Chop Chop Redux

In a previous post (Chop Chop) I detailed a bit of Chinese chop stick etiquette. This post of course left out a huge portion of the chop stick using population; the Japanese and Koreans. Today I am comparing three countries, Korea, China, and Japan, each of which have their own style of chopstick and different etiquette.

Chinese chopsticks are the longest of the 3 styles of chopsticks and have a square end. The material they are made from is typically wood, however they have been made of many different materials from ivory to plastic. There is no definite answer to why they the are longest, but it is said that it is because the Chinese typically share their food. When they sit at the table there are many dishes in the middle and each person pulls a bit of food rather than piling everything they will eat onto their plate as in other cultures. The wider and longer chopsticks make it easier to move food from a bigger serving dish to a smaller eating dish.

Japanese chopsticks are considerably shorter than those of the Chinese and taper to a point at the tip. The difference in shape may have been influenced by different eating customs; thinner, pointed chopsticks make it easier to pick up smaller, more delicate, pieces of food. When Japanese food is served it is typically served in many small portion sized dishes for each person. An example meal would be steamed rice, miso soup, a protein based dish such as grilled fish, and a vegetable dish such as sweet potato. It is common for most Japanese to raise the dishes close to their mouth while eating which is much easier to do using shorter chopsticks.

Korean chopsticks are similar in length to japanese chopsticks but are vastly different in design. Korean chopsticks have a width like Chinese chopsticks, but are almost completely flat throughout their entire length; so while the cross-section of a Chinese chopstick would look like a square that of a Korean chopstick would look like a very thin rectangle. In contrast to the other types of chopsticks these are made of silver, brass or even iron. They are also ornately decorated on the wider end which is held. The Koreans also accompany their chopstick use with a spoon by using the chopsticks to transfer some items to their spoon which is then used to eat. I'm not sure how this practice came about, but I do know these types of chopsticks are the ones I'm least familiar with, and least comfortable using. The rectangle shape makes them quite difficult to handle.

While this post doesn't cover every aspect of these culture's different ways it gives a basic idea of how things work. If I missed anything on got anything wrong then please let me know in the comment section.