Chinese/Japanese way of eating soup?

Not so sure about the word simultaneously in there, but for the rest of it I believe it is true, although I've never been to Japan.

Also, not sure how strict the OT guidelines are in r.f.d.t but this is probably not on topic for this group...

I know that what you say is true in Japan. I have heard that it is also true in China, but I've never been there so can't be sure.

One things for sure, chopsticks wouldn't work very well for the broth portion :)

For soup, a spoon more "useful." See:

--Bryan

I know this to be true in Hong Kong and Singapore, the only places I've been. There are ceramic spoons, but they are used to ladle the soup from the cookpot to the serving bowl.

Yes, pretty much. Watch the film _Tampopo_.

For the most part this is also true.

--scott

I ran into a recent experience where everyone was going ga-ga over my tea blossoms. I was down to a few so I put a couple in a big soup bowl with boiling water and everyone used spoons. It was a spur of the moment inspiration and a big hit.

Jim

Sl> Hi, I have a friend who says that in China/Japan the appropriate way to

Michael wrote on Wed, 26 Sep 2007 16:49:01 -0400:

??>> Hi, I have a friend who says that in China/Japan the ??>> appropriate way to eat/drink soup (eg, miso soup) is to ??>> take the bowl in one hand, tip it and drink from it while ??>> simultaneously using the chopsticks in your right hand to ??>> sort of.. shovel.. the chunkier bits into your mouth.

??>> He says the big spoons that are used in Western Asian ??>> restaurants are not used in the East.

??>> Can anybody corroborate this?

I think that it is true that people drink soup from the bowl in Japan judging by movies as others have mentioned. I have tried it that way and it's not difficult tho' I find it less messy to use chopsticks for noodles etc.

I wonder what is the custom in Viet Nam for Pho. Around here, people of all ethnicities eat the noodles and meat with chopsticks. It might be quite practical to drink the remaining soup from the bow but it's a big bowl and I've never seen anyone do it.

James Silverton Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Many years ago (1968), while on a US Army sponsored, extended "visit" in Vietnam, the people I saw eating Pho ate the solids with chopsticks and drank the broth.

Thanks guys I know it was somewhat OT but I also knew if anybody would know about it, the readers of AFDT would.

Thanks for the replies!

And if they didn't know, they'd contact their friends on RFDT.

/Lew

whoops thats what I meant

I traveled in Vietnam last winter. I recall eating a delicious noodle soup in a Pho restaurant in Saigon. I did not see anyone drinking from their soup bowls.

Lars Stockholm

Yes, this is how I learned to drink/eat in when I lived in Japan.

The Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant here that all the oriental businessmen eat lunch at, they do the sip/shovel thing. Me, I don't care, get me a trough. Just so I get it all.

ladyredlight

I have always been told that what you say is true in Japan. As for China, I have very little information other than the occasional movie, where there is a mixture of what you have been told and the big ceramic or plastic spoon. Ang Lee's famous "Eat Drink Man Woman" (unsure of the exact title) shows the family using chopsticks and the big spoons.

What you see in common society in Asia and well-mannered society is different -- just the same as it is different in Western countries. In either area of the world, you will see people who shovel food into their mouths. You won't see that being done among well-mannered people in any kind of refined setting in either region.

So it comes down to whether you wish to follow what the average person does on the street level or do you want learn to behave as the well-mannered person does in more refined settings?

I would suggest applying good manners first (as practiced by the few) rather than what you see practiced by the many. Don't shovel your food if you don't want to look uncouth among the refined either in Asia or in the West.

Cheers! -- Rik

"suds" wrote

Suds, you are correct for Japan but they also use the asiatic shaped spoon at times though less so than other parts of Asia.

Proper Japanese eating is to lift the bowl in the left hand, sip with a slurp (not exxagurated like a kid would do but enough to show pleasure in eating) and lift solids out with the chopsticks in the right hand. Lefties might reverse this ;-)

The spoon is used to sip the broth - it is also used to support the noodles as they are "slurped" using the chopsticks. The "slurping' as we call it has several effects. Please note the clear broths or broth with very few ingredients are sipped directly from the bowl.

1. Like sucking air through a good wine in the tasting process it allows the pallet to savor the flavor of the broth.
2. Generally the temperature of the noodle soups are much hotter than the American pallet is accustomed to and the "slurping" tends to cool the temperature of the noodles.
3. Supporting the ends of the noodles or other ingredients keeps then from splashing all over your clothes.