Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

I won the "chopsticks skillz for white people" contest we had for the lunar new year. I think this was because I could pick up a paper clip or something.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

OP,

Unfortunately, you look exactly like someone who needs a fork. To prevent future awkwardness, I recommend a ballcap with the logo "CHOPSTICK EXPERT." A T-shirt saying "NO FORKS PLEASE" would also be helpful. Maybe with some golden dragons and fireworks on it? That would be sweet.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

You have no idea how much time I spend looking at your avatar, Noah. It tilts me so hard that I waste upwards of 20 minutes a day starting at Doc Rivers (is that his name?) do a symmetric santa impression or some [censored].

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

felson,

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately, you look exactly like someone who needs a fork. To prevent future awkwardness, I recommend a ballcap with the logo "CHOPSTICK EXPERT." A T-shirt saying "NO FORKS PLEASE" would also be helpful. Maybe with some golden dragons and fireworks on it?

[/ QUOTE ]

awesome.


dids,

CHOPSTIX SKILLZ FOR ROLLZ?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Asian, and especially Korean, rice is short grain sticky rice. You can easily eat this rice with chopsticks. When you do fried rice, or eat long grain "American" rice, chopsticks are very ineffective.

So chopsticks with sticky white rice. Fork or spoon for fried or American rice. You Americans and your "separate grains".

From the OP: I have noticed that when I am out only with Asian friends, we don't get forks. When there's a non-asian with us, we all get forks. Eh, no big deal.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
You have no idea how much time I spend looking at your avatar, Noah. It tilts me so hard that I waste upwards of 20 minutes a day starting at Doc Rivers (is that his name?) do a symmetric santa impression or some [censored].

[/ QUOTE ]
Does the Chicken Dance play in your head when you watch it? It does in mine.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

you aren't supposed to eat rice with chop sticks in Korean culture! asian american faux pas!

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
you aren't supposed to eat rice with chop sticks in Korean culture! asian american faux pas!

[/ QUOTE ]

ok. what are you supposed to use, mysterio?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
also, fwiw, when we are at home, my wife will eat her steak (uncut) with chopsticks. she just stabs it down the middle with both sticks and eats it like a steak-on-a-stick

[/ QUOTE ]

This seems to me like it would be alot more difficult and annoying than simply using a knife and fork. I'm actually starting to tilt.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
Rice dishes served on a plate are eaten with a fork and spoon. Rice served in a bowl is eaten with chop sticks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought this was understood. Also, who eats fried rice or even orders chicken fried rice as a meal? I thought only little kids ordered this?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
also, fwiw, when we are at home, my wife will eat her steak (uncut) with chopsticks. she just stabs it down the middle with both sticks and eats it like a steak-on-a-stick

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that I would care but stabbing or even pointing w/ chopsticks is considered bad etiquette.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

you thought only little kids ordered chicken fried rice?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

MC Chris,

Yea, I have never seen an adult order chicken fried rice as a meal, that is weird, that is what kids get b/c they think Asian food is gross and it is the only thing they will eat. Adults order a real meal, chicken fried rice isn't a real meal it is a lot of a side order w/ chicken in it.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
the people's choice for Best Chinese Food is (drum roll) P.F. Chang's.


[/ QUOTE ]

P.F. Chang's is not bad, but they are far from the best Chinese food. They are average/mediocre at best.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
MC Chris,

Yea, I have never seen an adult order chicken fried rice as a meal, that is weird, that is what kids get b/c they think Asian food is gross and it is the only thing they will eat. Adults order a real meal, chicken fried rice isn't a real meal it is a lot of a side order w/ chicken in it.

[/ QUOTE ]

ah i see what you were saying now. sometimes i just get a craving for chicken fried rice specifically and will get it. other times if i'm there with a bunch of friends we'll all pick out some entrees and get a side of fried rice to share.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the people's choice for Best Chinese Food is (drum roll) P.F. Chang's.


[/ QUOTE ]

P.F. Chang's is not bad, but they are far from the best Chinese food. They are average/mediocre at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

i've only been there once, but i think i would call it "good to very good". it's nothing that will blow you away, but it was certainly better than mediocre at best.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the people's choice for Best Chinese Food is (drum roll) P.F. Chang's.


