Why Do the Chinese Use Chopsticks?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ส.ค. 2024
- Chopsticks have been the go-to eating utensil in East Asia for the better part of three millennia. But why did they emerge there in the first place and (more importantly) why did they become popular?
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I've lived in Taiwan for 20 years and this is the first decent explanation that I have gotten to that question. Well done.
Taiwan? Don't you mean, real China?
@@bungertheboring2037 Well, the caretakers of traditional Chinese culture, certainly.
@@hetshepsuit Formosa is just historical name the English and Portuguese called it. It’s the Island of Taiwan officially tho, across the Taiwan strait.
@@hetshepsuit that’s why the ROC adopted Taiwan as a second name to call itself, they won’t anymore when they retake China
Taiwan is a country
You forgot one pretty important fact as to why chopsticks were taken up in East Asia and no other major civilization took them up--bamboo. You can make lots and lots of cheap chopsticks with the plentiful bamboo that grows throughout China, Korea and Japan. Bamboo also has the added benefit of growing super-quickly, and can be cut easily into pieces very much resembling chopsticks. And that's why these countries and cultures took up chopsticks and no one else did--plentiful bamboo everywhere you go in the wet parts of East Asia.
Not really. Japanese and Korean they use spoon, the only utensil is not in China customaries. Chopsticks were spread to Korea during China’s occupation.
@@jovimathews Yes, and korean chopstick are made with metal
You are wrong, Chinese people use chopsticks because they think they are more elegant and civilized, actually in ancient China they used knives and forks, but after the Zhou Dynasty they thought this kind of eating utensils were too barbaric, so they used chopsticks instead. Japan and Korea use chopsticks because of the strong influence of ancient Chinese culture.
@@jovimathews Chinese also use spoon but only for soup.
@@leezhieng TH-cam was discussing about Customary Chopsticks not spoon, fork, bats, dogs, lightbulbs during Song Dynasty when China was much more cosmopolitan
The Cardinal Richelieu story reminds me of living in Spain in the 1980s - when dining, everyone had to keep both hands visible at all times to show your host that you're not aiming a gun at them under the table.
an italian dude saw me eating spaghetti with chopstick once. He asked me for a pair, and he was mind blown.
chopsticks is very suit to eat things like noodles
Considering how straight forward, cheap and easy chopsticks are to make, I'm kind of surprise more cultures didn't invent them independently.
*Wow. Never imagined my comment would get this much attention. Here's some more detail on why I think the usage of chopsticks is straight forward
The reason I say straightforward is because you are literally using sticks to eat. Things that exist in nature and are everywhere. People have been skewering and cooking food on sticks for millennia. I don't think it's that much of a logical jump to take a small, relatively straight branch, with a knife clieve it into two halves. Carve them into crude kebob skewers, cook the food and later uses the sticks to wolf down a bowl of cooked grain.
As a kid, whenever I'd go into the woods, I'd do something like this. So I can easily imagine someone in the distant past doing this.
In Khmer history, we believed "Thon Chey" brought noodles called Nom Banh Jok into ancient China. Nom Banh Jok became so famous thru out China that the Chinese King himself wanted to try Nom Banh Jok. Thon Chey was invited to see the King to make his famous Nom Banh Jok. Thon Chey taught the Chinese King how to use a Chopsticks. It tasted so good that the Chinese King start sipping the broth from the bowl. Thon Chey looks up and noticed how hideous and ugly the Chinese King was and insulted the king and was put in prison.
India: *h a n d*
Well their ancestors used their hands which if you have access to clean water to wash it, is healthy for you as our hands have good bacteria that helps us digest the food. Eating with hands is in every culture, but i still love my chopsticks
Because fingers do everything chopsticks can.
@@boygenius538_8 except keep the food off your fingers and perhaps more importantly, keeping your fingers off the food.
Honestly, considering that the cardinal had to host a table for many powerful people, some of which would undoubtedly be his political enemies, it’s quite understandable that he wanted to keep potential assassination attempts off the table. (Pun intended)
The ironic this is that the result was people started getting good at throwing them like darts.
Still however, unlikely to kill someone rather than just anger them.
😂
It's almost like you build up to that pun in the first place 😆.
Good one 👍
👏🏼👏🏼
If he'd done his job as a cardinal, instead of playing secular politics all the time, he would have been less hated.
Very interesting video about the chopsticks. I’ve known that China used to use forks and knives in the ancient times and switched to chopsticks. But I never thought about the reason of food behind it.
In a common Chinese household, we have chopsticks, and spoons as well.Spoon has been used throughout the history and is often forgotten probably because it’s too universal in all civilizations . 😂
Sometimes I prefer to use spoon as it’s easier to get the rice and small chunks of vegetables mixed.
yeah. when i go to like some east asian restaurant my parents often make me use forks. after i while, i decided to try chopsticks and i never knew how significant this change was for me lol. now im starting to prefer smaller chunks of food
i hear Thais love their spoon for everything 😂
I just got home from eating at a favorite local chinese buffet. In addition to the regular knife, fork and spoon they have chopsticks available for those that prefer to use them. I often will use chopsticks since it adds to the ambience of eating at a Chinese restaurant. I still use the traditional knife, fork and spoon but chopsticks work and I have become somewhat of an expert at eating food by using chopsticks
The two reasons you mention are rice and large population are actually related. Rice is the reason why east Asia, especially south China and south east Asia, is so populous in the first place.
damn i saw around ten viets on youtube, its nearly none just a week ago
Also close to ocean for fishing. Lack of access to ocean and cold are problems with living in most of Russia.
