rude with rice

[beqstar]

I have a question. Is it considered extremely rude to waste rice and noodles in China?? I feel horrible because often I leave most of my rice and noodles untouched, but after all the food eaten BEFORE, i cannot handle all of it. For me, a bowl of rice is a meal, (and kind of a tasteless one). I hope I am not offending my Chinese friends...any advice??

[sui.generis]

Since coming to China, I've been told more than once that they love (ie. have an inexorable habit of) wasting food here (my observations tend to agree with this advisment); on the other hand, any time I'm eating at someone else's invite, I never seem to be able to eat enough to satisfy them.

It's a strange new world. I'm no expert, but I'd suggest: be polite, plan ahead (you might want to start talking about being full before you really are--that way you can seem like you're trying to please without massive discomfort), be willing to budge a little here and there, and don't worry too much.

[Quest]

Yes, it is extremely rude not to finish your rice.

For me, a bowl of rice is a meal, (and kind of a tasteless one).

Rice is tasteless, so nobody eats rice alone by itself. Try to see how other Chinese eat their rice.

In China, it's okay to not "drink" the soup that comes with the noodles, but in Japan you have to finish that soup too until nothing falls down when you flip the bowl.

[skylee]

These posts remind me of this HSBC commercial -> http://www.admango.com/hkej/gif/hsbc_1.asf

Also, this thread on "Rice" is relevant -> http://www.chinese-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1233&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=20

[Quest]

lol, I like the commercial.

[skylee]

but in Japan you have to finish that soup too until nothing falls down when you flip the bowl.

And that's a LOT of MSG.

[beqstar]

well, then you can all finish your rice and i'll leave mine for the birds.

[beqstar]

thanx incredibly for the advice on

'watching how the chinese eat their rice'

because you know, usually, i close my eyes during a meal.

[外人・・・様！]

And that's a LOT of MSG.

中国料理を食べるなら・・・

でも、伝統的な和食（味噌汁などは）だいぶ違うでしょう。

Rice is tasteless, so nobody eats rice alone by itself. Try to see how other Chinese eat their rice

Anyway, in Japan, mixing something into rice is a big no-no. I guess it isn't in China?

Also, how much is rice in China? I've seen a bag of rice for Akita for 8000 yen in Tokyo, not cheap at all!

[TSkillet]

thanx incredibly for the advice on

'watching how the chinese eat their rice'

because you know, usually, i close my eyes during a meal.

well, if you have been watching, perhaps you'd notice that the Chinese tend to eat the main part of the meal mixed in with their rice and not as two seperate entities. And that's how you eat the rice and not have it as bland.

[Quest]

thanx incredibly for the advice on

'watching how the chinese eat their rice'

because you know, usually, i close my eyes during a meal.

Oh really, then you should open your eyes next time!

[Quest]

Actually, 餸菜 and 饭 complement each other. Eating 餸菜 alone would be too salty and greasy, and eating 饭 alone would be too bland.

一啖餸，一啖饭。

[beqstar]

Yeah, in china mixing veggies and meat and whatever else with rice is the way it is done, as far as i've seen. It isn't so much mixing, though; usually a bit of food is placed on top of a bowl of rice and then the bites are taken together. The bowl of rice and the dishes are kept separate, however.

China has the noodles and broth thing, too. One of my favorites!

And I think rice is fairly cheap here. Many restaurants usually give you rice refills...and broth refills for the noodles, too.

do they do that in japan?

[Gary Soup]

There are different protocols for dining at home with your own family and eating out (either at a restaurant or as a guest in someone's home).

At home, thrift is King, and wastage is a no-no, at least for anything that you cannot save for reuse at the next meal. Cantonese families in this area like to tell their children that every grain of rice they leave on their plates (or in their bowls) will be a pock-mark on the face of their future spouse.

As a guest, leaving some food on your plate or on the table is a reassurance that you've been given enough to eat. Finishing everything available to you is likely to create anxiety that you haven't.

As far as rice goes, in restaurants and at meals in the home where guests are present, rice is often not ordered or served at all, for reasons of "face" (it is considered a cheap filler, after all). A host will, however, have rice at the ready in the kitchen and may ask, near the end of the meal, if anyone wants rice. It's quite acceptable to ask for rice as a palate cleanser when spicy dishes are being served, and it's sometimes automatically brought out for dishes like ma la doufu which are difficult to eat without something to put them on. Then there are always people like my sister-in-law who are stubbornly "People's Republic" in outlook and will ask for rice just to demonstrate that they do not consider themselves too good to eat it.

As far as mixing food or sauce with rice goes, I think that Chinese more often than not are likely to do just that. It's a bit like having some bread to sop up the leftover gravy.