Back in high school, my friends and I often visited a Japanese restaurant in the center of our town. Offering a traditional hibachi menu, it had enough options to satisfy each of our varying palates (read: I could eat rice and chicken and give my vegetables away).
My friends had a rule when it came to Asian dinners. Chopsticks were obligatory, for at least a full five minutes. Most of them were well-schooled in chopstick manipulation, and as soon as our chef-actor had thrown the final bites onto our respective plates, they all dug enthusiastically in. For those first five minutes, however, two of us struggled, fingers, sticks, and bite size piece of food sliding around our plates. It wasn’t exactly a…classy sight.
To this day, I can’t understand how it is possible to eat rice without a fork. I may have developed enough dexterity to enjoy sushi and a spicy Thai stir fry without my Western utensils, but rice remains a mystery.
Chopsticks or not, the goods remaining in my refrigerator tonight felt Asian-inspired, so I decided on a stir-fry. When I was first learning to cook, stir fries were a choice I often returned to. A recipe is unnecessary; all that is required are a few good vegetables, some flavor, some rice, and a little trial and error.
Tonight’s mix:
- baby bok choy
- string beans
- carrot
- bean sprouts
- 1/3 block tempeh
- tamari almonds
And for flavor:
- fresh basil
- fresh ginger
- sesame oil
- rice vinegar
- dulse flakes
All over brown rice, with a salad alongside. There was a lot going on in this dish, but it worked. Especially since I ate it with a fork and knife.
Are you a chopsticks pro?
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I’m terrible with chopsticks! But your stirfry looks amazingggg!
I stink at using chop sticks! I have training ones! ha
I can’t use chopsticks either. Sometimes I still fail when trying with sushi, haha. The dinner looks great!
Lovely stir fry! Thats the first thing I cooked for myself as well. So easy and randomness works. Sounds like some fun memories with your friends. My friends and I also used to frequent hibachi grills :D
I am finally getting the hang of chopsticks, but it is definitely a learning process!
chopsticks and i have been bffs ever since i was six years old! starting with ‘kid chopsticks,’ those held together with a napkin and rubberband, it didnt really take me too long to get the hang of the real thing and i was so proud when i used them on my own!
love baby bok choy! its so different but its so good!
It’s a lot easier to use chopsticks for sticky rice, which is served at most Asian restaurants, than other kinds of rice.
That said, a year living in Korea has made me a chopstick expert! :)
Leslie, next time I come to NYC, I’m teaching you to use chopsticks…YES it’s possible to eat rice with chopsticks! Fork is a barbaric hindrance, in my opinion…tee hee! Okay, I just sounded like a completely obnoxious snob…but I really would like to show you someday!
p.s. HOW WEIRD that I just wrote a post abt chopsticks dexterity (the lack of it) just this morning!
I have never been able to get the hang of using chopsticks :( I gave up on trying with rice LONG ago, but even noodles are hard!
If I had to eat only with chopsticks, I would waste away to nothing. Sticky rice is much easier, granted, but unless I can “stab” the food with the chopsticks or its a big hunk of something, I’m s.o.l.
However, I always try each time when I start, like I would have miraculously learned how since the last disaster…
I love using chopsticks, I’d use them all the time if I could :)
It definitely is hard to eat rice with chopsticks, but it’s easier if it’s sticky. And if you hold the bowl or plate close to your face.
This made me giggle because it reminds me of my own chopstick struggles. I too have a group of friends who claims you MUST use chopsticks to eat when we go to the hibachi grill. However, they also insist we must do multiple sake bombs. Long story short, I learned to use chopsticks while very well buzzed and to this day I still suck at using them sober but I’m a pro once I have a good buzz! lol
i pretend to be a chop stick pro.
i live in ” Hongcouver.” ie. Vancouver.
So i am surrounded by the Asian Culture, sushi, and japanese goods.
Your dinner looks awesome!
I wasn’t until I lived in Korea for a year. Then I was forced to get good….. but I still prefer the fork! :D
-A