@@freneticness2136 Europe's population is less than 750M, including European Russia. So, only 75% of a billion people, in an area bigger than India, and India is approaching 1.4 billion.
@@freneticness2136 i would disagree. The population of Europe were no match for the Asian civilizations before the Columbian Exchange. After the exchange, potatoes got introduced which helped boosted the population of Europe significantly.
Therefore, I would argue plants that contain high amounts of sugar and starch (i.e. potatoes and rice) are the major factor in determining the population of a region.
@@freneticness2136 while I agree that arable land a without a doubt important, I still think a starch rich diet is what contributed to the population growth around the world.
When I mentioned the European pre-Columbian exchange, I wanted to emphasize the fact that they DID have arable soil (to an extend). However, what they was lacking was a starch rich food/plant that they could plant in that soil. They did have wheat, but because of their food habits, you have to actually put an effort in to grind it, make a dough, and bake it. It wasn't anything you could cook and eat fast as boiling a potato or rice. Thus, the European population before the exchange was lower than the other civilizations where starch rich food was common (I.e. china, india)
Now, after the exchange, we can see the population of Europe practically exploded. This indicates that while good land is important (because again, they DID have good/ok soil, just lacking the plants), the most important player in determining population growth was however the starchy plants.
Ok, I admit u really did poked some holes in my argument with those Egyptians, but I'm gonna pull a quick one here and argued that wheat is still a starchy food (just not as effective to consume as rice/potatoes), so my point still hold water (somewhat?).
But seriously tho, keep posting ur opinions, I love when people can have nice debate without insulting each others. Rare to find these nowadays
A pair of chopsticks is a multifunctional tool: one can eat with them; cook with them - beat eggs, extricate pasta from a pot as opposed to chasing it round the pot; use them to level out ingredients- measuring flour, baking powder; use them as a guide when rolling out cookie dough as the sticks are generally 1/4 inch in height. Etc etc.
Doesn't a spoon make all of them more convenient?
Don't forget that you can also kill someone with them too!
@@meltherecafe2394 never cook? Try extricating cooked pasta from a pot of water with a spoon, it will fall off right after: no grip .
Beat eggs with a 🥄? The least you can do is with a fork.
you can even whip your children with the long chopsticks
@@brosplit Two spoons can handle this exactly as well as two chopsticks, better with some designs of spoon and also with most designs of pasta. A dedicated toothed tool like a "pasta spoon" (not a true spoon) is much better than either at this task though (and can be easily made from any rigid material), so if pasta extraction is your reason for using chopsticks, well, think again!
Btw, in case you didn't notice, a spoon has 2 ends, one of which is effectively a chopstick that can have some specialised shape if that's advantageous, so there is just no way a chopstick is ever going to beat a spoon at anything, except possibly threading through a small hole. Unfortunately for the Chinese, they didn't figure out knitting, so the chopstick is just a fool's spoon.
As an Asian living in Germany, I appreciate the versatitlity of chopsticks so much! You can stir/cook pasta, then eat it with the same chopsticks. You can pick chips, french fries/Pommes without using your fingers. Chopsticks are also so versatile when you want to grill something, too. Also, the same pair of chopstick can be used from during cooking until eating.
Chopsticks have a primitive pleasure like eating with your fingers minus the mess
Actually cooking chopsticks are different. They are longer and wider. Meant for easy cooking and you won't burn your hand. Feeding chopsticks are shorter and less pointy.
yah, I eat 7-11 pasta by chopsticks in office.
Do you live near Hannover?
@@JOEFABULOUS. so using fork and knife is just like slicing and piercing food with your nails but less effort, right?
This has been on of the questions I have been asking my self for some good time but had failed to find the real answer to it.
Love how you explain things and make them easy to understand
My mom is Viet and so I grew up with chopsticks in the house. Funny thing is I don't use them for eating all that often, but I use them almost exclusively when cooking. Stir, grab, even scoop in a limited capacity - chopsticks do it all. They also make great bone tools, back scratchers, rigging for toy creations of all descriptions, and magic wands, to name but a few alternative uses.
Hey❤️ I may not know you personally however I care about you deeply because I know how much you mean to Jesus The King of all creation . I want to tell you that Jesus Christ loves you so much, he died for our sins so that whoever believes in him wouldn’t have to perish in hell but instead have eternal life in heaven. You need to understand that HEAVEN and HELL are 1000% REAL they aren’t imaginary , and hell is a horrible place I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. God doesn’t want you to end up there he wants you in heaven and so he is giving you a chance to accept the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ and be saved. Day by Day the world is falling apart because we are literally living in the last days of Earth there is no doubt or debate about it, Jesus Christ is coming faster then you think to bring judgement to the world and to destroy it. This really is URGENT, it’s NOT A JOKE ,Tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone, you can be alive one minute and gone the next, please take this opportunity to be on the side of Mercy confess your sins and wicked ways to Jesus , sincerely REPENT/turn away from them, and ask for his forgiveness- ask him to enter your heart and to be your Lord and Savior before it is too late , truly believe in him and he WILL do it because it is his promise. It’s important that you seek the righteous and Holy path of the Most high God so that you may inherit eternal life and be spared of Hell fire. You can begin a new life in Christ and have a genuine relationship with him, please repent. Jesus changed my life and he will change yours too🥰, May the Lord be with you eternally💕🙏🏾
Sold on the back scrating thing...have to get a pair. 🙂
The stick was like the iPhone in 23000 BC
I absolutely adored the animation style, the script, everything is just so cheeky, and such high quality. Totally subscribing 👌
Compared to other problematic communities that try to do the same thing I agree
What other “problematic communities“ are you referring to, pray tell?
