Today is one of my favorite days — National Chopsticks Day. Throughout the year, we eat with chopsticks when Claire makes Asian dishes, and we always use chopsticks at Chinese, or Asian type restaurants.
Chopsticks, or Kuaizi in Chinese, are a pair of small equal-length tapered sticks, usually made of wood, used for eating Asian food. The first chopsticks were probably developed over 5,000 years ago in China. Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chinese chopsticks are usually 9 to 10 inches long and rectangular with a blunt end. They are round on the eating end which symbolizes heaven, and the other end is square which symbolizes Earth. They are shaped this way because maintaining an adequate food supply is the greatest concern between heaven and Earth.
Eventually, chopstick use spread to what is now Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. In Japan, chopsticks were originally considered precious and were used exclusively for religious ceremonies. Japanese chopsticks differ in design from Chinese chopsticks in that they are rounded and come to a point — they are also shorter.The Japanese usually made their chopsticks out of wood and were the first to create disposable wooden chopsticks (called wari-hashi.) In Japanese, chopsticks are called hashi.
The english word “chopstick” was apparently derived from the Chinese Pidgin English words “chop chop” —which means fast.
Chopsticks are traditionally held in the right hand, even by left-handed people. Although chopsticks may now be deployed by either hand, left-handed chopstick use is considered improper. Using the right hans prevents a left-handed chopstick user from accidentally elbowing a right-handed user seated nearby.
It is a huge breach of chopstick etiquette to impale a piece of food with a chopstick.
There is an old Chinese custom making chopsticks part of a girl’s dowry, since the pronunciation of kuaizi is similar to the words for “quick” and “son.”
So toss your knives and forks today — no matter what you’re having, eat it with chopsticks. Happy Chopsticks Day!
— 30 —