As I have previously posted, many of the cheap restaurants have throwaway wooden chopsticks. In the interest of preserving trees, a precious resource in China, the Beloit kids and I now each have our own personal screw-together sets. As the food begins to arrive we take out our cases, assemble our shiny stainless kaiza (chopsticks), and enjoy.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Carryin' our own
As I have previously posted, many of the cheap restaurants have throwaway wooden chopsticks. In the interest of preserving trees, a precious resource in China, the Beloit kids and I now each have our own personal screw-together sets. As the food begins to arrive we take out our cases, assemble our shiny stainless kaiza (chopsticks), and enjoy.
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Hi Dr. Paul,
ReplyDeleteYour description of the food in China was so inspiring I had to order Chinese for lunch last Friday. In your honor, I ate the entire meal with the disposable wooden chopsticks. Although, I must admit that I cheated a little by using a plastic knife to cut the General Tso chicken in to smaller pieces so they could be eaten with a limited amount of grace. (Would this be acceptable in China?) I was surprised that I could manage the fried rice without too much difficulty. I highly doubt that I will graduate to carrying my own set of stainless kaiza. Keep the reports coming.
誠摯
Dr. Jill
A knife is never to be found on the Chinese table. Any food that needs to be cut arrives already in bite-size chopstick-friendly pieces. I'm not sure why sharp utensils are absent. One explanation I've found is that the Chinese consider it barbaric that someone would eat with sharp tools that could be used as weapons. Maybe sometime in the past they just didn't trust one another...?? Once one gets proficient with chopsticks they feel like you are using two long fingers to pick up food. I haven't eaten with or even seen a fork for over a month now.
ReplyDeleteI recommend that anyone planning a visit to China or any other chopstick culture begin eating with them as often and for as long as possible prior to your trip. You'll be happy that you did.