Always have a set of Ohashi with the "holding grooves" at the end.
Makes eating noodles, both hot and cold, much easier.

Musashi




Those chopsticks did not have the "holding grooves", they had a gritty
nonslip coating. It seems that that's the kind that Dan has been
using for the past ten years. I'm no longer in Las Vegas and kind of
sorry I diodn't buy them. Has anyone seen them for sale elsewhere? I
suppose that you could find them in a large Japanese or maybe Korean
market.

I just learned how to use chopsticks about eight months ago (I used
the immersion method), and now - like a typical annoying new convert!
- I don't like to eat with anything but!





ww

Always have a set of Ohashi with the "holding grooves" at the end.
Makes eating noodles, both hot and cold, much easier.

Musashi




Those chopsticks did not have the "holding grooves", they had a gritty
nonslip coating. It seems that that's the kind that Dan has been
using for the past ten years. I'm no longer in Las Vegas and kind of
sorry I diodn't buy them. Has anyone seen them for sale elsewhere? I
suppose that you could find them in a large Japanese or maybe Korean
market.

I just learned how to use chopsticks about eight months ago (I used
the immersion method), and now - like a typical annoying new convert!
- I don't like to eat with anything but!





ww

werewolf wrote:
Always have a set of Ohashi with the "holding grooves" at the end.
Makes eating noodles, both hot and cold, much easier.

Those chopsticks did not have the "holding grooves", they had a gritty
nonslip coating. It seems that that's the kind that Dan has been
using for the past ten years. I'm no longer in Las Vegas and kind of
sorry I diodn't buy them. Has anyone seen them for sale elsewhere? I
suppose that you could find them in a large Japanese or maybe Korean
market.

I've seen the gritty tipped kind at Japanese markets. I suggest checking
there first.

I just learned how to use chopsticks about eight months ago (I used
the immersion method), and now - like a typical annoying new convert!
- I don't like to eat with anything but!

Ha! About time

--
Dan

werewolf wrote:
Always have a set of Ohashi with the "holding grooves" at the end.
Makes eating noodles, both hot and cold, much easier.

Those chopsticks did not have the "holding grooves", they had a gritty
nonslip coating. It seems that that's the kind that Dan has been
using for the past ten years. I'm no longer in Las Vegas and kind of
sorry I diodn't buy them. Has anyone seen them for sale elsewhere? I
suppose that you could find them in a large Japanese or maybe Korean
market.

I've seen the gritty tipped kind at Japanese markets. I suggest checking
there first.

I just learned how to use chopsticks about eight months ago (I used
the immersion method), and now - like a typical annoying new convert!
- I don't like to eat with anything but!

Ha! About time

--
Dan

"Does anyone *like* those really long plastic blunt tip chopsticks
they have in Chinese restaurants?"


--- At a a very crowded local place in Little Saigon in Westminster,
CA there were two types of chopsticks on the tables - the "sanitary"
bamboo disposable kind and the reusable long plastic Chinese kind
which were loose, unwrapped. I noticed that most of the patrons were
favoring the long plastic chopsticks, and I think - having tried both
- that they are more efficient on the Vietnamese pho noodle soups.

--- Vietnamese like the long chopsticks; Japanese and Koreans the
short chopsticks.



"The cheezy, made-in-China chopsticks that -unfortunately- many
Japanese restaurants have come to rely upon are less than $0.05/pair."


--- Less than one cent, even at retail (even now, 3 1/2 years after
that message was written!)

--- Those sanitary disposable chopsticks are not very sanitary at all,
often made from dirty bamboo that was used in construction and then
bleached out with corrosive chemicals, and some by slave labor in
Chinese prisons under the most unsanitary conditions. They are
starting to outlaw them in some places in China now because they are
very wasteful of wood.



--- ww

Ha! About time



Ha! Better late than never!

In article , werewolf
wrote:

"Does anyone *like* those really long plastic blunt tip chopsticks
they have in Chinese restaurants?"

"Like"? I don't know, I can eat with them just fine. To me it has all
the distinction of trim design on the handle of a fork or spoon.
Doesn't really mean much to me. They all work just fine!

--- At a a very crowded local place in Little Saigon in Westminster,
CA there were two types of chopsticks on the tables - the "sanitary"
bamboo disposable kind and the reusable long plastic Chinese kind
which were loose, unwrapped. I noticed that most of the patrons were
favoring the long plastic chopsticks, and I think - having tried both
- that they are more efficient on the Vietnamese pho noodle soups.

