🌏 Manners at the Chinese table - 7 things you should know!

I've been living in Ipoh (Malaysia) for almost two weeks with Calvin and his wife Kat. We've eaten together a couple of fantastic meals during which they taught me the manners at the Chinese table.
I decided to share them with you and I hope that they will be useful! Let's start!



1. The chopsticks are the symbol of Asian cuisine! They are commonly used and it is worth to know how to handle with them. For example if you want to take a break from eating, you should always put the sticks on the edge of the plate or bowl. It is not very elegant to put them into the dish or place them in the middle of the bowl.

2. After eating we do not throw the chopsticks inside the pot or put them on the table. If you want to give the host or waiter a clear signal that you have finished eating, put the sticks on the top of the pot side-by-side. Then nobody will have any doubts that our meal has come to an end.

3. In Malaysian cuisine it is common to chop the meat with the bones. That is why during the eating we can find some elements that will need to be put somewhere. And there are two options. If we eat at a street stand or in a small roadside bistro, we put such leftovers straight on the table next to the plate. However, if we eat in a restaurant, we will get a special dish for the scraps and we should put them into it.



4. In Chinese cuisine, dishes are often served in one large bowl or other big dish. Then, everyone puts from it portions on their own plates. Depending on where the dinner is going, this can be done in two ways. If you are at a business dinner or sitting in a restaurant with people you don't know very well, you should always use a pair of sticks that come with the dish. With these sticks, put on a portion for yourself and then put the sticks back on the edge of the bowl. However, if you are sitting with friends it is allowed to use the same sticks that you are using to eat to get a portion from a large dish.

5. Since we are on the subject of placing portions from shared bowls, it is worth mentioning something that can protect you from committing a large faux pas. If your bite falls back into the middle of the bowl when you put on a portion for yourself, you have to pick it up. Even if you need to mess a little in the bowl, try to find out exactly the piece that slipped you out of the sticks. If you don't try to find it and just reach for the next one, it will be considered as very rude.

6. At the Chinese table it can be loud! And it's not just about laughing or talking, which is normal when you eat together with friends. I mean that someone can burp, slurp and squelch. There is nothing wrong with that and you should not worry about it. Making such sounds while eating means that the dish is tasty and it is a kind of complement for the cook or host.



7.In some cultures it is believed that eating a whole portion and leaving the plate empty suggests that the host did not do very well because he prepared too little food for us. This does not apply to the Chinese table. Here we eat everything to the end because there is the best complement that we can make to the host or cook.


I hope that with this advice you will now know how to behave at the Chinese table! Let me know which of these rules was the biggest surprise for you?

Have a food-day!
@the.foodini