Same rice, different utensils

White Rice

Most people I have met think of rice as an Asian food. However, I found that rice really is a universal food. Africans eat rice. Americans eat rice, Asians eat rice. Maybe the difference is how we cook the rice and the utensils with whcih we use to eat it.

I had talked earlier about Koreans and Chinese using chopsticks to eat rice, but Koreans don't lift the bowl off the table, unlike the Chinese. In South-East Asia, we either use a fork and spoon to eat rice off a dinner plate, or use our hands, like the Indians. Westerners I know use a fork to eat rice. I have tried many times, but I can't get used to that. My American friend, who lived in Cambodia for many years, held up a dinner spoon and remarked, "This is a much better shovel!" I agree. Eating rice with a fork just doesn't do the job. The rice grains keep falling off the tines. A spoon keeps the rice together until it gets into my mouth.

For cultures that use their hands to eat, they are differences too. Indians use the whole hand, including the palm. The scoop up the rice with food and gravy, then squeeze the rice into a ball to get the gravy out. The lump then goes into the mouth. The hand is covered with gravy.

Malays use only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The left hand is used for unclean things.

Sticky rice ball

Lao people eat sticky white rice, rather than normal white rice. They too use only the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand. The sticky rice is pinched off the large amount, then pressed together into a small ball. Dip the ball into the plate of food, picking up some food (meat, vegetables, fish, etc), then put it into your mouth.

However you choose to eat rice, it will still end up in your mouth. Just enjoy the local way of eating! And if you can speak a bit of their language, you will enjoy the meal even more!

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