Are you in the Westminster area? I'm in North-west Santa Ana so eat
there frequently. I've always seen plastic chinese chopsticks at the
table with the condiments; I've never once seen disposable chopsticks.
That would be about a 0 in 400 occasion for my Vietnamese dining in
Orange County.

--- Vietnamese like the long chopsticks; Japanese and Koreans the
short chopsticks.

So it seems. The legacy of the cuisines happen to be related as well.

"The cheezy, made-in-China chopsticks that -unfortunately- many
Japanese restaurants have come to rely upon are less than $0.05/pair."

These would be the "cheezy" disposable wooden kind then? I wish they
would dissapper. They have to whittle a lot of lumber, frequently from
Canada I understand to produce these billions of disposable chopsticks.

--- Less than one cent, even at retail (even now, 3 1/2 years after
that message was written!)

--- Those sanitary disposable chopsticks are not very sanitary at all,
often made from dirty bamboo that was used in construction and then
bleached out with corrosive chemicals, and some by slave labor in
Chinese prisons under the most unsanitary conditions. They are
starting to outlaw them in some places in China now because they are
very wasteful of wood.

How do you come by the information they are made of bamboo. They all
seem to be made of what looks like pine...?

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

In article , Musashi
wrote:

I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks. Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable
chopsticks) were made from wood exported from the United States.
Somewhere in the middle of the country like Montana or Wyoming.
Presume that's history now.

The last report on this stuff that I read (maybe 4 years ago) spoke of
Canada as the prime location of exporting chopsticks to Japan. They may
have been exporting the lumber though, rather than the finished item.

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

In article , Musashi
wrote:

I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks. Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable
chopsticks) were made from wood exported from the United States.
Somewhere in the middle of the country like Montana or Wyoming.
Presume that's history now.

The last report on this stuff that I read (maybe 4 years ago) spoke of
Canada as the prime location of exporting chopsticks to Japan. They may
have been exporting the lumber though, rather than the finished item.

--
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97). All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

"Gerry" wrote in message
.. .
In article , Musashi
wrote:

I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks. Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable
chopsticks) were made from wood exported from the United States.
Somewhere in the middle of the country like Montana or Wyoming.
Presume that's history now.

The last report on this stuff that I read (maybe 4 years ago) spoke of
Canada as the prime location of exporting chopsticks to Japan. They may
have been exporting the lumber though, rather than the finished item.


I am not surprised at all.

"Gerry" wrote in message
.. .
In article , Musashi
wrote:

I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks. Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable
chopsticks) were made from wood exported from the United States.
Somewhere in the middle of the country like Montana or Wyoming.
Presume that's history now.

The last report on this stuff that I read (maybe 4 years ago) spoke of
Canada as the prime location of exporting chopsticks to Japan. They may
have been exporting the lumber though, rather than the finished item.


I am not surprised at all.

"Musashi" wrote in message ...
"werewolf" wrote in message
om...
"Does anyone *like* those really long plastic blunt tip chopsticks
they have in Chinese restaurants?"


I grew up with the Japanese chopsticks so I find the Chinese ones too long
for eating. But I have a bigger problem with them not being tapered, after
all I have
no problem at all using Japanese long chopsticks when cooking.

--- At a a very crowded local place in Little Saigon in Westminster,
CA there were two types of chopsticks on the tables - the "sanitary"
bamboo disposable kind and the reusable long plastic Chinese kind
which were loose, unwrapped. I noticed that most of the patrons were
favoring the long plastic chopsticks, and I think - having tried both
- that they are more efficient on the Vietnamese pho noodle soups.


That's surprising. If I recall correctly, Pho noodles are like Japanese Udon
but
flater and made from rice. I would have expected the bamboo chopsticks to be
more popular as plastic ones really have a hard time holding noodles in
broth.




I think the difference is that the pho comes in a very big bowl. The
big plastic chopsticks seem to hold the noodles OK. The trick is to
put your face close to the bowl.

I found some nice long Chinese-style chopsticks made from a
multicoloured wood, coconut I think, in the Vietnamese shops in
Westminster, very inexpensive. They're nice, I like them better than
plastic, but the wood is much weaker than bamboo.