@@vincedibona4687 the woke squad
The art style reminds me of Dont Starve
@@guillerhonora717 Me too😀
Please never stop uploading, you are so awesome man ... I was laughing my lungs out ... Wow, good stuff....
Forks and knives mean both hands are busy. Using chopsticks means I can eat with one hand. I can then use the other hand to play with my phone 😊
Best explanation so far I've watched in TH-cam! Thanks!
Anyway, the bowls are important too! In Chinese language, there's a term called WanKuai (碗筷), which means bowl and chopsticks.
The Chinese bowls are usually small at the bottom, with either slanted or curved wall. The design of the wall helps shoveling rice in to your mouth easier.. so you should always hold the bowl up (well, except if it's too big). Even when eating noodle, you can also just shovel the last few ones in to your mouth since it's already too hard to pick up using chopsticks. And since Chinese food are usually hot, so the tableware are made of porcelain to avoid hurting our hands ( bronze was used before the invention of porcelain).
The Koreans, however don't hold the bowls up as they think it looks like baggers bagging.. so their bowls are straight down without slanted or curved wall, making them standing more steadily on the table, and more capacity. And since porcelain is heavy and fragile, plus they don't hold up the bowls, they changed the material back to steel. It's light and doesn't break.
Just imagine how painful it will be when you using a knife to eat then you miss.
F
no fingers....
Imagine being that dumb
@@untontomas891 ahahahah true
Uhh, How often do you miss? Eating and hitting the mouth is a VERY Basic skill...
Only us Americans Aren't coordinated enough to eat using it knife... I'd be willing to bet there's even a law about it somewhere. We've turned into a full Nanny state these days
#1 reason - They are extremely effective when you learn how to use them. They’re like an extension of your hand. You can even cut food with them like scissors.
I'm from UK, but chopsticks are really growing on me. They're so versatile for cooking etc. I got a takeaway fry up at work once, and the plastic fork snapped. I had chopsticks in my bag and ate it with those 😂
You know you're getting good using chopsticks when you eat M&M's with them.
@@Dr.Pepper001 Haha, or catching flies with them like Mr Miyagi 🤣
@@Dr.Pepper001 Do it with tofu can do the same trick, especially the Japanese one if you want it to be challenging
two toothbrushes is my rescue
The slippery metal chopsticks take mastery to a whole different league
3:03 non-Chinese food lover here, I got the epiphany on why I always thought that the food eaten with chopsticks is tastier. You see, many Chinese dishes are stir-fried, or at least they are coated with tasty sauces. Being cut in smaller slices, the seasoning covers more surface, hence the indulgence. Like it was said in the video, most Chinese foods spend less time on the fire, hence the freshness. At times, you can still feel the crunchiness of the vegetables, along with the meat broth and garlic and many other seasonings... ugh ... heaven! With the tiny grasp of the chopsticks, the flavor enters your mouth little by little (yeah, I try so hard not to use the chopsticks to shove away the meal like a starving person, no matter how starving I am), that feeling when your tongue dances along with the taste ... 100% blissful
So this is how it feels to find a great TH-cam channel before they blow up and become giant channel with hundred of thousand or even millions subscribers.
stillll waiting
Ikr?
nope
Still waiting
Not quite there yet, but certainly getting near to breaking into 100k 😁
I totally agree! I also felt uneasy at first when I moved to the US when I was 13 from China. Eating with a knife on the table felt weird and dangerous, I did get used to it though.
For most people outside of China, chopsticks are awkward to use. Food drops off of them too easily, and eating that way takes too long. Depending on what the food is, forks, skewers, toothpicks, small tongs, edible food wrappings like regular bread, tortillas, roti, or seaweed, inedible ones like leaves, husks, or napkins, spoons, or clean fingers are all better. However, i agree that sharp knives are dangerous for eating, worse than chopsticks, while table knives are almost useless for picking up food, although useful for cutting through soft stuff and spreading, or maybe for stirring a drink or soup if you have no spoon.
If anyone is looking for more reading material on this, "Consider the Fork" by Bee Wilson is a wonderful read. As a professional culinary anthropologist and an amateur food historian, it's a wonderful start into the field.
I love that book; so interesting!
I was told that the fork was invented by Leonardo Da Vinci
I guess now you want to whitewash the history of chopsticks saying it's also invented by white men and got stolen by Chinese somehow? 😂
@@TriviRocks
Not sure about Leonardo, but the fork was indeed an Italian invention, introduced in France by Catherine de Medicis when she married Francis the First’s son, who would become Henry II in the 16th century.
@@myriamickx7969 bone forks were found in China dated back to 2000 BC...
This channel is simply the best thing I found lately, I'm addicted, congrats Side Quest - To infinity and beyond!
