Elegant kitchen must-haves

Nejiri Saibashi

Brand: Daiso

Price: 100 yen

Place of purchase: Daiso

Rating:

Visiting a 100 yen shop is always a risky adventure. You start with a notion to get one item and you end up with a dozen. On my latest visit to Daiso, I simply wanted a pair of cooking chopsticks, called saibashi, in Japanese. There were a few different variations to choose from, some with more pairs than others. I settled on this set of two nejiri saibashi, twisted cooking chopsticks made of bamboo with a urethane finish. The chopsticks are great for cooking noodles in deep pots and are easy to clean. They're stylish, too.

These cooking chopsticks are great value for money. I'm pretty sure they'll hold up better than the pair that I broke which were unvarnished bamboo. The twisted shape really makes a difference in handling when your hands are damp, and the urethane coating makes them grippy. They're stylish, too, with the resin design. The only thing I regret about the two items is the package. Other items I've found at Daiso come in paper or cardboard packaging, or none at all - simply tied together with a paper label attached. These don't need to be in a plastic sleeve.