--- Vietnamese like the long chopsticks; Japanese and Koreans the
short chopsticks.

"The cheezy, made-in-China chopsticks that -unfortunately- many
Japanese restaurants have come to rely upon are less than $0.05/pair."
--- Less than one cent, even at retail (even now, 3 1/2 years after
that message was written!)

--- Those sanitary disposable chopsticks are not very sanitary at all,
often made from dirty bamboo that was used in construction and then
bleached out with corrosive chemicals, and some by slave labor in
Chinese prisons under the most unsanitary conditions. They are
starting to outlaw them in some places in China now because they are
very wasteful of wood.


I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks.
Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable chopsticks) were
made
from wood exported from the United States. Somewhere in the middle of the
country
like Montana or Wyoming. Presume that's history now.








Yeah, Japan imports them from China now, like everybody else. I read
about a Japanese girl who made an experiment as part of her project to
prove that the disposable chopsticks were unhealthy as well as being
destructive to the forests. She placed one into a bowl of fish and the
fish died, presumably because of the chemicals released from the
treated wood.



ww

"Musashi" wrote in message ...
"werewolf" wrote in message
om...
"Does anyone *like* those really long plastic blunt tip chopsticks
they have in Chinese restaurants?"


I grew up with the Japanese chopsticks so I find the Chinese ones too long
for eating. But I have a bigger problem with them not being tapered, after
all I have
no problem at all using Japanese long chopsticks when cooking.

--- At a a very crowded local place in Little Saigon in Westminster,
CA there were two types of chopsticks on the tables - the "sanitary"
bamboo disposable kind and the reusable long plastic Chinese kind
which were loose, unwrapped. I noticed that most of the patrons were
favoring the long plastic chopsticks, and I think - having tried both
- that they are more efficient on the Vietnamese pho noodle soups.


That's surprising. If I recall correctly, Pho noodles are like Japanese Udon
but
flater and made from rice. I would have expected the bamboo chopsticks to be
more popular as plastic ones really have a hard time holding noodles in
broth.




I think the difference is that the pho comes in a very big bowl. The
big plastic chopsticks seem to hold the noodles OK. The trick is to
put your face close to the bowl.

I found some nice long Chinese-style chopsticks made from a
multicoloured wood, coconut I think, in the Vietnamese shops in
Westminster, very inexpensive. They're nice, I like them better than
plastic, but the wood is much weaker than bamboo.












--- Vietnamese like the long chopsticks; Japanese and Koreans the
short chopsticks.

"The cheezy, made-in-China chopsticks that -unfortunately- many
Japanese restaurants have come to rely upon are less than $0.05/pair."
--- Less than one cent, even at retail (even now, 3 1/2 years after
that message was written!)

--- Those sanitary disposable chopsticks are not very sanitary at all,
often made from dirty bamboo that was used in construction and then
bleached out with corrosive chemicals, and some by slave labor in
Chinese prisons under the most unsanitary conditions. They are
starting to outlaw them in some places in China now because they are
very wasteful of wood.


I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks.
Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable chopsticks) were
made
from wood exported from the United States. Somewhere in the middle of the
country
like Montana or Wyoming. Presume that's history now.








Yeah, Japan imports them from China now, like everybody else. I read
about a Japanese girl who made an experiment as part of her project to
prove that the disposable chopsticks were unhealthy as well as being
destructive to the forests. She placed one into a bowl of fish and the
fish died, presumably because of the chemicals released from the
treated wood.



ww

"Musashi" wrote in message ...
"werewolf" wrote in message
om...
"Does anyone *like* those really long plastic blunt tip chopsticks
they have in Chinese restaurants?"


I grew up with the Japanese chopsticks so I find the Chinese ones too long
for eating. But I have a bigger problem with them not being tapered, after
all I have
no problem at all using Japanese long chopsticks when cooking.

--- At a a very crowded local place in Little Saigon in Westminster,
CA there were two types of chopsticks on the tables - the "sanitary"
bamboo disposable kind and the reusable long plastic Chinese kind
which were loose, unwrapped. I noticed that most of the patrons were
favoring the long plastic chopsticks, and I think - having tried both
- that they are more efficient on the Vietnamese pho noodle soups.


