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I had Panda Express today

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zerocool84 said:
Exactly, it annoys me when someone has to eat Asian food with chopsticks like they are cool when they never use them for anything else. It's dumb to me. I know how to use them as was made to use them when young when at friends houses but don't use them at all now. Modern utensils are infinitely more efficient.
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Why were you forced at friend's houses when young?
 
Leyawiin said:
Knife, fork and spoon are infinitely better. I've watched Asian people using them and they usually have their heads bent over their plate/bowl to cut down on the distance between food and mouth... because they're trying to eat with damn sticks! Its low tech and inefficient. I always laugh at my Western friends who insist on using chopsticks in an Asian restaurant. Its just pretentious. They don't use them anywhere else. Food is food and the principle of eating it is the same. If your traditional method is knife and fork, stick to it.
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No. It is considered good etiquette to eat close to the bowl. That's why when eating off the bowl, you see Asian's commonly hunched over. In an informal setting, if something is across the table and I want it, I'll fully extend my arm and reach over with my chopsticks, pick up the food and put it in my bowl. Anyone who says they know how to use chopsticks and can't reach across the table to pick something up with the chopsticks is still an amateur. Don't equate what is considered good etiquette with a lack of skill in utilizing chopsticks.

Spoons have their place, and so do forks, but as a general use eating utensil, the chopsticks are king.
 
I used to use chopsticks at every Asian opportunity, and still possess like ten pair of different nice ones. It was fun, and really not that difficult at all once you got the hang of it, which didn't and shouldn't take long.

But . . . somewhere along the way I regressed to using Western Weapons of Mass Food Destruction, even if I eat Chinese out.

Don't know why except for torpor and laziness, except I used to be around a lot of others who used them, and now I'm not. <shrug>
 
akugami said:
No. It is considered good etiquette to eat close to the bowl. That's why when eating off the bowl, you see Asian's commonly hunched over.
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Ahhh, is that really why? I always noticed genuine Chinese hunched over and eating that way, basically using their chopsticks to rapidly shovel the food into their mouths. That use requires no dexterity at all that I can see, and certainly didn't come across as good etiquette of any sort to this blue-eyed devil. 😉
 
There's too much Sugar and Salt in their food. There's no good reason for that.

I only eat Korean food because I've grown to hate Chinese food. Spicy Kimchee is my absolute favorite.
 
spoonplus-03.jpg
 
WaTaGuMp said:
I thought they were a part of PF Chang.
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Wiki confirms. I've never been to Pei Wei, but PF Changs is way too salty for me.

WaTaGuMp said:
I am in Tustin, yeah I have no problem finding good fake. Also good real, like Yen Ching.:thumbsup:
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Yen Ching good and authentic? When I get Chinese food with my in-laws (who live in Santa Ana) we always end up going to Sam Woo in Irvine or Alhambra/Monterey Park/Rosemead area. Oh, or Seafood Cove #2 for dim sum.

I am now stick literate. My wife still uses hers like a child. Growing up, kids are handed their sticks, and they just use them like a shovel. Then dexterity develops/becomes required, and we all learn how to use them like scissors.

Fast forward 18 years, I'm in Taiwan visiting family for the first time in over a decade, and they're all laughing at me for using my chopsticks like a kid. So that summer I learned how to hold them like an adult (the same way that's on the chopsticks wrapper.) My wife hasn't been under this peer pressure yet, so she still scissors them.
 
It's sad that people who swear by PF Chang, Pei Wei and Panda Express don't know they are related.

Equally sad people don't understand why eating close to a bowl is important.

Not all chopstick food is bowl based.

Many would use a ceramic spoon more than likely if it was available in some of these cases.
 
Every time I go to Panda (not often, maybe 4-5 times a year), as I'm standing in line I see the orange chicken and smell that goodness my mouth waters. This happens EVERY TIME!
 
When I was a kid I used to use chopsticks all the time trying to catch flies, like in Karate Kid. Actually caught 2 flies. Using them now is like second nature. Anyways, I usually use them if they are available, but I dont go out of my way to ask for them.
 
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Perknose said:
Ahhh, is that really why? I always noticed genuine Chinese hunched over and eating that way, basically using their chopsticks to rapidly shovel the food into their mouths. That use requires no dexterity at all that I can see, and certainly didn't come across as good etiquette of any sort to this blue-eyed devil. 😉
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Yep. You'll normally see that with an older crowd. Younger crowd tend to be less formal now. But that's the basic reason why.

SheHateMe said:
There's too much Sugar and Salt in their food. There's no good reason for that.

I only eat Korean food because I've grown to hate Chinese food. Spicy Kimchee is my absolute favorite.
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Some ethnic groups do use a lot of salt and sugar, but most Chinese home cooking doesn't use much, if any, sugar and very little salt. We've got separate containers of sugar, one is next to all the coffee and tea material and one is in the spice cabinet. The one in the spice cabinet is roughly a 16oz container and that lasts at least a year. If you're talking take-out...that crap has a metric ton of MSG, sugar, and salt in every bite.

OCGuy said:
Then it went to small birds...and then cats, am I right?
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Don't forget the dogs! Never forget the dogs! Can't have a good meal without one. :whiste:
 
Leyawiin said:
Knife, fork and spoon are infinitely better. I've watched Asian people using them and they usually have their heads bent over their plate/bowl to cut down on the distance between food and mouth... because they're trying to eat with damn sticks! Its low tech and inefficient.
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Whether it's efficient or not depends on the type of food you are eating. A lot of Asian food is communal and meant to be eaten with chopsticks. Inability to use chopsticks is a sign of poor breeding. :colbert:
 
madoka said:
Whether it's efficient or not depends on the type of food you are eating. A lot of Asian food is communal and meant to be eaten with chopsticks. Inability to use chopsticks is a sign of poor breeding. :colbert:
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Not in white people. That'd be like me saying your inability to play polo is a sign of poor breeding.
 
I don't really like Chinese food, but Panda Express is the only place I'll eat it. I like it because I can see everything that's going on. I can see the stored food, I can see them prepare it and I can see it sit in the pans until I order it. I don't have to worry about getting food poisoning from undercooked cat like at the various hole in the wall Chinese places that people swear by.

I also don't care for PF Changs, because high-end Chinese food is an oxymoron. I've somehow never been to Pei Wei, but live near several.
 
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