Where's the Rice?
Eating out in China has been great but there are surprises that go beyond just what types of food are available on the table. At lunch, we've had a hell of a time getting rice during the meal. All of the westerners expect to have steamed rice served at the same time as the main course (because that's how it's always done at Chinese restaurants all over the world). This expectation has surprised some of our Chinese co-workers and completely befuddles the wait staff at the restaurant. No matter how hard we try, the steamed rice almost always shows up near the end of the meal.
So... this mystery has been solved. In Chinese culture, the normal state of the peasantry for the last couple hundred years has been a lack of non-rice items for food. There has historically been a shortage of vegetables, meat, beans, etc. When a Chinese family sits down for a meal, the non-rice items are served first in family-style. This way, everyone gets a chance to eat and the non-rice items are the first things you try to fill your stomach with. You eat as much of the vegetables, meats and beans that are available for that meal.
When these items are gone, then rice is distributed in individual bowls for people to actually fill themselves. In times when starvation/food shortages were rampant, the initial portion of the meal was relatively light and everyone would then just eat enough rice to fill themselves. In modern China where food production now keeps pace with the demand, the rice portion of the meal often doesn't happen at all. Most of the Chinese locals haven't eaten any rice at lunch.
Many (maybe most) cultures have some sort of "filler" food to augment a meal. Northern India has grain-based flat breads, southern India has rice, Europe (and the US) have pastas, potatoes and leavened breads while China has rice. It's interesting that the Chinese eating habits automatically delete this "filler" portion if enough other foods exist. For those of you who are Atkins believers, the Chinese eating style fits right into the low-carb culture.
It's possible that DH has mentioned this fact before because it seems tantalizingly familiar but I just can't remember.
So... this mystery has been solved. In Chinese culture, the normal state of the peasantry for the last couple hundred years has been a lack of non-rice items for food. There has historically been a shortage of vegetables, meat, beans, etc. When a Chinese family sits down for a meal, the non-rice items are served first in family-style. This way, everyone gets a chance to eat and the non-rice items are the first things you try to fill your stomach with. You eat as much of the vegetables, meats and beans that are available for that meal.
When these items are gone, then rice is distributed in individual bowls for people to actually fill themselves. In times when starvation/food shortages were rampant, the initial portion of the meal was relatively light and everyone would then just eat enough rice to fill themselves. In modern China where food production now keeps pace with the demand, the rice portion of the meal often doesn't happen at all. Most of the Chinese locals haven't eaten any rice at lunch.
Many (maybe most) cultures have some sort of "filler" food to augment a meal. Northern India has grain-based flat breads, southern India has rice, Europe (and the US) have pastas, potatoes and leavened breads while China has rice. It's interesting that the Chinese eating habits automatically delete this "filler" portion if enough other foods exist. For those of you who are Atkins believers, the Chinese eating style fits right into the low-carb culture.
It's possible that DH has mentioned this fact before because it seems tantalizingly familiar but I just can't remember.
posted by agoel at
11:14 PM
1 Comments:
Of course! Why would you want to eat rice when there are so many better things to eat? It's also partly a show of wealth and the chef's skills. This is reflected in chinese restaurants here in the states also. If you go to a really nice chinese restaurant and have some type of banquet style meal, the last thing to come out will be either a rice or noodle dish to fill you up. That's how I know when dinner is over.
That being said, fried rice, which we all know and love, is just a means of getting rid of leftovers while adding a little variety.
THAT being said, my mom, being a southerner, can't go a single day w/o rice while my dad, being a northerner, doesn't really mind (he likes noodles more).
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