Hey❤️ I may not know you personally however I care about you deeply because I know how much you mean to Jesus The King of all creation . I want to tell you that Jesus Christ loves you so much, he died for our sins so that whoever believes in him wouldn’t have to perish in hell but instead have eternal life in heaven. You need to understand that HEAVEN and HELL are 1000% REAL they aren’t imaginary , and hell is a horrible place I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. God doesn’t want you to end up there he wants you in heaven and so he is giving you a chance to accept the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ and be saved. Day by Day the world is falling apart because we are literally living in the last days of Earth there is no doubt or debate about it, Jesus Christ is coming faster then you think to bring judgement to the world and to destroy it. This really is URGENT, it’s NOT A JOKE ,Tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone, you can be alive one minute and gone the next, please take this opportunity to be on the side of Mercy confess your sins and wicked ways to Jesus , sincerely REPENT/turn away from them, and ask for his forgiveness- ask him to enter your heart and to be your Lord and Savior before it is too late , truly believe in him and he WILL do it because it is his promise. It’s important that you seek the righteous and Holy path of the Most high God so that you may inherit eternal life and be spared of Hell fire. You can begin a new life in Christ and have a genuine relationship with him, please repent. Jesus changed my life and he will change yours too🥰, May the Lord be with you eternally💕🙏🏾
Because using forks and knives at a table seems like fighting a war on food.
I’m from southwest Asia and I’m here to learn more about my continent and all the other people there
This reminds me of that Jerry Seinfeld joke: You have to admire the chinese because by now you know they've seen the fork but continue to use the chopsticks
Chopstick is more versatile once you get good at using it.
i've grown up using both and i prefer to use chopsticks. forks are kind of nasty imo, they're harder to clean and even a lot of restaurants will have gunk on their forks. asians are just cleaner i feel.
Shovel, spoon, hello? You aren't plowing 40 acres with a couple of pool cues!
That’s something even better. Fork and spoon. We can eat rice with it, drink soup with it. Goes well with stir fried stuff.
i have tried so many times to learn to use chopsticks while also wondering how simpler clay spoons or other designed utensils didnt become the norm instead. to be fair i dont have the manual dexterity for chopsticks. my hands shake worse the more i try, so spoon and fingers for my fried rice as i watch others make it look so easy!
thank you for answering this question it makes a lot of sense now.
Coming from an Australian who just picked up the chopstick habit years back when eating ramen noodles, and really branched out when eating out at Chinese restaurants, and can confirm that while handling chopsticks is a learning curve in itself, the skill speaks wonders for itself.
It could be me....... but when I eat Chinese food and use chopsticks, it seems to taste better and seems more authentic.
@@henryottis295
Ah so you're one of those types 🤡
Same, though I see little use for chopsticks outside of ramen. A trusty fork can do so much more
@@RexGalilae if you’re eating a dish which is a kind of wrapping with soft filling inside, using chopsticks to grab, rather than have a fork pierce the food can reduce possibility of breaking open the wrap and the inside falling out. Although a spoon can also be used. There is a type of dim sum Xiao long Bao 小笼包 that has thin Bao skin outside soup and meat inside, it is harder to eat with fork because of the aforementioned reasons, and personally not easy to scoop with a spoon due to it sticking to the container it is on.
@@roboduck7401 those are my absolute fave. Sadly, I'm clumsy with soupy stuff, so I end up stabbing the poor dumpling if it evades me, and drink the soup after. I need chinese spoons!
I remember this story I was told.
Two friends wanted to have a competition to see who could eat a steaming hot bowl of rice (or something else) the fastest. However the rice was too hot to pick up with hands so one friend waited. The other picked up 2 sticks from the ground beside him and started using them as chopsticks.
A fictional tale for sure but just a childhood story I remember and would like to share
Hey❤️ I may not know you personally however I care about you deeply because I know how much you mean to Jesus The King of all creation . I want to tell you that Jesus Christ loves you so much, he died for our sins so that whoever believes in him wouldn’t have to perish in hell but instead have eternal life in heaven. You need to understand that HEAVEN and HELL are 1000% REAL they aren’t imaginary , and hell is a horrible place I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. God doesn’t want you to end up there he wants you in heaven and so he is giving you a chance to accept the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ and be saved. Day by Day the world is falling apart because we are literally living in the last days of Earth there is no doubt or debate about it, Jesus Christ is coming faster then you think to bring judgement to the world and to destroy it. This really is URGENT, it’s NOT A JOKE ,Tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone, you can be alive one minute and gone the next, please take this opportunity to be on the side of Mercy confess your sins and wicked ways to Jesus , sincerely REPENT/turn away from them, and ask for his forgiveness- ask him to enter your heart and to be your Lord and Savior before it is too late , truly believe in him and he WILL do it because it is his promise. It’s important that you seek the righteous and Holy path of the Most high God so that you may inherit eternal life and be spared of Hell fire. You can begin a new life in Christ and have a genuine relationship with him, please repent. Jesus changed my life and he will change yours too🥰, May the Lord be with you eternally💕🙏🏾
Sadly , they seldom "pick up food" with sticks and place it in the mouth . Most often , they pick up and tilt the bowl and shovel/shove the food into their mouth as if they had to be somewhere important to be and were already 30 minutes late. That is REALLY hard to watch .
If the food is too hot to touch with your hands, then surely it would be to hot to put in your mouth.
@@frankficcle7081 if you pick it piece by piece then it is not that hot
Knife and fork team up well with a flat plate to work on. Chopsticks really need a hand sized small bowl 🥣 for the shovel-rice-in trick. It can be done mannerly.
Yes, the Chinese restaurant use of a flat plate to eat from is an awkward hybrid.
I heard that the first chopsticks were bamboo twigs. That's a pretty simple way of making the utensils.
Forks are easier to get good with, but once you get good with chopsticks you can do things with them that you couldn't do with a fork.
This is true. I used to be able to remove fish bones with my chopsticks. I do no believe that it is possible to do that with just one fork. You can also cram one in the side of an ear of corn to use as a holder. Also, if you're eating family style, you can use one end for feeding yourself and the other for grabbing food.
But then again, try eating a steak with chopsticks, or a shepherd's pie
@@mattmanncan Using chopsticks to eat steak is not that hard mate. But it is not the best choice.
@@mattmanncan I‘ve been eating pizza, burger, pretty much everything with chopsticks when I was younger just to annoy my parents and I had the ability to do so. + I wanted to be an edgy anime protagonists who eats everything with chopsticks.
It‘s doable and is a lot of fun in addition to that.
Legend has it that the chopsticks champion of the 3rd century used chopsticks to deliver a baby
Anyone notice how Cardinal Whats-his-name had absolutely nothing to do with the rise and/or prevalence of chopsticks?
I usually eat with chop sticks as a way to eat slower. This way, I find I feel full from less food. I have lost 25lbs so far .
Choppers are also very versatile and useful in cooking.
I prefer Korean style stainless steel sticks for most applications.
Can confirm, chopsticks are very useful for whisking
Counter-intuitively, chopsticks can also be used to eat certain foods easier (and therefore, faster/in bigger amounts) than forks. See noodles, long-cut stir-fried vegetables, and starchy rice.
Once a person is comfortable with chopsticks, they essentially become extensions of their fingers. So instead of poking, prodding, and spinning your fork around to pick up noodles, it becomes as quick and easy as basically reaching in and grabbing them with your hands, without the mess.
@@icoz7 As someone used to using chopsticks I can confirm.
That was another aspect that Confucius desired in all his philosophy: slow down, enjoy; don't just rush through.
It's also why, although I became quite skilled w chopsticks, I now REFUSE to use them.
Fork please.
Korean chopsticks are indeed fancier, but its flat handles made it inconvenient for me. I'd rather prefer Chinese one as it is stronger.
such a pleasure to learn interesting things online - so relaxing compared to the amount of crap available anywhere else, thx for the magnificent work and the beautiful animations!!!
Modern day: Knives and forks
Medieval Europe: Knives and knives
Chinese invented forks and knives, and used spoon before the west. The earliest recorded accounts of fork and knife usage in fact come from China.
@@ddding9518 cool
Bamboo, the common material of chopsticks grew very quickly, but only after 4 years. The first 4 years the bamboo doesn’t really grow much, since it grew very fast at the roots. I think it found it very sentimental that sometimes people only see on the surface level, but beneath there’s more magical things. Trust the process.
Great piece. I actually learned a lot even though I've been a student of Chinese history & technology for many years.
Ancient Chinese kid: these damn sticks are to hard to use.
Acient Chinese Parents: don't act like those barbarians behind the great wall (Mongolian).
That's the story I heard when I was a Child 🤣
Chinese kid: You mean those who are crossing or those who are on the other side?
Chinese mother: What?
That's what TRAINING chopsticks are for - my niece (6yo American) is quite good at using regular chopsticks now thanks to that simple present I provided years and years ago.
the great wall was not even built against the Mogols, let alone they are Chinese too in today's world
@@brianuyungele1583 but mongolia is it's own country
@@udozocklein6023 most Mongolians are Chinese citizens.
Death by a dull knife is more painful than death by a sharp one.
Wonderful history lessons and narration by an Englishman makes it better. Love the accent. Thanks for a great video!
Have any of you ever actually tried eating with a knife in the old fashioned manner?
It takes some practice, the trick is to always be aware of the edge and the flat of the blade.
Eating knives (at least in Europe) were a lot more friendly than the dagger you would wear at your hip.
@@RhodokTribesman yeah this video really goes overboard trying to portray the act of eating with a knife as negatively as possible
Not my cup of tea. See what I did there?
3:03 Actually, the main reason why the Chinese cut food, especially meat, into small chunks before cooking them was to ensure that meat would not be accidentally eaten undercooked
The Chinese knew that eating undercooked meat would lead to health problems, so cutting meat into thin slices or small chunks would ensure that they would be easily cooked through, even by the most careless of cooks
If fuel was the problem, they wouldn't be eating porridge, which tends to take longer to cook than just rice
Thanks
China: Fully cooks meat to prevent illness
Also China: decide to eat it with an inferior eating utensil
I'll use them for knitting needles. I tried using them one time, no luck so you can use them for knitting needles.
@@martinlucas6004 chopsticks are really useful tho
@Martin, when you learn to use them properly then they're really just about as efficient for Chinese dishes as a fork & knife are, if not more efficient. It's much easier to grab food from a hot pot than it is to use a fork. Same for fishing noodles from noodle soup. Learning it can take a few tries, but that really shouldn't deter you from trying them.
The dining table was a danger zone back in the days with all the knives laying around
Talking about chopsticks so much that his legs turned into one(or two. You get? Cus two. . . NvM )
Thanks for the very informative video! As someone from a “non-chopstick” culture (i.e., the US), I find chopsticks extremely easy to use (no problem picking up individual beans or grains of rice, not that I do that very often) and prefer them for eating various types of food that's in bite-sized pieces, even something like salad. Once you get used to them they're like eating with your fingers-with the advantage that your fingers remain clean.