[/ QUOTE ]

P.F. Chang's is not bad, but they are far from the best Chinese food. They are average/mediocre at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

i've only been there once, but i think i would call it "good to very good". it's nothing that will blow you away, but it was certainly better than mediocre at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree it is fairly good chinese, just not mind-blowing chines (which I have had before). It's a chain, which means everything will be decent (usually), However, there will be much better options out there if you look around. In my area, there are 2-3 chinese restuarants that blow P.F. Chang's out of the water.

Maybe I'm lucky, but I doubt it.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

nah i think we are in agreement.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

I never get offered a fork at a Chinese restaurant. Weird.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Nobody answered before, but I think this is the right place to ask:

Is there cheese in China?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
you aren't supposed to eat rice with chop sticks in Korean culture! asian american faux pas!

[/ QUOTE ]

ok. what are you supposed to use, mysterio?

[/ QUOTE ]
spoon ldo

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the people's choice for Best Chinese Food is (drum roll) P.F. Chang's.


[/ QUOTE ]

P.F. Chang's is not bad, but they are far from the best Chinese food. They are average/mediocre at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

i've only been there once, but i think i would call it "good to very good". it's nothing that will blow you away, but it was certainly better than mediocre at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree it is fairly good chinese, just not mind-blowing chines (which I have had before). It's a chain, which means everything will be decent (usually), However, there will be much better options out there if you look around. In my area, there are 2-3 chinese restuarants that blow P.F. Chang's out of the water.

Maybe I'm lucky, but I doubt it.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is your area?

J

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

I've been told that my chopstick technique is better than my asian gf's technique (she lived in Vietnam until age 8).

I hold the chopsticks near the back and use a pinching motion (just as shown on the chopstick wrapper). She crosses them almost like scissors.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

I'm often the only white guy in the group and those effing waiters will regularly give everyone chopsticks except me.

I think it's funny.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

PF Changs:

Been 5 times. It's 3/5 in being very good, but the bads were real bad. Don't get traditional asian stuff, look for the fusion type food, it's better. There's a twice cooked lamb/pork (can't remember which) that's very solid.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
<chopsticks> are a hell of a lot easier to wash.

[/ QUOTE ]
QFT

fartman >
[ QUOTE ]
yea, i agree with this. forks are easy to use (grasp the handle and poke) and the ability to use it is ubiquitous and probably not limited to the US. chopsticks require some dexterity to use and as a result, not as common worldwide. thus, it's less of a societal matter and more of a physical one.

[/ QUOTE ]
Then you should see how asian people handle a fork and a knife for the first time... It's not a matter of skill, it's cultural.

Anyone knowing that chopsticks means eating with a bowl (which is the only thing people should remember from this thread) can use chopsticks.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Oski,

[ QUOTE ]
Nobody answered before, but I think this is the right place to ask:

Is there cheese in China?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. In southern China they serve a delicious lobster dish with noodles and a cheese sauce. If you order a burger in a hotel it usually comes with gouda or something similar.

heater,

[ QUOTE ]
My Chinese friends throw a fit when we go to KFC in Shanghai and they don't get a spork for their mashed potatoes.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's amazing to see what the Chinese can do with a one trip salad bar bowl!

tyler,

I generally only eat Chinese with Chinese friends. The staff usually asks them if I want a fork, (or they just may bring one which is fine too.) At least in southern China the rice is always eaten with chopsticks with the bowl near your mouth. Everything in the meal is eaten from the bowl with the plate underneath used for any discards, (bones, shells, etc.) The ceramic spoon is for soup.

ElD,

My Chinese friends think American cooks are lazy. If the chef would cut the steak into pieces chopsticks would work fine.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Between having an asian gf for years and growing up in Toronto, using chopsticks becomes pretty standard pretty quickly. Getting the "want fork?!" question at the noodle bar in every casino has been one thing, but laughing at people purposefully trying to use a fork as some social statement against my relationship has been a fun ride.

