It’s easy to assume that all Asians eat with chopsticks since the Chinese eat with chopsticks and they make up a sixth of the world’s population. Plus, the Japanese eat with chopsticks as well as Koreans. Whoa! That’s a whole lot of Asians eating with chopsticks. Well, Thais use chopsticks to eat Chinese food, and the general utensils of choice is a spoon and fork, or the great old stand by – fingers. You would never find huge steaks in Thai cuisine that would require a steak knife. Thai food is always prepared so the meat and vegetables are bite size pieces so a spoon and fork would suffice. There is also something so satisfying about  eating with your hands. If you travel to northeastern Thailand to the Isaan region, people there typically eat with their hands. They roll up balls of sticky rice and dip in spicy dips. Oh so delicious. One of my fondest childhood memories is that of my mother feeding  me with her hands. Food was so much more delicious eaten that way.

Noodles are a Chinese import. Rice is king in Thailand not noodles, though to the world pad Thai is Thailand’s food ambassador. So if you eat any stir-fry with noodles or soup and noodle dishes then you would use chopsticks.