but it's mostly because eating with chopsticks has a different feel
than eating with cutlery does. Chopsticks cause me to think about my
food in a different way--you have to grab some pieces of food at just
the right angle to maintain your hold on them! I have learned to eat
many different things with chopsticks, but I usually wait to pull out
my chopsticks till I am having something that at least remotely
resembles Asian food.
A few days ago, I found a food which frustrates my chopstick skills:
peas. A few days ago, I was hankering to use chopsticks and to have an
Asian-style meal, but no Asian food was on the menu for the night. So
I did the next best thing: I put my meal in a bowl and got out a pair
of chopsticks to use. The meal itself was an odd concoction (I take
full responsibility for it): bite-sized pieces of chicken breast
cooked with peas and topped with a garden salad. Not typical chopstick
fare. But as I sized up the meal, I figured that I could manage with
chopsticks quite nicely.
The peas, however, had other ideas. While the lettuce and tomatoes and
chicken, yes, even the tiny pieces of shredded carrot, were easily
lifted by the chopsticks, the peas constantly eluded capture. Finally,
I had nothing but peas left in the bowl and was almost ready to admit
defeat. My determination, however, rose to the challenge--I was NOT
going to get a spoon just to eat a few peas! But unlike rice which, no
matter how much sauce is on it, has the common decency to clump
together just a little or ride lazily and gently on the level surface
of two slightly-parted chopsticks, the peas were a bunch of
independent and free-thinking rebels who refused to go with any crowd.
Sometimes they would consent to ride the chopsticks with one other
pea, but only one other, and provided that other pea had political
views that he could agree with! It was ridiculous! Finally, I admitted
defeat, and rather than sticking to the rigid manners of the Japanese
(who hold similar views as western culture on scraping food from the
plate or bowl directly into one's mouth!), I went the Chinese route
and lifted the bowl to my lips to finish the peas off once and for
all.
That experience taught me a lot about peas. I think their independence
and political prejudice must be the reason that I see whole pea-pods
cooked in Asian dishes rather than the individual peas being given
free-reign to roam among the ingredients. Peas cooperate much better
if they're not removed from the comfort zone of their little cliches
or committees! I will definitely think 3 times about trying to eat
peas with chopsticks again!
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