An Easy Step by Step Guide on How to Use Chopsticks

It’s so frustrating to go out to dinner and realize that your chopstick skills are not all that great. It happens. It looks so much easier than it actually is, but the truth is that it’s a skill that requires a bit of finesse. If your chopstick skills are seriously lacking, it’s time to learn to use them the right way once and for all.

The first tip regarding your chopstick using skills is to use wooden chopsticks. You might see a lot of plastic ones, but they’re not very good because they’re slippery and difficult to hold onto. Now that you have your wooden chopsticks, go ahead and grab them in the middle. You want the ends even on both sides and you do not want the sticks to overlap or cross.

The correct way to pick up your first chopstick is to make sure it’s sitting against the bottom of your ring finger (on your dominant hand) and resting in the hollow space between your pointer finger and thumb. The second chopstick is going to be held firmly with your thumb, index and ring fingers. This one is your “top” chopstick and it’s the one you will manipulate and move to grab onto your food. The “bottom” stick should always remain stationary.

When it comes to grabbing your food, you will move and straighten your three fingers holding onto the “top” stick as far as you need to pick up and hold onto food. Tighten those fingers when you have hold of your food and bring it up to your mouth. A good tip is that if you have smaller fingers or you’re teaching a child to use chopsticks, hold closer to the bottom of the stick rather than the middle. It provides a bit more stability during use.

Here’s a great video to help you use chopsticks: