January 18, 2012

Bowl Vs Plate

I had a colleague and an ex-colleague over for dinner last Friday and realised one major difference between Hong Kongers and Singaporeans.

I had made a pork stew to be eaten with rice and I had taken out three plates to put the rice on plus forks and spoons as cutlery. But I found that they didn't want to use the plates, forks and spoons and asked me for bowls and chopsticks instead. I hadn't even thought I might be asked for them even though I did have bowls and chopsticks available (nice ones I bought from Muji by the way).

At home in Singapore I usually eat out of a plate using forks and spoons and that seems to be the case in most Singaporean homes, hawker centres and food courts. And when I had my Singaporean friends over for dinner we all used plates, forks and spoons. No one thought it was anything out of the ordinary.

For my Hong Kong friends, though, it was something they weren't used to and I think something so small can also show the fact that Hong Kongers are generally more Chinese compared to Singaporeans who are more Westernised.

Posted by DSD at January 18, 2012 12:00 AM
Comments
In genaral , the Asian people who live in Europe ( at least in France and Belgium ) use forks and knifes even if there are nothing to cut on their plates ....Meanwhile , in the US , they use forks and spoons . Can you imagine that sometimes the French can even eat hamburgers with forks and knives ! I suppose they simply don't want to eat with their bare hands . Nghi Posted by: Nghi at January 18, 2012 4:21 AM
Hmm. You can probably put me in the "bowl" category. Must be a HK/Cantonese thing, I guess. Posted by: Rodney at January 21, 2012 1:14 PM
When I dine in Guangzhou, I am regularly reminded by my friend, a native of Guangzhou, that I should leave the bones and other leftovers in the plate, not the bowl. I always get a earful from him if I do otherwise. Posted by: Kwan Peng Yin at January 26, 2012 11:32 AM
Post a comment









Remember personal info?