after reading a reddit thread a few months ago about why forks are better than chopsticks, I realized that food and the utensils used to eat it are actually hig

after reading a reddit thread a few months ago about why forks are better than chopsticks, I realized that food and the utensils used to eat it are actually highly culturally intertwined. for example, a key argument in favor of forks was that fork and knife is vastly superior to chopstick and knife when eating steak. Asian cultures simply don't have this issue, because they don't eat steak, because they don't (historically) have huge pastures for free cattle grazing. in Asian cuisine, meat is served pre-cut, not in large chunks for the diner to cut themselves. therefore, Asians don't have the problem of cutting steak at the table. similarly, Americans rarely eat soft tofu; although tofu is gaining popularity in the US, mainstream grocery stores and restaurants selling tofu tend to sell firm tofu, probably mainly because it's closer to meat in texture. firm tofu is usually served pre-cut, for various reasons including that firm tofu is usually served with stronger and more uniform flavoring. therefore, Americans don't need to cut their soft tofu at the table. chopsticks are also useful for taking individual bites out of a shared plate without disturbing the remaining contents. consider taking one bite of a shared salad using a fork: it's impossible to do so without either slightly crushing the remainder of the salad, which is impolite, or using the fork as a spoon, which is highly inefficient (salad falls off easily). Americans don't have this problem because they generally take a large portion of salad using a spoon or tongs, then use the fork to take bites from their own plate where it's acceptable to slightly crush the salad.