Korean Job Discussion Forums

[weebil]

does anyone know how to eat rice with chopsticks? i have no trouble picking up solid objects like veggies, tofu, and meat bits, but i just can't figure out how to get rice in my mouth with chopsticks. i can only ever get like three grains at a time. every time i try to pick up a clump it just falls apart. am i missing something here? anyone have techniques / advice? i'm moving to korea and think i should figure this out asap.
also, are the nicer, non-disposable sticks used only at home or do people bring their washable sets into restaurants when dining out? i think i saw a movie where people brought their own sticks to a restaurant but i dont know if that's a common thing or what.
finally, how prevalent is use of spoons / forks vs chopsticks?

[i]

go to a korean restaurant, you'll see. koreans eat sticky rice. it all sticks together.

[MalFSU1]

What kind of chopsticks have you been using? Over here they don't really use the wooden ones unless you get delivery. You will be using metal ones, which I found way harder when I first got here. As far as eating rice, the rice here in Korea is pretty sticky so it's easier I think, plus it's not rude to use your spoon for rice, especially if you mix something into it. I was horrible at using chopsticks in America, but can now pick up pretty much anything with them...it will only take you a few weeks to master. As far as forks are concerned, most restaurants that are not western style you will have to ask, sometimes they will offer if you look like you are having trouble(then they may laugh at you) Pretty much anywhere you go will have spoons, as they eat alot of soups...Really though the chopsticks will be least of your concerns when you come..haha! Good luck!

[yingwenlaoshi]

Koreans usually eat rice with a spoon. I like eating it with chopsticks, but that's a habit I picked up in Taiwan. In Taiwan, they pick up the bowl and shovel the rice into their mouths. Picking up a bowl of rice and doing so in Korea, however, is considered rude. No problem most times to pick up a bowl of soup to finish it off, but not suggested with rice.

If you want to pick up rice with chopsticks, scoop it so that you're not grabbing onto it with the sicks. Pretty easy with the sticky rice they have here. Expect some to fall down sometimes. That may be looked upon as rude. It was once with a friend of mine who was silent during the whole meal and told me after that my rice was falling. I told him to screw off. Just someone trying to find some faults.

[KoreaninKorea]

If you want to talk about manners, in Korea you are suppose to eat rice with a spoon. It's rude to use chopsticks. Unlike the rest of Asia, Koreans do not lift the bowl or plate to eat rice. This is why they use a spoon.

Even with this rule, I still eat my rice with chopsticks. I think most kids do this too. The trick is to hold the chopsticks closer to the end to make the chopstick more parallel. Squeeze under the rice and lift the rice up. The rice should stay together as long as there is only a small gap in the chopsticks and the gap stays the same size. It take a little practice, but it's not too hard.

However, if you're getting rice on your shirt, just use a damn spoon.