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The Chopstick Test


Mistress Kang

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Technically all countries within the continent of Asia is Asian right? Do you consider Filipinos Asian? What about Kazakhs? Indians?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_countries_by_GDP

 

I was recently introduced to the concept of The Chopstick Test. If the people in that country eat with chopsticks they are "Asian" LOL

 

I like it. Seem legit to you guys?

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I became aware of the British view of the "chopstick" versus the "spoon" culture when I toured South East Asia in 1973. The British believed that the Chinese should be the administrators of Malaya because the "chopstick" culture was superior to the happy-go-lucky Malay "spoon" culture. So the Malays became the rubber tappers and the Chinese the administration in the Colony.

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I prefer chopsticks because they're efficient precision eating tools LOL  Forks are inefficient because if you use it to stab your food you then have to "unstab" it. Spoons are OK but they're no chopsticks LOL I'll use a fork if I have to use a knife with it, like for steak or something.

I still have those two large lightly bloodied chopsticks you broke on me some time back.

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Technically all countries within the continent of Asia is Asian right? Do you consider Filipinos Asian? What about Kazakhs? Indians?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_countries_by_GDP

 

I was recently introduced to the concept of The Chopstick Test. If the people in that country eat with chopsticks they are "Asian" LOL

 

I like it. Seem legit to you guys?

 

Wait, do you not consider Filipinos to be Asian? I always did. Based on that list from Wiki, I would break Asia into three areas of countries. Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Asian countries (which would include mainland Asian and the Southeast Asian islands)

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Technically all countries within the continent of Asia is Asian right? Do you consider Filipinos Asian? What about Kazakhs? Indians?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asian_countries_by_GDP

 

I was recently introduced to the concept of The Chopstick Test. If the people in that country eat with chopsticks they are "Asian" LOL

 

I like it. Seem legit to you guys?

Dear Ms. Kang:

 

I am not an authority on the subject.  I never had sex with a Kazakh and am not aware of an Indian world champ in boxing. You can't teach an old dog new concepts. Let it be.

 

Dannyboy 

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You just love food that comes with 2 little canes! 

 

I prefer chopsticks because they're efficient precision eating tools LOL  Forks are inefficient because if you use it to stab your food you then have to "unstab" it. Spoons are OK but they're no chopsticks LOL I'll use a fork if I have to use a knife with it, like for steak or something.

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Wait, do you not consider Filipinos to be Asian? I always did. Based on that list from Wiki, I would break Asia into three areas of countries. Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Asian countries (which would include mainland Asian and the Southeast Asian islands)

I think culturally (greatly influenced by religion) they are closer to Latins (Roman Catholic) than "Chopstick-Asians". In that way they are very different. I've heard the debate of whether they are Asians or Pacific Islanders, I remember in HS Filipinos identified with Spanish kids not the Asians, and they checked the Pacific Islander box, not Asian box. 

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Do you think that chopsticks are superior to western eating utensils?

 

No, but I do consider Chinese culture superior to most existing Western cultures as indicated by Chinese cuisine. The French intellectual/anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss in The Raw and the Cooked argued that the more highly "processed and cooked" the food of a specific culture was made was indicative of the level of civilization that the culture had obtained. Ergo--grilled beef on an open mesquite grill in Texas--where you can see it is a hunk of meat from a cow--is indicative of a far lower level of civilization than the cubed meat, shaped dough, steamed dumplings of Chinese cuisine, which look positively otherworldly by comparison. And I was the only Caucasian at 1 AM on the docks in Hong Kong eating for one Hong Kong dollar everything that the stall owners who clustered around me were offering.

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Historically chopsticks were invented in China, so you're defining "Asian" as meaning the areas influenced by Chinese culture and anyplace that had stronger influences from other areas as non-Asian.  That's not a bad way to do it as Imperial China's influence on the rest of Asia was sort of like the Roman Empire's influence on the Western world.

 

That's me trying to sound smart.  The real "Chopstick Test" is if you can eat Asian food without getting sauce all over the table so the waiter has to take your wetnap away to wipe the table with.

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Historically chopsticks were invented in China, so you're defining "Asian" as meaning the areas influenced by Chinese culture and anyplace that had stronger influences from other areas as non-Asian.  That's not a bad way to do it as Imperial China's influence on the rest of Asia was sort of like the Roman Empire's influence on the Western world.

 

That's me trying to sound smart.  The real "Chopstick Test" is if you can eat Asian food without getting sauce all over the table so the waiter has to take your wetnap away to wipe the table with.

OMG I would go back just to get more laughs from him.

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Oops. Screwed up prior reply.

 

Well, the image you found Ms Kang illustrates the most appropriate and productive use of chopsticks. They can be used to secure PIN numbers from subs resisting financial domination. I know you are not a fan of that practice but I do find it fascinating so it's just as well that I haven't won the lottery LOL.

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No, but I do consider Chinese culture superior to most existing Western cultures as indicated by Chinese cuisine. The French intellectual/anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss in The Raw and the Cooked argued that the more highly "processed and cooked" the food of a specific culture was made was indicative of the level of civilization that the culture had obtained. Ergo--grilled beef on an open mesquite grill in Texas--where you can see it is a hunk of meat from a cow--is indicative of a far lower level of civilization than the cubed meat, shaped dough, steamed dumplings of Chinese cuisine, which look positively otherworldly by comparison. And I was the only Caucasian at 1 AM on the docks in Hong Kong eating for one Hong Kong dollar everything that the stall owners who clustered around me were offering.

 

 He must have ignored American cuisine: the art of creating indescribable meat and other ingredients from the likes of McDonalds or Taco Bell.  :D

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 He must have ignored American cuisine: the art of creating indescribable meat and other ingredients from the likes of McDonalds or Taco Bell.  :D

Don't make fun of Taco Bell, a certain Headmistress told me it's totally authentic Mexican!   :)

 

On this topic, I ran into an interesting (or I thought so) article today on whether "Americanized" Chinese dishes like orange chicken should be considered inauthentic or inferior.  The link is:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/14/foodanddrink/american-chinese-food-opinion/index.html

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Don't make fun of Taco Bell, a certain Headmistress told me it's totally authentic Mexican!   :)

 

On this topic, I ran into an interesting (or I thought so) article today on whether "Americanized" Chinese dishes like orange chicken should be considered inauthentic or inferior.  The link is:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/14/foodanddrink/american-chinese-food-opinion/index.html

 

Interesting article. It makes a very clear point, little room for debate. Just because some of the first Chinese immigrants adapted to available ingredients in the United States, why would that be considered inauthentic Chinese food? They continued their traditions and created something new. Culture has to innovate to live on, don't you agree? 

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