WEBVTT - How Did Chopsticks Become Such a Popular Eating Utensil? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.320 Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.760 Hey brain Stuff, Lauren bog obam here. When it comes 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:12.640 to utensils, chopsticks are one of the oldest kids on 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.960 the block. Are in the kitchen. They earned their place 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.200 at the Chinese dinner table around four hundred CE, but 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:22.119 we're used for cooking in China well before that, think 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.400 around twelve hundred b C. A fast forward three thousand 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.600 years and an exorbitant amount of rice later, and these 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:33.800 thin handheld sticks have only grown in popularity. More than 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.720 of the world's population uses chopsticks as their main eating utensil. 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.160 China alone goes through forty five billion disposable pairs per year. 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:46.280 So how did two sticks start such a massive meal 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:51.240 time revolution? The ancient Chinese were the first to experiment 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.440 with chopsticks nearly three thousand years ago, but at that 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.680 time they weren't used as eating utensils. They used them 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.360 for cooking since they could safely dip them into boiling 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:05.119 pots of water. Then China's population boomed, cooks were forced 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:09.240 to conserve resources, which meant chopping food into smaller bites 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:12.960 that used less fuel to cook. Through bite sized foods 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:17.559 paired with Chinese philosopher and vegetarian Confucius is anti knife beliefs, 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:21.640 set up the chopsticks for widespread adoption beyond China. A 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:26.360 Confucius saw knives as a reminder of the slaughterhouse for 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.920 the article. This episode is based on How Stuff Works. 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.399 Spoke by email with Ray she Who, founder of Lost 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.759 Plate food Tours, who grew up in Chengdu, China, where 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.600 she first used chopsticks at the age of two. She 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:43.000 now leads food tours throughout Asia, and she's encountered many 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:47.120 chopstick varieties in the process. And Chinese chopsticks, for instance, 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:50.480 tend to be long and thick because Chinese cuisine often 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:54.040 involves plucking pieces of food from shared dishes around the table. 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.320 In Japan, where bamboo chopsticks were adopted in five hundred 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:02.680 CE for religious ceremonies, the utensils have evolved drastically over time. 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.880 They're now particularly fine tuned for one of Japan's main foods, 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:12.160 fish who explained, Japanese chopsticks are short and sharp. It's 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.680 easy to remove fishbones with sharp chopsticks. She added, the 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:19.840 Japanese cuisine often involves individual portions instead of shared dishes. 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:25.000 So those chopsticks don't need to be as long. While ubiquitous, 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:28.600 now disposable wooden chopsticks were first invented in Japan in 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:32.000 eighteen seventy eight. The upper class in China and Japan 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:36.440 used to use ivory, jade, coral, and silver chopsticks. Who 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.880 says that the latter they believed would quote corrode and 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:44.840 turn black if it came into contact with poisoned food. Now, 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:47.680 bamboo is often used for chopsticks since it's so easy 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:52.400 and inexpensive to obtain. Head over to South Korea, and 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:56.440 chopsticks look a bit different still. Their chopsticks are flat 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:59.960 and typically made of metal. Who points to the popularity 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:04.120 of South Korean barbecue. The metal chopsticks won't catch fire 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:08.960 when diners are grilling their meat table side. Also, despite 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.360 the prevalence of chopsticks in Thi American restaurants, the utensils 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.119 don't often appear on tie tables. Forks and spoons are 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:21.600 currently preferred wherever you use them. However, how you handle 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.440 your chopsticks matters. Who explains that the way you hold 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.119 them in your hands is pretty much personal preference. Though 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.760 there are regional folk tales. She said in my hometown, 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.440 people say, if you hold chopsticks toward the bottom, closer 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.280 to your food, you will marry someone nearby. If you 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:39.160 hold them at the top, far away from the food, 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:43.840 you will marry someone far away. But folklore and hand 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.120 grip aside, there are definitely rules of etiquette when it 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.520 comes to using chopsticks at the table. Of course, niceties 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:52.560 may vary, so if you're in a place it's new 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.920 to you, take a moment to observe how it's done. 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.960 But generally speaking, don't use chopsticks to eat straight from 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.840 serving dishes from your plate, and don't use chopsticks to 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:06.360 spear food. If you can't grab something with chopsticks, using 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:08.920 your fingers is generally okay if the food is already 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.240 on your plate. If it's in a serving dish, look 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:15.880 for a spoon. Speaking of, only use serving chopsticks to 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.800 access food in these shared dishes, but don't dig through 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:23.400 food in a main serving dish with your chopsticks. Also, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.839 don't place chopsticks directly on the table, place them on 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.680 top of your own dish, parallel to the table, or 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:35.040 on a chopstick rest. Also, never point chopsticks at fellow diners, 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.760 even if they're resting atop your bowl or plate. And 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.880 A speaking of how you set your chopsticks down, this 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.880 last one is important. Who said you should never stick 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.760 your chopsticks into your food and let them rest there. 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.400 You should always place them on top of the bowler plate. 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:53.919 And this is because sticking them in your food is 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.160 similar to putting incense in a pot or bowl, which 0:04:57.200 --> 0:04:59.480 is what we do for ancestors who have passed away. 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:02.560 So if you do this, we think it means you've 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:10.960 called some homeless street ghosts. Today's episode is based on 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:14.200 the article how chopsticks Became the staple utensil of Asia 0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.000 on how stuff works dot Com, written by Stephanie Vermillion. 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:19.760 Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.240 how stuff works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.839 Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:28.760 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.