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Watch: Beginner's guide to using chopsticks

Learn the etiquette of eating Japanese the right way



Beginner's guide to eating with chopsticks
Video Credit: Anas Thacharpadikkal/Gulf News

Eating with a pair of chopsticks can be tricky, especially if you are just starting out. Traditionally if you were to walk into a Sushi bar in Japan, you would get a platter of sushi, which you could simply eat with your hands. However, at a more formal gathering one eats sushi with a pair of chopsticks.

Learn how to eat sushi the right way and watch how to use chopsticks:

1. Hold the chopsticks with your dominant hand, but loosely. Note: Do not clench your chopstick, it is not a weapon.

Beginner's guide to using chopstick
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/Gulf News

2. Place the first chopstick between your index finger and thumb, and slide it across your middle finger. Let the chopstick rest on the middle finger. Imagine holding a pencil, hold it exactly like that.

Beginner's guide to using chopstick
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/Gulf News

3. Insert the second chopstick in between the thumb and across the middle finger.

Beginner's guide to using chopstick
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/Gulf News

4. Check the distance between the two chopsticks and hold them loose. Only move the upper chop stick to pick it up while keeping the second chopstick, the one below, stationary. 

Beginner's guide to using chopstick
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/Gulf News

5. Pick wasabi and place it on the sushi. Right at the center. 

Beginner's guide to using chopstick
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/Gulf News
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5. Dip the sushi into the soy sauce. Do not dip the part with rice into the sauce because that will turn the sushi soggy and it could fall apart.

Beginner's guide to using chopstick
Image Credit: Stefan Lindeque/Gulf News
Sushi Chef Michio Iwata
Sushi chef at Nobu, Dubai
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