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cutting up your noodles in tiny bite size pieces is bad luck, they probably make fun of you for telling them to chop up your noodles into bite sized pieces
In China, noodle dishes are a staple for birthdays and Chinese New Year because they signify a long life for whoever is eating them -- as long as the noodles are not cut short. The longer they are, the better.
I really don't care if they make fun of me for violating some superstition.
I want to enjoy my food, not struggle with it in the name of looking "cultured".
In the past ten years or so I have been in Chinese and other Oriental restaurants in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Illinois. In only one (I caan't recall where) did I see a package of chopsticks reposing next to the flatware.
Yeah, amazing isn't it, that so many pockets of ignorance and isolationism can still exist in the backwaters of the US despite cable tv and the internet and all.
Rinse noodles in cold water, and cut them with kitchen scissors into lengths your family can handle.
Seen them do this at street stalls in Seoul for Chap Chae. But that's it. I do tend to bite my ramen noodles in mouthfuls and let the rest slip back into the bowl.
Apart from some remote tribe that has never encountered a fork the use of chopsticks is nothing more than a silly affectation. Difficult and inefficient to use they belong in the dustbin of culinary history. The fork performs all the functions of chopsticks and performs them better.
As far as the specific task of eating spaghetti is concerned there is no question that leaving the noodles long is another silly affectation. I can't believe that anyone who has eaten short noodles can enjoy winding up long noodles. I come to a meal to eat, not to show my prowess with primitive and near useless tools.
I believe that most restranteurs agree with me. In the past ten years or so I have been in Chinese and other Oriental restaurants in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Illinois. In only one (I caan't recall where) did I see a package of chopsticks reposing next to the flatware.
This is the twenty-first century; we don't use smoke signals either.
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Yes, well - eat as you like. I won't even notice - unless you're being a pig.
However, I enjoy trying out the practices of different cultures from time to time. Also, I lived in Japan as a child, and have several Asian immediate family members as well, so it's not something foreign to me to pick up a pair of chopsticks and have at it. It's fun! If you don't like it, who cares? Not me.
By the way, when you cut your meat, do you switch your fork over from your left hand to your right hand (or vice versa?).
Yes, well - eat as you like. I won't even notice - unless you're being a pig.
However, I enjoy trying out the practices of different cultures from time to time. Also, I lived in Japan as a child, and have several Asian immediate family members as well, so it's not something foreign to me to pick up a pair of chopsticks and have at it. It's fun! If you don't like it, who cares? Not me.
By the way, when you cut your meat, do you switch your fork over from your left hand to your right hand (or vice versa?).
In this country holding a fork in the left hand is considered boorish; therefore I switch hands. In countries where people do not switch hands I don't unless I'm with several Americans. However, I only eat European style to blend into the culture; holding my fork in the left hand doesn't feel right. When I ate in a French Vietnamese restaurant in Paris I requested a fork. The five others in my party, four French and one American, all followed my lead. Never having been in the Orient I don't know if forks are available or if one must eat rough.
If I didn't eschew flamboyance I'd carry an electric spaghetti fork when I visit an Italian restaurant.
In this country holding a fork in the left hand is considered boorish; therefore I switch hands. In countries where people do not switch hands I don't unless I'm with several Americans. However, I only eat European style to blend into the culture; holding my fork in the left hand doesn't feel right. When I ate in a French Vietnamese restaurant in Paris I requested a fork. The five others in my party, four French and one American, all followed my lead. Never having been in the Orient I don't know if forks are available or if one must eat rough.
If I didn't eschew flamboyance I'd carry an electric spaghetti fork when I visit an Italian restaurant.
In Wyoming, holding your fork in your left hand is considered boorish?
Do people honestly NOTICE if someone holds their fork in their left hand? I thought most Americans could really care less about left handed fork holding. MY BAD, apparently!
I personally like the feel of holding a fork in my left hand when cutting and eating meat, so that's usually how I find myself doing it.
I'm adept with chop sticks so I can't remember the last time I asked for a fork in an Asian restaurant, anywhere in the world. But I certainly wouldn't think less of someone who did so.
The only issue I have is that often when a person is in this mode, they are judgmental of others and jump to conclusions - such as "They don't know it's considered low class to mix their wasabi with their soy sauce in Japan."
Thanks, and I think you are catching on to where I'm actually coming from on this. I'm not judgmental at all, just an enthusiastic fan who likes to encourage people to try new things. I've literally had coworkers excuse themselves from participating in Hawaiian Shirt Friday Team Sushi Fests because they... didn't know how to use chopsticks , or could not fathom eating raw fish. Neither of which is a requirement to enjoying sushi!
And I could have been more accurate by saying "They don't know it's considered low class by traditional sushi chefs to mix their wasabi with their soy sauce." How do I know that? Because sushi chefs have told me that.
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I wanted to point out to you that many people HAVE heard that before - and just don't care, for a wide variety of reasons that may not include being "low class" or "insensitive" at all. And therefore, it's irritating for someone else to point out to them that they would consider them "boorish." Frankly, it just seems petty.
I meant it as a pragmatic tip. In my experience people who are polite and considerate get better treatment, and arguably get better food. And clearly a lot of folks here had never heard that before. But do what you wish! Want to put wasabi on the end of your nose? No skin off my nose! I just like to see people making informed choices.
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In Germany, it's considered rude to eat with one's hand in one's lap, and ridiculous to eat with a fork in your right hand - you cut your meat with a knife in your right hand and hold the fork in your left, then stab the meat with the fork and put it in your mouth. Why would you switch hands? Germans think it's so odd that we do that.
And we do that because the English did that in the 1700s and we learned it from the English... who later switched... probably just to spite us for firing them as our government!
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When I am in Germany, I make an effort to conform to their expectations, though I freely admit that I may occasionally forget myself and catch myself with my hand in my lap or starting to switch hands with my fork. But it's a learning experience to try it their way.
And while eating Arabic foods, it's best to keep one's left hand in one's lap and eat only with the right. They are very, very different cultures. The classic illustration of the different body space expected in different cultures is a German haggling with an Arab with their faces a foot apart... the German is uncomfortable that they are so close, while the Arab is uncomfortable that they are so far apart.
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And once again, I do applaud you on your passion for learning about and enjoying other cultures.
Thanks. One of my favorite quotes is by Helen Keller... "Life is an extraordinary adventure, or it is nothing." To me, it is an adventure...
And here's a toast to adventurous eaters everywhere!
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But I certainly wouldn't think less of someone who did so.
, or could not fathom eating raw fish. 
