Korea is the only country in the world to use metal chopsticks. Other Asian countries, including China, Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia, use chopsticks made of wood, or bamboo. Not only are Korean chopsticks made of metal, but they’re also flatter, square in shape, and often more of a ‘middle length’ than the chopsticks you’d find elsewhere.
‘Chopstick’ in Korean is 젓가락, or ‘Cheot-garak’, with ‘cheo’ meaning ‘chopsticks’, and ‘garak’ meaning ‘sticks’. A typical Korean meal is eaten with a pair of metal chopsticks and a large metal spoon, with the chopsticks always laid on the table on the right-hand side. To make food easier to pick up using chopsticks, you might find many restaurants of families have intentionally scuffed and scratched the chopstick’s pointiest end to make it rougher. Often, the flat ends are ornately decorated with traditional Korean carvings, such as that of a heron.
Metal chopsticks nowadays are usually made from steel. In bygone eras, chopsticks used by affluent families, or on special occasions, were made from gold, silver, or brass. If you’re ever given a pair of chopsticks made from a precious metal when eating at a Korean household, know that you are seen as a very special guest!
But why did Korea develop the tradition of using metal chopsticks? One major theory is that royalty during the Baekje period began using silver chopsticks as a way of protecting themselves from being poisoned by their enemies, as the silver would change color when in contact with a poisonous chemical. It is said that the common people then began to use steel chopsticks themselves, as a way of emulating the King.
Other theories state that, because Koreans used a spoon to eat their rice (unlike other Asian countries) it was not necessary to use stickier, wooden chopsticks. It is generally believed in Korea that metal chopsticks are more hygienic than wooden ones, too.
In the afternoons, traditional Korean restaurants will have a ‘break time’ between lunch and dinner, during which used chopsticks are placed into large bowl of boiling water to sterilize them. After sterilization, the metal chopsticks are placed back into individual paper slips or chopstick holders. These days, many restaurants store chopsticks in an electric sterilization unit.
Although chopsticks made of metal mean they are heavier, and sometimes more difficult to get to grips with, they’re easier to clean, and much better for the environment than disposable varieties!
They also come in very handy a few bottles of Soju down the line, when they may double up as percussion instruments 🙂
Gastro Tour Seoul’s CEO Veronica Kang’s original blog was even called ‘Heavy Metal Chopstick’ – a hat-tip to Korea’s unique tradition! Korean speakers can check out her blog, now called ‘편식주의자’ (or ‘Foodie Ideologist’), here.
Metal is a good conductor of heat and Korean tofu soup is usually boiling hot. So why is Korea the only country in the world that uses metal chopsticks?
Korean chopsticks, or “cheot-garak,” are typically made of metal ad are flatter and more square in shape than other Asian chopsticks. Lengthwise, Korean chopsticks are somewhere in between the shorter chopsticks of Japan and the longer chopsticks of China.
According to Gastro Tour Seoul, metal chopsticks nowadays are often made of steel. In historical times, the wealthy upper class would use gold, silver or brass chopsticks for special events.
The theory on the origin of metal chopsticks is that during the Baekje (18 B.C.- 660 A.D.) Period the royal family used silver chopsticks to detect poison in their food. Their enemies’ plot would be ruined since silver changes color when it comes into contact with a poisonous chemical. It is believed that commoners took after the king and adopted steel chopsticks.
A typical Korean meal setup includes a pair of metal chopsticks laid on the right-hand side and a large metal spoon on the other side. The flat ends of the chopsticks are usually decorated with ornate Korean designs, such as ones featuring the heron bird.
In other Asian countries, wooden and bamboo chopsticks make stickier objects easier to pick up.The second theory follows that since Koreans use a spoon to eat their rice, wooden chopsticks were not required.
Metal chopsticks are also viewed as more hygienic than wooden chopsticks. Traditional Korean restaurants utilize a “break time” during the afternoons to sterilize the chopsticks in a large bowl of boiling water. However, many restaurants today take advantage of electric sterilization units.
But what sets Korean chopsticks or "cheot-garak" apart is that unlike the usual wooden ones that is seen in every Asian restaurant, it is made of metal and has a flat tip, square in shape, and observably in between the size of that of Japan's shorter chopsticks and China's longer ones.
According to Gastro Tour Seoul, these metal chopsticks used in Korea today, are often made of steel. But in the old times, the rich families would use gold, silver or brass chopsticks for special occasions to showcase their affluence in the society.
One theory that explains the origin of Korea's metal chopsticks dates back to the reign of Baekje (18 B.C - 660 A.D). It has been said that silver chopsticks were used as a protection of the royal family from any assassination plot of the enemies.
Silver can easily identify any hint of poison in the food, as it would change its color once it is directly in contact from any poisonous substance present in the food. From then on, commoners adopted the practice of using steel chopsticks as part of their family tradition to show reverence to the King.