I feel like chopsticks were actually designed for poutine, just no one realized it yet.
actually i noticed that some people know how to use chopsticks as soon as they picked it up and some needed to be taught how to use em(i was the one who was being taught), i don't have a preference of which cutlery i use when eating, i just use what's provided to me or closest to me
I agree with that last part a lot! I often think of chopsticks as extensions of my fingers, so they’re great for finger foods and all sorts of snacks as well. They’re also simpler to clean, too, which is a plus.
Salads are perfectly consumed by chopsticks- They are called "cold dishes" in Chinese involving veg served at room temperature.
@@skaldlouiscyphre2453 Yep. Not only poutine but any kind of small morsels of food. What chopsticks have trouble picking are porridge and large chunks (Whole bun or undivided steak). Actually some foreign sourced food can also be consumed by chopsticks for example pasta.
If you are in the wilderness with no supplies, chopsticks are the easiest eating and cooking tools to make.
Hands
Never go into the wilderness without a spork.
Goodluck cutting raw meat with your chopsticks.
@@Pope_Rural_I5184 good luck stirring your stew as it comes to a boil
@@ObjectorSnark you stir with a stick, not chopsticks. Plus you shouldn't make a stew as it is not fuel efficient
Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan are out at a Chinese restaurant and Luke is really battling trying to use the chopsticks to feed his face. After a while Obi Wan turns to him and says
"use the forks luke"
John Wick can still kill you with chopsticks bro it ain't safe😂
Your voice is awesome !! Brings me back to the days of Dungeon Keeper by Bullfrog Studios and the art style reminds me of Dont Starve !
Sometimes I eat with chopsticks. I tried Korean ones made of metal, thick Chinese ones and Japanese ones. But still I find forks overall better and easier to use, also for ramen, which I roll up like spaghetti and then pick up vegetables
China has a variety of chopstick designs, metal, bamboo and plastic are common. They even have these evil ones that are flat metal. They were the ones that took me the longest to learn to use, as they want to go sideways on you.
A lot easier to eat a salad with chopsticks than poking it with a fork
europe: spoon, fork, knife
china: stick
india: H A N D
The earliest recorded accounts of fork and knife usage in fact come from China. Chinese invented forks and knives, and used spoon before the west. China used forks before chopsticks
one thing i loved being a southeast asian is the fact that we can use every eating utensil exist in the world. spoon, fork, knife, chopstick, or bare hand are no problem for us lol
😁
how do you like your cats cooked?
SEA gang. Fish oil for life
Southeast Asia is a place with different cultures, I am amazed that the mainstream culture of the world can be seen in Southeast Asia
@@bodhixxx1 It's so delish
Addition: Dicing ingredients also make seasoning a lot easier as their superficial area per volume increase a lot. That probably explains why Chinese cushine outtastes. Despite this some recipes require meat curing aka preseasoning.
Ancient China: *uses large forks in the kitchen*
Also ancient China: *invents chopsticks instead of just making a smaller eating fork out of bamboo*
If you think about it, the war knife being dulled to a butter knife is just like the trident vs the table fork.
I recently went to a Chinese restaurant in an affluent area in Perth, Western Australia, where I was astounded to find that they had no chopsticks. Barbarians!
Well some of us barbarians can't get the hang of using chopsticks like the elite snobs that do and like to rub it in our faces, so we prefer forks or spoons. A good Chinese restaurant in the US at least will provide all 3 options and let the paying customer, who they want to return over and over again, choose what to use without begin judgmental. If I have to bring my own fork because they only use chopsticks, then I'm not patronizing that restaurant. I come to eat, not fight a battle with my eating utensils.
Really? Wow! It's like visiting a steakhouse where they have no knives.
Chinese Restaurant turns out to be run by Gweilos and Laogai XD
sorry but there are no good chinese restaurants in perth.
@@Losttoanyreason They do make training pairs that you can use. I've seen them at quite a few Chinese restaurants. They're the equivalent of chopsticks with training wheels lol. You should give it a shot.
As a chinese I really appreciate you making a clear history on why we use chopsticks to this day
I thought that it was one of the early Chinese emperors who banned knives from the dining table as he didn't want to see weapons of war when he was at the dining table!
I'm Asian and never thought about this before either, it's like asking why people use forks. Actually would love a video on forks!
@Wildlife Warrior that's only in China
And maybe Japan
@Wildlife Warrior dog actually tastes quite good and is unique from traditional western meats.
@@redundantwithrecumbent6460 That makes sense. Ancient Chinese emperors always afraid of being overthrown by people, some dynasties might even forbade metal objects being use in the public.
People : chopsticks are economical
Me : 🖐️ is more
I don't know the history behind it but I find chopsticks much more convenient to use compared to a fork in most Asian cusine.
I've been eating with chopsticks since 2019. Not only do I love eating with them but I'm able to pick up smaller bites of food and it has really helped since I have a hiatal hernia. Best thing that ever happened to me. I live in the U.S.A.
Using chopsticks is like eating with your hands it has a primitive pleasure you don't get with cutlery but you have to learn not to grip them too tightly and get cramp like writers cramp in your hand
@@JOEFABULOUS. I must be using my chopsticks right then.
"Ever wonder why the Chinese use chopsticks? It's got something to do with ... Cardinal Richelieu." ... no, it doesn't. The only very loose connection to Richelieu is he, too, changed an eating utensil. An unrelated eating utensil. Nothing at all to do with chopsticks.
