Slurping noodles the Asian way

[Chemicalkinetics (For the Horde!)]

Let me give you two typical examples of milder forms and maybe you will see what I mean.

1. I ate in an Ethiopia restaurant in USA. I used my hands because it is customary to do so for Ethiopia foods. No knife or fork was provided, despite that this was a restaurant in US.

2. I suppose I often bow my head to sushi chefs as I enter to sushi restaurants even through they are in US. Bowing is more of a Japanese custom than an American custom.

So I see slurping noodle as in a relatively milder customary action (or if you want to call it an offense), and it is not a fundamental moral issue, same situation for eating with hands and head bowing. Or in another words, they are really one cultural custom vs another cultural custom (say eating with knife and fork vs eating with hands). Eating with knife and fork vs eating with hands is not a moral issue for me. I do not base my character on these choices.

@BuildingMyBento

Does that mean the manager can lock patrons inside the restaurant while they’re eating?

Thanks for bringing this up. If I understand your question correctly, you are asking about an action which is illegal (locking people in). I think that get back to my other original point. For more serious issues, it is ok to be upset at these issues regardless where the actions take place. That is why, for me, eating dogs or eating human (cannibalism) will get me upset regardless of the locations. I see these things as fundamental moral issues, and as such, culture does not trump moral.

[Presunto (--> Eating yoghurt in Athens .......... [Fleeced Taxpayer :@)) :@)) ])]

(Testing the quote function)

@CindyJ

I have a related question – how are you supposed to eat the noodles? That little spoon with the flat bottom that they usually give you is pretty useless. Once I saw some people eating the noodles with chopsticks while using a regular soup spoon to rest them on, and I’ve started to eat them in that way. It keeps the dripping to a minimum. But what’s the best/correct way to eat them?

I think you are to put the noodles in the spoon and slurp, or not. I remember seeing Vietnamese and Thais do that.

In China it’s just straight from the bowl, lifting using chopsticks,
pick up bowl, tilt head and the last of the broth is drained in one go.

In Japan you slurp furiously.

I enjoy watching people eat noodle soup in Asia. So fascinating. Have tried slurping but I made a mess.

[CindyJ (Cindy)]

@naf

I have this spoon fork for noodles that my partner hates…I found it kinda fun.

That’s really clever. Do you tote it around with you just in case you find yourself in front of a noodle bowl?

[CindyJ (Cindy)]

@Presunto

I think you are to put the noodles in the spoon and slurp, or not. I remember seeing Vietnamese and Thais do that.

How do you get those long noodles to stay on that small spoon?

[PegS]

[quote=“Thimes, post:15, topic:1150, full:true”]
I also don’t have any Asian friends that slurp (as someone else said) - makes me wonder if it isn’t as common in Asia as the hipster crowd like to profess. Or maybe it is a “blue collar” custom in Asia that is going out of vogue. [/quote]

Yeah, that was me, and I seriously don’t know anyone who slurps. As for the spoon method, when I’m being polite I use the spoon. Yes, you simply lift the spoon and swirl a small portion of noodles into it, and then use the chopsticks to sweep the noodles into their mouth. Still no slurping involved.