How To Eat With Chinese Spoon
May 25th, 2008 by admin
Since I started blogging, I’ve been writing regularly about Chinese food etiquette, as it’s an interesting subject that hasn’t had much on-line coverage. All the posts I’ve written on the subject can be found in the Useful Info section. They’ve attracted some interesting questions, which I’ve tried to answer in as much detail as possible. I recently wrote How To Eat With Chinese Stick, so here’s the sequel, on how to use the Chinese porcelain spoon and other implements – based on a question generated from that post.
QUESTION from Cressy:
‘I am one of those people who Googled how to eat with a Chinese spoon. It’s not as mad as it may sound – do you eat from the side or from the front (opposite the handle) and do you stick the whole thing in your mouth or do you sort of sip from it – like a Western soup spoon. I have also Googled how to use the plate and bowl setting. Is the food eaten from the bowl only or from the bowl and plate depending on the food? What is the plate for? I love real Chinese food but I find it slightly ridiculous that I should be so bamboozled by the table settings. So far I have found a million articles on how to use chopsticks but no answers to these other questions.
Any tips?
Cressy’
ANSWER:
‘I’m glad you’ve left a comment, as it’s good to have a chance to explain things in more detail. I know there are so many articles online on how to use chopsticks, which is why I didn’t bother writing one myself! I find the etiquette side of things much more interesting…
So, how to eat with a Chinese spoon – it’s usually quite a chunky thing, so eat from the side of the spoon, not from the front. As you are eating from the side of it, you will be sort of sipping, but it depends on what is in or on the spoon. If it’s liquid, then you’ll sip, if it’s a piece of food, then you’ll eat from it, with the help of your chopsticks in your other hand. Also, it’s a personal spoon, so don’t use it to serve yourself from the shared dishes. You might get a heavy (often brassy-coloured) metal spoon with each setting. This is for serving yourself from the shared dishes, not for eating with.
With the bowl and plate, I’d eat from the bowl (rice, noodles, things from the shared dishes) and use the plate for bones and discarded bits. You can also add some sauce from the little shared condiment dishes onto the side of your plate, so that you can dip into it as much as you like. If you put everything around the edge of the plate, then you can still put the bowl back on the plate. Otherwise the outside base of the bowl gets really sticky.
It’s really hard to eat food off a plate without making a mess, especially rice. If you are ever served rice on a plate (eg a one dish meal of say roast duck with rice), then use the chopsticks and Chinese spoon together, one in each hand, chopsticks to push the food into the spoon, then eating from the spoon.
With a bowl, you can pick it up and bring it closer to your mouth (rather than bending over it while it’s on the table). This minimises splashes and drops of food (it will simply fall a few inches back into the bowl, rather than down onto your plate!) You can also use a gentle shovelling motion with your chopsticks to eat rice.
If you don’t overload the bowl with too much food, then everything will be easier to eat. Rice/noodles usually go into the bowl first, followed by things from the shared dishes on top’.
Feel free to ask if you have any burning Chinese food etiquette questions! I’ll try to help as much I can…
Other posts on Chinese food etiquette:
Check out the Useful Info page for more informational posts on Chinese food.
Wonderfully clear explanation. I do love your “how to”s. I am glad to see that I have not been doing anything too untoward.
Thanks! I did catch myself eating from the front of my spoon yesterday though, then remembered this post was about to be published. There’s no ‘wrong’ way to do things. When it’s a bit chaotic (like at a big family dim sum get-together earlier today), then no one notices anything…(I hope!)
It’s always been a mystery for me to eat with a chinese spoon. Though, I know I still will not be able to eat with them.. pity on me…… ha ha ha
Hi Imran
You don’t have to eat with it. It can just be used as ‘support’ while you use your chopsticks. The combination of chopsticks and Chinese spoon makes it so much easier to eat any kind of Chinese food. I promise!
Helen Yuet Ling
agreed. esp when u want to eat noodles with the broth together.. yum!!!!
bearing in mind one of the memory i have got was dad saying to me when i was little… “how old are you? still using spoon for dinner!”…classic!
I randomly got onto ur blog a week ago while surfing during lunch hour. must say… good blog!! keep it coming!
Hi Suzie
I love using my Chinese spoon, particularly as I remember my dad telling me off (not so long ago either!) for crossing my chopsticks!
Thanks for visiting by the way!
Helen Yuet Ling
That was a great article. A lot of people probably use those spoons like any other spoon they use to eat Coco Pebbles. Great info and the cultural differences.
Hi Julie
Thanks for your comments! I’m glad you liked it. I’ve written a few more ‘etiquette’ posts, which you can find in the Useful section at the top of this page.
Helen Yuet Ling
Is there a special name for the “chinese spoon”? And it is always porcelain or wood?
Traci – I’m not sure. I call it either a Chinese or porcelain or Chinese porcelain spoon. If it’s wooden, then I wouldn’t call it a Chinese spoon. I think you must be referring to those large noodle soup ladles that are sometimes provided in Japanese and occasionally Chinese restaurants? Sorry this isn’t too helpful!
Helen Yuet Ling
The last genuine-China-born fellow I knew would eat soup off the front of the spoon, not the side. Is this one of those either-or things, a regional/cultural thing, a class thing, or was he just atypical?
Nate – I don’t think I’m saying just because one is Chinese that one follows Chinese food etiquette. I know how to use a knife and fork correctly, but it doesn’t mean I follow etiquette every single time (sometimes I just use a fork, which is considered rude!). It’s just more elegant to eat from the side of the spoon, that’s all. Try both methods next time and see what you think (and don’t stuff the entire spoon into your mouth!). There are no hard and fast rules…