Top Tips To Keep In Mind For Cooking With Chopsticks

Many Westerners think of chopsticks as an alternative to a knife and fork, but they can actually also be pretty handy cooking implements. Daily Meal spoke to Ji Hye Kim, chef and owner of Miss Kim, a Korean restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to get some insight into how to use chopsticks this way. She's currently promoting the Seoul Salon/Bunsik Brunch Pop-up for this weekend, Saturday, August 17–18. Reservations are now available via Resy.

Kim says that the trick to using chopsticks as a cooking tool is to "think of [them] as an alternative to a tong or a whisk." They can be used to scramble eggs, mix ingredients together, or to grab items and add them to your pan. She explains that depending on how you're planning to use them, you'll want to adjust your grip slightly, so it won't look exactly as it would if you were using chopsticks to eat sushi, for instance.

Ji Hye Kim notes that when you mix ingredients using these tools, you need to "make sure the two chopsticks are slightly apart, so it actually whisks faster than if both the sticks are held together as one." This means that you'll want to grip the chopsticks fairly tightly, but you don't want them as loose or wide as if you were using them to eat.

On the other hand, if you are using them as tongs, the opposite is true. "Hold it at least ⅓ way from the top, so your hands and fingers are safely away from the heat," Kim explains. Of course, if you're using chopsticks to eat or serve salad, you won't be worrying about heat. Nevertheless, it'll still be easier to grab food if you've have some more looseness and flexibility with the sticks.

Besides these two ways to use chopsticks in cooking, there are a few recipes that can benefit from these utensils. For example, chopsticks can serve as a strainer when pouring eggs into egg drop soup, or you can use them as a guide to make it easier to slice hassleback potatoes. They're a versatile tool that can enhance multiple styles of cooking.

How you hold your chopsticks isn't the only important thing to think about when cooking with these implements. You'll also want to pay attention to how you clean them. "You can treat the cooking and eating chopsticks made from wood the way you'd treat any wooden utensils," Ji Hye Kim says, noting that the best way to clean them is to use a gentle dish soap and to let them air dry.

She also explains that handwashing is key. "I never soak them or put them in a dishwasher," Kim states. If you throw them in the dishwasher, the wood can end up cracking. This can be a breeding ground for bacteria and can also make them more prone to breakage. However, even if they don't have cracks, Kim says that she replaces them every few months. Wooden chopsticks aren't actually made to be reused over and over, and throwing them away is a key way to avoid foodborne illnesses. With these tips, you're well on you way to cooking effectively with wooden chopsticks.