Manners when Eating Food in China and Japan

In just about every corner of America you can find Chinese and Japanese restaurants. When thinking of Asian cooking, American traditions have to be left behind. Asians just do not use potatoes, bread or butter. They don't put anything like sugar in their tea, it is plain when they drink. Rice is the Asians bread. Rice is always cooked to the point of dry flakiness. The rice is never stirred and not cooked over 30 minutes. Other versions of rice made is not done the Asians. Soy sauce is a favorite among Asian cooking.

In Chinese cooking, almost everything except bon bons and rice, is served in one huge bowl. Everyone eats out of this bowl with chop-sticks. According to their etiquette, the servant has his foot at the table and has to serve each person their portions, taking the place of the host. Other servants take orders from him, this is in the higher classes or in a Mandarin family. Chinese chop-sticks are the same size on each end. Japanese chop-sticks one end is sharper than the other. In China it is impolite to lick or suck on your chop-sticks. They must not be covered with juice from food, or anything. You also shouldn't use them to dig in your plate, just pick what you want and get it.

In Japan meals are brought to people on individual trays.Everyone sits on the floor, legs crossed. Their etiquette is not to put a lot of food on the plate. They consider it vulgar. Everyone has egg-like portions on their plate. They like things simple and dainty. It is wrong to lick your fingers, clean your nails in front of other people. If you don't want your glass to keep being refilled, just keep it full. You can share your food as long as you take what you want and eat it from your own plate and never use the ends of the chop-stick you ate with to dish out food to someone else. It is also wrong to eat your food too quickly, gorging it down. You can, however, make noises when you eat noodles and when you drink. Chop-sticks should never 'stand up' in your food. Soy sauce, although good should never be used in your rice. It is not for that. Your plates should never look messy, and chop-sticks should not be used to point at someone or played around with.

Some Chinese and Japanese dishes are greatly appreciated by Americans, and can be made with the same utensils that we would use. If you want to cook Chinese or Japanese foods, it is best to find a restaurant and taste what they are like first.