FOOD

5 Important Etiquette Guidelines For Using Chopsticks

If you’re not familiar with chopstick etiquette, here are a few basic guidelines ~

Linda Ng
The Starving Tourist
2 min readSep 29, 2023

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Photo provided by Linda Ng

Those two strange sticks you can use to eat food with — who knew that there were some etiquette rules surrounding that? I’m no expert at it, but there are a few basics you should be aware of when you’re using chopsticks.

  • Take the piece of food in front of you / closest to you. Don’t reach to the other side of the dish to get a piece you want.
  • If you touched a piece with your chopsticks, you’d have to take that piece of food.
  • Don’t move pieces of food around with your chopsticks until you find the one you want.
  • Don’t stick your chopsticks upright in your bowl of rice. It is considered taboo because it resembles incense.
  • Don’t play with your chopsticks like toys.

Chopsticks are very versatile and it’s often all I need to eat. Sometimes you struggle a little with small, round and slippery food, but you can also balance food on the chopsticks like a pro.

Now you know the guidelines of using chopsticks!

Do you know how to use chopsticks?

Travel, eat, and live with intention and happiness ~ Linda

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