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Chopsticks recommendations available in the EU (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by Tolstoy@lemmy.world to c/buyitforlife@slrpnk.net

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hey everybody, I hope you're all doing well.

My significant other and myself are enjoying asian food on regular basis and want to switch to proper chopsticks instead of reusing the single-use ones.

Since we don't have any knowledge about anything, what's matters what not, I wanted to ask you if someone can recommend any or at least give any advice what to look for and what to avoid.

Plus points if it's available in the EU.

Thanks for your time, have a nice one

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[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

Go to your local Asian grocer and grab a cheap set you like. Simple as. Pick fiberglass or metal so you can throw em in the dishwasher. Make sure you have 6 or 8 pairs for two people so you can be a little lazy. FWIW, I'm from the US and I paid $6 for an 8-pair pack. This was a few years ago but I can't imagine they're wildly more expensive or hard to find in Europe.

Chopsticks are great. I use em while cooking all the time. Great for whisking and also flipping foods while frying. Get longer wooden ones to cook with. You can tell oil is at frying temp by looking at the bubbles that come off the tips of wooden chopsticks stuck in hot oil.

They're also good for snacking. Easy to eat chips or what have you without getting your fingers greasy.

Edit: This is the set I have. Apparently they're fiberglass not plastic? Anywhoo I even use em very briefly while cooking in pans for flipping or stirring something and they seem not to get damaged from the heat, though that might not be recommended.

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 1 points 19 hours ago

I use stainless chopsticks myself.

I noticed that they're more punishing to bad form.

What I mean is that since they're more slippery they forced me to grip them harder which hurt my wrist over time. (My wrist is already bad from using a computer for work all the time).

But when I fixed my form, I can hold the chopsticks with very little force and they're just as comfortable as wood chopsticks now.

So if you're wary about, or not enjoying stainless chopsticks, I encourage whomever reads this to keep playing around with different grips.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I love my steel chopsticks, but some people have issues because they’re less grippy than wooden ones.

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 days ago

Totally a preference thing. My partner prefers, specifically, metal, square topped chopsticks. I don't care for these because I think they're more slippery than the fiberglass ones I got. But they're both cheap enough that its easy to own both kinds.

[–] Tolstoy@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Perfect summary^^ thank you very much. I was at our Asian couple of days ago but didn't looked specifically for plastic or metall. I only saw a cheap looking wooden set (looked liked colored single-use ones) and wasn't sure, hence this post.

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I bet they got em. I see the same fucking set I own in videos of people's home cooking on Chinese social media, they seem ubiquitous. Lemme just add that I'd avoid the fancier-looking wooden ones. They're nice to let guests use and admire, but the lacquer and designs wear with use and the wood swells with washing. They're not expensive and still wooden, so they don't have a huge environmental impact (discounting shipping, but I really don't think either of us are gonna be sourcing locally made chopsticks for daily use anytime soon), but they're not buy em for life and use daily. Heck I dunno if the plastic ones I have are truly good for life but they're at least good for five years! 🤣

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

The disposable bamboo ones feel pretty nice because the fact that they are porous makes them able to grip the food well. Obviously that gets gross over time.

For non-disposable, I like wooden ones that are lacquered. I have a set that has a texturing to the lacquer on the part that touches food. Some have grooves to do that, but depending on the shape, those can get hard to clean.

[–] alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 days ago

I just grabbed a kit of laquered ones in the most default biggest supermarket in Helsinki, 6 years ago, still use them. Not better or worse than previous kits I had, some were bought in China in fancy cutlery stores. Just, obviously, plain uncoated wood would decay (but is a firewood, so it doesn't have to be less eco-friendly), everything else won't.