to use them.
You do not know how to choose the best ones, even when you base the decision on your preferences. You also do not know how to tell one kind of chopstick from the other. We are absolutely sure that they look pretty much the same as the Westerners. However, it needs to be said that this is not the case.
Origins:
The shape of these can tell you many things about their origin, you can b sure of that. You can find some of the best ones for sushi at https://www.sushi-planet.com/best-chopsticks-for-sushi/. Even though many Asian cultures use these sticks, it needs to be said there are only three main types. Let’s get a good look at those.
Chinese Version
China has a history of using chopsticks for more than 5,000 years. Chinese people consider them as an extension of the hand rather than an eating utensil. They are used both for the process of cooking and eating.
We are talking about two sticks made of the same material and have the same length, shape, and size. Chinese chopsticks can be made from bamboo, ivory, wood, and precious stones. Sandalwood, teak, and cedar are the different types of woods that are used to make chopsticks. Naturally, it needs to be said that wooden ones are the commonest by far. We doubt many people have an experience about using some other ones, especially in the West.
Chinese chopsticks are rectangular and have a rounded end. One way to identify Chinese chopsticks is that they will be the longest and thickest type of chopsticks. It needs to be said that the Chinese version used for eating can be about 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long. When it comes to the table, it needs to be said that their dining table is a round table on a spinning platform. At the same time, we are talking about the longest sticks, so that diners could reach for food.
Japanese Version
In Japan chopsticks are also referred to as “hashi”. Japanese chopsticks are also made out of wood but the wood will have a lacquer finish. This makes the entire chopstick very smooth. The Japanese often have shorter sticks for women in comparison to men. Even there’s no particular reason for that, it’s likely that we are talking about some traditional reasons.
Their version will be round all the way. One way to identify these chopsticks is that it will have the sharpest or pointed end. Japanese cuisine is very rich in fish, shrimp, lobsters, and other seafood. A pointed chopstick is very handy to eat these types of delicacies. They can be used both to sting or to reach the piece in a basic way, common for all types of sticks.
A Japanese chopstick is the shortest. In Japan, it is customary to hold the bowl close to your mouth as you eat. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are not interested in making longer ones. Wood is one of the most common materials used for Japanese ones because it is convenient to grab sushi and eat sticky rice. Naturally, there are sticks made of different materials, but it needs to be said that they are not as common as wooden ones.
Korean Version
Korean ones are usually made of metallic substances. Today they are made of stainless steel but usually, they were made of much rarer metals. Brass and silver were some of the metals which they used to make the chopsticks. As you can see, this makes them widely different from the other two versions.
They are flattened all the way from the bottom to the top, like the handle of a spoon or fork. This makes them easier to grip and unlikely to roll off the table. Koreans also use a spoon to eat their rice. But it needs to be said that sticks are way more a part of their culture than any other cutlery you can see in their restaurants.
Korean royalty ate using chopsticks made of sterling silver. They believed that the sterling silver would change color on contact with a poison. While there are no facts that can confirm these stories, it is just something that was left in their tradition. Koreans place their chopsticks on the right side of the spoon. If you attend a funeral in Korea, then the chopsticks will be placed on the left side of the spoon, which is just another interesting story about their culture.
In Conclusion
We’ve mentioned the fact that Asian cuisines always bring a touch of their culture along with the dish. With the growth of their popularity, more people are interested not just in the food, but also in all other things that come with it. Here, you can find all you need to know about three main types of chopsticks, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
Even though some other countries consider them as a part of their cutlery, these two are the main ones. So, cultures who use these have chosen one of these to be a part of their culture. We hope that you’ve learned something from this article of ours.
