Chopsticks – Here’s how:
- If possible, use wood or bamboo chopsticks. Plastic chopsticks are more slippery and harder to hold.
- Always grab the chopsticks in the middle, making sure that the ends are even and do not cross.
- Pick up a chopstick and hold it so that it’s resting comfortably between the tip of your fourth finger (the ring finger) and the hollow gap between your thumb and index finger. Keep the fourth finger straight. This will be the bottom chopstick.
- Now pick up the other chopstick and place it on top, firmly between the tips of your thumb, index and middle fingers. The index and middle fingers should be curled.
- When eating, always keep the bottom chopstick stationary and use the top chopstick to manoeuvre and pick up food.
- To pick up food, straighten your index and middle fingers as much as needed to move the top chopstick outward. Grab the food, and then bring the chopsticks together by curling your index and middle fingers. The basic idea is to use the chopstick as a pivot, with the thumb being the axle.
- Lift the food up to your mouth, leaning over if necessary.
- For foods containing bones (such as chicken), hold the food with the chopsticks and eat around the bone.
Tips:
Children often find it easier to hold chopsticks nearer the bottom instead of in the middle.
