If you’re planning on dining in Hawaii, you may wonder: do Hawaiians use chopsticks? And will you need to use them during your vacation?
Hawaiians Do Use Chopsticks!
Chopstick pros rejoice: Hawaii has great opportunities for using chopsticks, and they’re available at many restaurants and stores here.
But if you aren’t comfortable using chopsticks, don’t panic. Hawaiians do use chopsticks, but they also eat with forks too. And if you want to join in and eat some sushi, poke, or rice with chopsticks, we’ve got a great guide for how to use them!
How Hawaiians Started Using Chopsticks
Chopsticks date back thousands of years to ancient China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam before traveling overseas with immigrants. They soon became a common choice of dining weaponry in Hawaii. In fact, some say the name may have derived from Chinese Pidgin English, with “chop chop” meaning quickly.
How to Use Chopsticks in Hawaii
Here’s everything you need to know about that unfamiliar pair of “sticks” lying next to your fork and knife at the restaurant.
You’ll come across chopsticks at almost any Hawaii eatery, particularly ones serving local or Asian dishes. Most times they offer chopsticks as an alternative to using a fork, making it that much more authentic when eating noodles, rice, kim chee, or mandoo.
Learn the art of eating with chopsticks in Hawaii by starting with the basics: the different types, how to hold them and proper chopstick etiquette.
The Chopstick Quiver
There are the classy, sassier chopsticks made of resin or bamboo, included as part of the table setting for fancy sit-down restaurants. The more common ones are disposable (called waribashi), made of wood and wrapped in paper. In fact, they’re so common that Japan uses about 24 billion pairs a year (that’s 200 pairs per person!).
To lessen the environmental impact, my aunty actually carries a pair of bamboo chopsticks in her purse instead of using the wooden ones provided by restaurants.
Eating delicious food and respecting the Earth? That’s using chopsticks the Hawaiian way!
Holding Chopsticks
Disposable chopsticks require the user to break them apart first by pulling gently at the skinnier end of the sticks. To get rid of splinters, some people will roll them together in the palm of their hands or file one on the other. I’ve learned that this is bad table manners, however, so do this sparingly.
Similar to how we use tongs, chopsticks pick up portions of food that are oftentimes chopped into smaller pieces.
Use the same hand you use when holding a fork or spoon and think of it like this: top stick moves, bottom stick is stationary. Operate the top stick with your pointer and middle finger, while resting the bottom chopstick between the base of your thumb and index finger.
Proper Chopstick Etiquette
Different regions of the world have different chopstick do’s and don’ts. Mostly, the rules derive from superstition, symbolism, and tradition. Because Hawaii is made up of various Asian ethnicities, the rules here have become mixed and mingled into our own. Just like most anything, Hawaiians do use chopsticks in their own way.
Here are some I was taught while growing up in the islands. Hopefully they will help you get through your first delicious Hawaii meal!
- Never leave chopsticks standing vertically in a bowl of rice or food. This welcomes death and represents incense left as offerings to the deceased.
- Don’t use chopsticks to dig around your meal for a particular morsel. This symbolizes digging your grave.
- Don’t point chopsticks at others seated at the table, whether at rest or in your hand.
- Don’t leave chopsticks crossed at the table. This symbolizes death.
Chopsticks During Your Hawaiian Vacation
So, what do you think? Will you be using chopsticks during your Hawaii vacation? Don’t be surprised if you pick up some poke and the cashier asks you if you want a fork or chopsticks. And if you aren’t comfortable using chopsticks, maybe be a little adventurous and give them a try.
Want a vacation filled with other small adventures? Hawaii Aloha Travel can help plan the grandest excursions and the smallest meals. Get in touch with us to learn more!
Here are the top 8 foods to try in Hawaii (with or without chopsticks!).