When some ugly chinese guy comes to my table and sees me with my gf, I (and only myself) often get asked if I want a fork. Sorry dude, I TOTALLY know my gf would be falling all over you if it weren't for this one white guy you're trying to shoot down by angrily handing him a utensil as you work minimum wage.. *grumble*.

Women are usually more polite and only give them on request, 'cept when I've gone to super traditional places and they either judge me or literally have little to no gwi-lo experience.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Just got back from a Thai place. Had to ask for chopsticks, waitress looked surprised, super standard. I am white fwiw.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

tdarko,

[ QUOTE ]
Just got back from a Thai place. Had to ask for chopsticks, waitress looked surprised, super standard. I am white fwiw.

[/ QUOTE ]

funny that someone who seemed pretty sure that fried rice is a dish "for little kids" doesn't know that chopstics are not standard utensils for Thai food. do you ask for chopsticks when you eat Indian food too?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

I had the same experience as tdarko. Went to a Thai place, got no chopsticks and had to ask for them. Then, just last night on some TV show or something they mentioned that chopsticks aren't standard for Thai. Weird since several other Thai places I have been to have given them to me without asking.

FWIW, I'm a white guy in Southern California and get chopsticks automatically most of the time at Asian restaurants. I think the sushi craze and Asian culture here makes chopstick use a normal skill for white people.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

tyler cracker,

I understand how Thai food works, the restaurant in question has chopsticks at the table--they were removed for us white people that sat down but stayed for the Asian people around us (hmmm). So I asked, b/c I had a noodle soup which is consumed with CHOPSTICKS NOT A SPOON OR ANY OTHER UTENSIL. Thank you and have a nice day.

And yes, Chicken Fried Rice as a meal is for little kids--sorry to break it to you.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Can I get a ruling on the maturity of fried rice as a side dish? 'Cause the local chinese joint makes a bbq pork fried rice that is unfuckwithable.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

It'd be funny if you guys brought your own chop sticks to the restaurant.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

[ QUOTE ]
I understand how Thai food works, the restaurant in question has chopsticks at the table--they were removed for us white people that sat down but stayed for the Asian people around us (hmmm). So I asked, b/c I had a noodle soup which is consumed with CHOPSTICKS NOT A SPOON OR ANY OTHER UTENSIL.

[/ QUOTE ]

i realize you were aiming for a one-liner initially, but don't you think that, say, all of those details were pertinent to the discussion?

i strongly agree that chopsticks are the nuts for noodle soups, so good job sticking to your guns on that. i would wager that noodle soups are one of the things for which chopsticks *are* standard in thai cuisine.

we can agree to disagree about fried rice, i suppose, but do you have the same feelings about peanut-butter-and-jelly sandiwches? i mean, those are "kid food". does that detract even the slightest bit from their all-encompassing awesomeness?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

i have never seen fried rice served with other foods. its served by itself as a meal. its not a replacement for rice and eaten with another dish (as served in Chinese American Restaurants).

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

tyler,

PBJ isn't a side dish that graduated into the main course of your lunch pale.

French Fries are side orders, and even large orders of FF's with cheese or whatever thrown on top of it isn't a main course--it is an appetizer. You can't just enlarge a side dish and call it a main course, it is still a side dish--a lot of rice isn't a meal just b/c it gets you full.

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

KKF- Isn't Asian fried rice just left over rice? Not really what we are talking about right?

Americans turned American fried rice turned it into a dish, is this correct?

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

thai cuisine has a lot of "just rice" dishes.

i think you lost this one tdarko [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: chopsticks, fried rice, white people
 

Chris,

lol, lost? huh? Are we playing some kind of game that I was unaware of?

Anyway, let's explain supply and demand to you. Actual Thai dishes are less popular than what is actually ordered, the red and green curry dishes and the dishes heavy in coconut milk aren't ordered nearly as often as rice dishes--why? B/c rice is eaten way more often--so a Thai place is going to supply a ton of rice dishes because there is a high demand for them. I really have no idea what your comment has to do with to be honest. Also, Thai rice isn't Chicken fried rice, and it comes as a side order w/ your food in a small dish. Thai food is meat based not rice based fwiw, rice dishes are only there b/c many people don't eat traditional Thai.