That's surprising. If I recall correctly, Pho noodles are like Japanese Udon
but
flater and made from rice. I would have expected the bamboo chopsticks to be
more popular as plastic ones really have a hard time holding noodles in
broth.




I think the difference is that the pho comes in a very big bowl. The
big plastic chopsticks seem to hold the noodles OK. The trick is to
put your face close to the bowl.

I found some nice long Chinese-style chopsticks made from a
multicoloured wood, coconut I think, in the Vietnamese shops in
Westminster, very inexpensive. They're nice, I like them better than
plastic, but the wood is much weaker than bamboo.












--- Vietnamese like the long chopsticks; Japanese and Koreans the
short chopsticks.

"The cheezy, made-in-China chopsticks that -unfortunately- many
Japanese restaurants have come to rely upon are less than $0.05/pair."
--- Less than one cent, even at retail (even now, 3 1/2 years after
that message was written!)

--- Those sanitary disposable chopsticks are not very sanitary at all,
often made from dirty bamboo that was used in construction and then
bleached out with corrosive chemicals, and some by slave labor in
Chinese prisons under the most unsanitary conditions. They are
starting to outlaw them in some places in China now because they are
very wasteful of wood.


I'm not surprised that the Chinese are exporting low cost disposable
chopsticks.
Upto maybe 10 years ago, Japanese Waribashi (disposable chopsticks) were
made
from wood exported from the United States. Somewhere in the middle of the
country
like Montana or Wyoming. Presume that's history now.








Yeah, Japan imports them from China now, like everybody else. I read
about a Japanese girl who made an experiment as part of her project to
prove that the disposable chopsticks were unhealthy as well as being
destructive to the forests. She placed one into a bowl of fish and the
fish died, presumably because of the chemicals released from the
treated wood.



ww

"Gerry" wrote in message
.. .
In article , werewolf
wrote:

"Does anyone *like* those really long plastic blunt tip chopsticks
they have in Chinese restaurants?"

"Like"? I don't know, I can eat with them just fine. To me it has all
the distinction of trim design on the handle of a fork or spoon.
Doesn't really mean much to me. They all work just fine!

--- At a a very crowded local place in Little Saigon in Westminster,
CA there were two types of chopsticks on the tables - the "sanitary"
bamboo disposable kind and the reusable long plastic Chinese kind
which were loose, unwrapped. I noticed that most of the patrons were
favoring the long plastic chopsticks, and I think - having tried both
- that they are more efficient on the Vietnamese pho noodle soups.

Are you in the Westminster area? I'm in North-west Santa Ana so eat
there frequently. I've always seen plastic chinese chopsticks at the
table with the condiments; I've never once seen disposable chopsticks.
That would be about a 0 in 400 occasion for my Vietnamese dining in
Orange County.

--- Vietnamese like the long chopsticks; Japanese and Koreans the
short chopsticks.

So it seems. The legacy of the cuisines happen to be related as well.

"The cheezy, made-in-China chopsticks that -unfortunately- many
Japanese restaurants have come to rely upon are less than $0.05/pair."

These would be the "cheezy" disposable wooden kind then? I wish they
would dissapper. They have to whittle a lot of lumber, frequently from
Canada I understand to produce these billions of disposable chopsticks.

--- Less than one cent, even at retail (even now, 3 1/2 years after
that message was written!)

--- Those sanitary disposable chopsticks are not very sanitary at all,
often made from dirty bamboo that was used in construction and then
bleached out with corrosive chemicals, and some by slave labor in
Chinese prisons under the most unsanitary conditions. They are
starting to outlaw them in some places in China now because they are
very wasteful of wood.

How do you come by the information they are made of bamboo. They all
seem to be made of what looks like pine...?


There are two basic "kinds" of waribashi used in Japanese restaurants.
The cheaper kind does look like pine (or other wood) and is cut so that
there are 4 sides.
This is the type where sometimes one screws up and they break unevenly
requiring
a stealthy stretch over the the empty table next to you to grab another set.
(see top- white birch waribashi)
The other kind is bamboo. Although square at the top where the two
hashi are joined, the rest of the chopsticks are each circular and are
tapered at the end.
This type is also fairly common especially in the better Japanese
resaurants.
(See second from top)
Some Bamboo chopsticks are not rounded and cut square.
(See last two examples at bottom)

http://www.beeluck.co.jp/HZ.event/KH...n/waribasi.htm