Their link is that both of them were, essentially, their genetations' Sadiq Khan.
I like to think he just came up with a different way to solve a similar problem.
Yeah well there wasn’t enough material to give him his own separate video, so here we are.
Chopsticks had nothing to do with Richelieu but it has similar stories to why they were invented. Luckily this is shown in the video.
@@angsern8455 Then it should say ""Ever wonder why the Chinese use chopsticks? It's kind of like what Cardinal Richelieu did to invent forks" rather than imply Richelieu had something to do with chopsticks directly, right?
Love how Confucius here looks absolutely nothing like how he is depicted in ancient paintings
When I eat or fix Chinese food I find it is sometimes easier to eat with chopsticks. The fork just does not work so well.
that poor borneo on the map got splitted into 4 different parts :(
I remember seeing an archaeology documentary and it said areas with bamboo have less metal spearheads. Because bamboo grows fast and you can just chop off the end to a sharp point and throw it. It also said the region with chopstick use overlaps greatly with the pre-historic bamboo spear area. So maybe they simply found another use for all the wood laying around? 🤷♂️🥢
Bamboo is actually a type of grass. That's why it grows so quickly and why it doesn't taste like wood. It is a very versatile grass.
@@Ikajo well yes duh.
Basically a hardened dandelion stem
@@Scarletraven87 Dandelion is a flower 🤨
You would need to heat treat the Bamboo tip for it to hold and edge
@@bryanlee7295 bamboo is ubiquitous, all you need is to make one clean angled cut and use it like a spear...once. if it breaks or bends or splits, pick another one out of a barrel of 500 for the next attack
3:16 Ths is the most unsettling thing I've seen today.
Smaller bites = more chewing = brain feels fuller. Psychology!
According to my research during famine times people used to go to jungle in search of food and dig the ground for ants and termites eggs.
So we can pick up flies on the way . Extra protein
I didn't think I'd be interested in the history of chopsticks, but it was a very ineresting video!
You are really a 20th-century broadcaster, lol. Subscribed, and you bring me a funny and educational story about chopsticks which I don’t exactly know as a Chinese. We just know about chopsticks are easy to get food and other uses such as stirring in both kitchen and table. It’s my first time to get this that chopsticks prevent people from stabbing their face. Interesting
absolutely terrifying mouth drawing, loved it though
Best part of the video was the explanation of the invention of the table knife
I’m so happy I found this channel!
In Indonesia and Thailand, they eat their stir-fry with serving spoons ... when they aren't using just their fingers. I have adopted the serving-spoon technique.
Great vid! Informative and entertaining.
Subscribed.
It's serving spoon and fork. You use the fork to push the food onto the spoon. That's the technique* in Thailand at least and it's quite smart compared to the western knife and fork technique.
*This is only really made possible because the cutting happens in the meal prep stage and everything is made bite sized.
Thats now
Back then, its using hands.
these two culture are relatively recent in using utensil.
Right, full on agriculture and all the tools that come with - yet no cutlery? Push on
@@encro depends which western knife and fork technique you are talking about, Americans eat very differently to europeans, mostly preferring to just use a fork like a spork.
Source: Im european, wifes american.
So, the cardinal had exactly zero to do with chopsticks. What a surprise.
I like the british chap with the monocle, he sounds so wise
The reason I heard was about the clan culture. In the past, people eating meals individually in their own plate, but since the clan culture goes viral in China, people starting eating from the same plate. And the chopsticks was been used for picking food for others since they was too long that was not able to feed the holder. Afterwards, the chopsticks becomes shorter that all of the members could either pick food for others or for themselves.
Your illustrations, jokes, and accurate anthropology just earned you a new subscriber.
Respect.
Also at 3:08, your vegetable isn't just well outlined, but also has proper perspective.....Which makes me wonder what art school you attended, if you did. May i ask?
I always use chopsticks to pick up Doritos out of the bag. No more orange-powdered fingers. If there no chopsticks nearby, I use two drinking straws as chopsticks.
In the old China, to enter the palace, everyone except the king had to turn in their weapons. The shields also become the wok.
Not just in the dining room, I would be so lost without chopsticks whilst cooking
I fully relate to the ancient chinese! When I was a student, my tactic to have the least dishes to wash was using chopsticks! No forks, no knives just 2 pairs of sticks!
Awesome story telling while explaining the topic. Bravo
It just makes sense that two sticks were cheaper and easier to get than silverware
The earliest recorded accounts of fork and knife usage in fact come from China. Chinese invented forks and knives, and used spoon before the west. China used forks before chopsticks
Thanks for this. I always wondered how come any culture would use sticks to eat.
But first starting out with piercing pieces of meat or vegetable with one hand and eating millet with the bare other hand makes sense. And then starting to use two sticks also makes sense to me now.
My mom always said, "hands were made before forks. "
@@ellakajfasz2569 learn to respect. Tell your mom too
0:04 cause they don't use spoons and forks
I love how chaotic the top comments are. A simple video about chopsticks dragged a whole conversation of politics in. It's like watching a video about croissants and see the Austrian and French people fight. Very entertaining
You would think someone would have invented the spoon
Fun fact: the first forks were found in China from before the Shang dynasty, and there is evidence for forks being used for both dining and cooking in the Han dynasty. Question is, why did chopsticks supplant forks?
