I asked 10 experts the right way to hold chopsticks – they all agree on 1 rule

I don’t remember a moment in my life when I didn’t know how to use chopsticks. I am Chinese, and as long as I remember, they were my utensil of choice to cook, eat and serve. As I get older, I noticed that people tend to hold their chopsticks differently, with much knowing how to effectively use the utensil. Some try to use them like a fork and a knife to separate the large pieces of food, others stab their food with their baguettes, and some even hang their fingers around each baguette.

But is there a good or a bad way to hold chopsticks? The answer is not as simple as you think. If you’ve already felt aware of your baguette skills, you are not alone – and you came to the right place. Read the rest for the right label and advice on how to contain chopsticks so as not to drop food on the left, right and in the center.

The “good track” to hold baguettes

Many people consider the “standard handle” the most appropriate way of containing chopsticks: you keep a baguette between your pointer and the middle finger, then submit the other wand with your ring finger. The lower baguette remains stationary and you move the baguette on top to grab the food. This method offers you the most control, allowing you to easily pick up small or slippery foods. It is also the most ergonomic way to contain chopsticks, as it reduces the pressure on your fingers and your wrist, which makes it the most comfortable way to pick up food.

Although the standard handle is often recommended as the best way to contain chopsticks, most people have chopsticks like their parents have taught them, and there are a lot of variations between people in craft cultures. Although my father and I are both using the standard handle, my mother and my sisters use what many Chinese call the “lazy method”, which implies grasping the baguettes like a pencil, making them crisscross like scissors. Although this method works for many people and there are many people who swear it, it can make it more difficult to collect small pieces of food, including rice grains.

I spoke to several of my colleagues from our group Asian American American Pacific Islander Affinity Group as to whether there was a good or a bad way to hold baguettes. Most people said no – they thought it was more a question of personal preference and what works best so that the individual eats without dropping food. “I like to think that the” good “way of holding baguettes offers a safer and cleaner eating way,” explains Chris Yong, senior data engineer. “If you hold the baguettes too low, you might get your hand. If you hold them too high, you could wipe your hand. If you cross the chopsticks, it could cause an awkward grip and the food could slip.”

There is really no good or a bad way to grasp your chopsticks, and the way many people do it comes down to personal preferences and the way their families have taught them. Where people are often mistaken is in the baguette label: how you organize your chopsticks or use them.

It comes back to a question of label

Even if they said that there was no bad way to hold chopsticks, Yong and Jackie Napalan, a senior manager of product support operations, agree that the label is important. “I think the same rules should apply to eastern culture as for Western culture,” said Napalan. Westerners have rules on how to hold a fork or properly fix a table, so why should the Orientals not? “Our associated editor -in -chief, Jess Eng, agrees.” Whatever someone takes their food suits me, “she said.” I only receive when people put chopsticks in rice. “”

In the end, most of the people I interviewed agreed that it was important to be aware of how you use chopsticks and avoid the common missteps, as sticking them up in a bowl of rice – which looks like burning incense provided as offering to the deceased during Chinese funeral and bopscotes that are presented to Korean families during creative ceremonies. Point with chopsticks and spend food with them are not either. And, as tempting as it may be, try not to pretend to be a walrus by sticking baguettes on the sides of your mouth to make “defenses”.

The bottom line

There may be a “standard” and “lazy” means of holding baguettes – there are also many hybrid approaches. However, as long as you can comfortably and effectively grasp food and respect cultural traditions and others around you, there is nothing wrong with holding the utensil as you prefer. Do what works for you – as long as you do it politely.