Another theory suggests that since Koreans use a large metal spoon to scoop and eat their rice, wooden chopsticks were not needed to get the sticky food from their bowls.
Foodbeast writes that in a typical Korean meal setup, a large metal spoon is placed on the left-and side for scooping rice, while a pair of metal chopsticks laid on the other side, reserved for getting their steamed vegetables, fried egg, kimchi and beef bulgogi to name a few. These metal chopsticks are also adorned with intricate Korean designs that reflect the quaint beauty of their culture.
What is the history behind Koreans not holding up their rice bowl when eating unlike other Sinosphere countries e.g. China, Japan, Vietnam. from korea
When my foreign friend came to Korea for the first time, it was fascinating to see how amused he was about the culinary culture in Korea.
He would ask questions like "Why do Koreans have stainless steel chopsticks and spoons? I've seen wooden and plastic ones in China and Japan but I've never seen this type before!" holding up the chopsticks in fascination. It took him longer to hold them in the right position because they were more slippery than other types.
In a typical Korean restaurant with a high turnover rate during lunch and dinner times, they serve meals in stainless steel bowls, or sometimes plastic ones that look like ceramics. The rice and soup come as a set along with a dozen banchan (side dishes) in stainless steel plates. When foreigners encounter this type of setting in a Korean restaurant for the first time, they marvel at the number of side dishes that fill the table and the fact that they are served for free.What's with the use of stainless steel products? Why do Korean restaurants spread out dishes all at once? Why do Koreans always drink coffee right after having lunch?
These may be some typical questions that arise when a foreigner comes to Korea and observes the dining habits of locals.
Although it's not an encyclopedia with answers to everything a foreigner may be curious about, the newly released book "Why Do Koreans Eat Like This?" does answer the three questions posed above and many more that may fulfill intellectual curiosities of those who are interested in delving more deeply into the history and culture of how Korean dining culture evolved.
The book is written by gastro-humanities scholar Joo Young-ha who currently teaches folklore at the Graduate School of Korean Studies at The Academy of Korean Studies. Joo has authored several books on the history and cultural evolution of food and this book is another compilation of his academic research on Korea's food history, viewing it from foreigners' perspective. Joo currently lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Joo thoroughly researched the history of Korean food culture and compared it with those of neighboring Asian countries such as Japan and China. The project began out of Joo's own curiosity of why things were the way they were, after seeing and hearing questions from foreigners about behavior such as, "Why do Koreans place napkins below chopsticks and spoons when they sit down on a table?" A sneak peek answer to this question is that Koreans tend to think that chemically processed products are scientific and safe, and hence hygienic. Since most of these busy local restaurants quickly wipe the surface with a cloth, Koreans are paying "extra care" about their hygiene by placing an additional safe layer over the table. Companies with the word "chemical" in their names rapidly increased during the 1950s through the ‘70s and it was in the 1970s that paper napkins first began to be used in the country, according to the book.
As for the use of stainless steel utensils and tableware, it was due to efficiency and convenience. It was easier to clean and maintain stainless steel than the brassware which was commonly used until stainless steel emerged in the 1960s.
Koreans tend to enjoy the visual satiety that comes from spreading the dishes out on the table, according to Joo, although this culture has gradually evolved to a hybrid form of having some dishes set up on the table and others that come out one by one. Historically, however, sequential dining much like the French course dining used to be more common during 19th century late Joseon Kingdom when royalty existed. Various forms of dining such as individual vs. communal, sequential vs. space-occupational have been merged and evolved to create a hybrid type of dining culture that we know of now.
As for drinking coffee after a meal, it turns out coffee mixes played a big role as a "dessert." The concept of having a sweet dish at the end of a meal which originated from Western fine dining culture evolved into drinking sweet coffee after a meal, which Koreans call "mix coffee" or "instant coffee."
The culture began in the 1960s when newspapers started suggesting drinking coffee after a meal as dessert. Before the ‘60s, coffee wasn't an after-meal drink. But the decrease in sugar prices during the late 1960s and the advent of coffee mixes in the ‘70s followed by "instant coffee" producing machines in the ‘80s led to restaurants serving "mix coffees" as a dessert. Although the culture has now evolved to drinking brewed coffee these days, there are still many restaurants that still serve "mix coffee" in paper cups.
At times this book is a bit too academic, going into too many details in history that may be dragging for readers who're looking for an easy read. It's not a light book (literally too, it's 400 pages!) as it is written by a scholar who truly explores these questions in depth referring to past historical records. But when it becomes a bit too dragging, readers can hop to a different chapter that interests them, as the book does not need to be read sequentially.
What is left much to be desired is the fact that the book is written in Korean. Although it may fulfill the curiosity of fellow Koreans who've wondered why we eat in certain ways, the topic would have been much more appealing to foreigners if the book was written in English.