Since writing about my inability to use chopsticks and reading all your supportive stories of struggle and triumph, I have re-dedicated myself to mastering this utensil. Practice practice practice, you said. And practice I've done! Two things have made a truly major difference.
First, I set myself the task of eating my daily lunch salad with chopsticks. For one solid week. Between the slippery leaves, the chunks of fruit, the squishy beans, and the rolly-polly nuts, I figured I'd have ample opportunities for both challenge and easy reward.
I also eat my lunch alone. Which is to say, with no witnesses. Part of my problem with using chopsticks in the past is that I've been in very public situations where I became easily flustered and embarrassed over my ineptitude. In the privacy of my kitchen, I can struggle my way through without the added pressure of other people watching.
The other thing that helped was picking up a decent pair of chopsticks. Unlike the cheap-o ones I'd salvaged from take-out dinners, this pair of chopsticks was much better shaped and balanced. I was surprised at how much easier they were to hold and manipulate.
And it worked. My first week passed. And then a second. I steadily improved and became more adept at picking up the roll-iest of nuts and the most errant of salad leaves. Now I've decided that I actually prefer eating my salads with chopsticks, if you can believe it.
My next test will be using chopsticks in front of other people and then eating out at an actual restaurant. I should probably try eating my salad with a pair of disposable chopsticks again, just to practice with the kind I'll likely be using.
But I'm feeling much more confident than ever before. At the very least, I'm hoping to make it through a meal without getting teased or being offered a fork!
Related: Grilling with Chopsticks: BBQ Parties in Japan
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Yay! Congrats on your progress!
Those takeout ones are useless. Especially since I usually end up with a bad break when I pop them apart. I've definitely wound up eating dinner with two chopsticks of very different lengths before--not fun!
I'd suggest some travel chopsticks for eating out.
I second the recommendation of bringing chopsticks with you! Travel chopsticks with their own case are nice (I have a pair with me all the time--very useful!), but for now you could just bring the pair you have practiced using.
Since working in an environment where salad is eaten with chopsticks, my friends and I have all found them to be preferable to forks. That irritating thing where you can't get a leaf onto your fork because there's nothing for the tines to poke into? Gone forever. The best. I'm so glad you've figured them out! Just wait til you see how much fun noodle soups are with them.
The $35 chopsticks are kind of neat but you can pick up a nice pair with a case from any asian market for under $10. I have a bamboo set with tiny grooves around the tips that help grip food better. We always take our fancy chopsticks when we go out for sushi and the waiters never act offended that we have brought our own.
@Katlian - That's exactly the question I was going to ask: is it rude to bring your own chopsticks to a restaurant? I'd REALLY like to now that I've fallen in love with my pair, but wasn't sure if that was a horrible social faux pas. Thoughts, anyone?
I think it's DEFINITELY not rude to bring your own to a restaurant where they provide only disposable chopsticks. If they provide nice chopsticks, however, I would just use the ones they give you. (Not that it's inherently rude, just that it might be perceived that way, so why bother?)
Plus, those disposable chopsticks aren't a very good use of trees. Each year, billions of wooden disposable chopsticks are made, used once, and then tossed away. BYOC!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28hZkIHTnnA
Congrats again on your progress. Practice really is the only way to learn (there is no "correct" technique-- etiquette is a different issue).
But aside from that, have you tried flat, lacquered wooden chopsticks?
They always seem to be easiest for beginners to grip because they don't roll and pick up small pieces of food, like rice, very easily.
I can't find them online but they're relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at most brick and mortar Chinese and Southeast Asian grocers.
I think it's easier to eat salad w/ chopsticks than w/ a fork (that is, once you get the hang of it). I always feel awkward eating a salad w/ a fork :(
This is inspiring. I'm also one of those people that can never figure out the chopstick, and has to ask for a fork at every Chinese, sushi, and pho restaurant I go to. Maybe I just need to try the Salad Method!
Yes, the right chopsticks made SUCH a difference. Most disposable chopsticks (among other deficiencies) are simply too short.
A Korean friend once suggested I look at the "old guys" in our favorite Pho place -- she pointed out they all hold their chopsticks by the very extreme ends for better leverage.
When I was a kid I used to practice picking up ice cubes out of my glass of water. That made me way better at using them.
I had a crash course in using chopsticks at a Japanese restaurant. I was given a bowl of noodle soup, a spoon and chopsticks. It was one of the first times I had ever used them.
If the salad I'm eating at home is just greens tossed with dressing, I will break out the chopsticks since they are more efficient than a fork since I find it difficult spearing our scooping the leaves at the end.