Metal and metal tools were very expensive right up until only a couple hundred years ago. Even making a decent fork or spoon out of wood requires a little bit of time and effort, whilst making chopsticks is simplistic. It really comes down to economics.
economics. If something is cheaper, then you go for it
To be honest I think it didn't. I think there was a lot of holdover that is not discussed.
Also if I recall a particular government in China's history deprived gardening tools and other metals from the population to prevent them from being used in revolts. Might be why there is a culture of hand to hand combat today. This isn't verified, btw, because I am recalling an off hand lecture from a boomer teacher back in the day.
Watch the video
Way easier to make, I can just find two sticks and peel them into a set of chopsticks with anything that can cut.
While living in Korea, I went on a trip to China with a mixed group of westerners and Koreans. We took some Chinese people to a Korean restaurant. The westerners, who had lived in Korea for months if not years, happily chowed down with their chopsticks. The Chinese, on the other hand, struggled. You see, Koreans use stainless steel chopsticks which are extremely slippery and take some getting used to. The Chinese people, used to bamboo or wood, which had more grip, couldn't get the hang of the Korean chopsticks and ended up using spoons.
I also went to a restaurant with two of my students and their parents. A man at another table pointed at our table, laughed, and said something to the waiter. I asked my hosts what the hilarity was and they explained that there I was, the white person, confidently eating with chopsticks, while the little Korean girl sitting next to me struggled. She'd spent many of her formative years living with her family in England and had gotten used to western tableware.
I know the feeling of slippery chopsticks. Usually when we get our lunch in China , it' comes with the takeout variety, cheap, short, rough and disposable bamboo chopsticks. I'm the chopstick master at lunch. But when we go out to the spinning table fancy dinners, with polished chopsticks, I'm humbled. Me trying to grab a moving dumpling at arm's length is a source of great humor to my Chinese hosts.
It's true!
I always use chopsticks, but really hate when using the stainless steel chopsticks. It's really not comfortable in my hand. It's too slippery, wet, and its metal tingling sound makes me feel irritated.
I prefer using spoon (or even fork) than that weird metal chopsticks.
@@erickchandra3771 Korean chopsticks aren't too difficult, but have a bit of a learning curve even if you are handy with Chinese chopsticks. That said, I know quite a few Koreans (including the one I'm married to) who prefer the Chinese style chopsticks. Especially if they have relatively large hands.
BTW: I find Japanese style chopsticks a bit annoying. They are much more tapered/pointy (and often coated making them smooth). Also tend to be a bit too short for me.
The longer simple bamboo sticks are our everyday table wear... Along with a spoon of course. Koreans tend to eat rice with a spoon, because of course
indeed, stainless steel chopsticks r popular in China, but they r used at home. but i have no difficult in using stainless steel chopsticks as there r grooves in the tip.
The problem is that Chinese chopsticks are square, which hurts my fingers, but Korean one is round, so it's easier for me.
Fascinating! And the ways to such amazing Videos always amaze me.
- clicked Video about Drama
- saw 2 seconds of this Video in it, as a Reference
- got curious
Wow, a video with chopsticks, table knives and shoe horns! So versatile!
A single pair of chopsticks can be used to beat eggs, pick up noodles, flip a whole cut of steak, pick up tofu without breaking, pick fish bones, accurately manipulate food in boiling water or while deep frying, etc.. I can cook four or five simple dishes in half an hour or so every single meal just for myself with a knife, a single pair of chopsticks, and nothing else, no spatula/whisk/tongs/strainer. I can then eat with the same pair of chopsticks. Never needed to wash a shitload of different utensils and cookware. I cook a variety of cuisines BTW, not just Asian.
I eat pizza, steak, salad, ribs, fries, chips, cheetos, fruits, you name it, all with chopsticks. I can’t even come up with one scenario where a fork works better than a pair of chopsticks. A pair of chopsticks (the proper ones, not the flimsy disposable ones) can handle something rather large with ease once you master them. You can bite into a chicken drumstick or a wedge of pizza with your dominant hand holding it with a pair of chopsticks, and the other hand on your phone.
All that, without a greasy hand. #chopsticksmasterace
Well said. Chopsticks once you get good at using them, are very versatile!
don't lie you don't eat pizza with chopsticks wtf.
@@jp-sn6si 🤣
@@jp-sn6si im chinese and i never eat pizza with chopsticks lol
This actually answers a question I had in my head for a long time: Why westerners use fork and knives at the dinner table. As a child I was shook to learn people in the West used fork and knives because where I'm from we use spoon and forks instead. Algorithm was good to me today hahahah
@Kevin T yeah i’m aware I just meant we don’t use knives at the dining table. Maybe if we’re eating out at a fancier place. If we want to cut the meat to small pieces, we turn the spoon on it’s side and use it like a knife.
@@joabby4197 As a westerner, living in a knife, fork and plate culture, I have seen past the charade! Now I just eat with a bowl and spoon - it's much more efficient in terms of time, concentration and washing up.
I can see how it's useful in formal settings to have inefficient cutlery and crockery though, so the act of eating can last longer, giving people a polite activity to pursue while they think or listen to others speak, instead of feeling awkward when not actively contributing to the conversation.
Chopsticks are literally the easiest utensil. When I'm backpacking I don't even bother bringing a fork I just find two decently straight sticks and eat with them
confucious said: "only when a mosquito lands on your balls you learn that violence is NOT the answer for everything!"😆😆😆😆