Why is American Dining Different From Chinese Dining?
By: Sunny Mei
Tags: American, Dining, Food, Film, Chinese

I was recently watching the dinner scene from “Incredibles 2,” when the Parr family is having Chinese takeout at home while having a heated discussion about superheroes.

I really like this movie and this scene, but seeing a depiction of an American family eating Chinese food already pre portioned onto their individual plates is so strange to me as a Chinese American. This scene made me realize how different the way Americans dine compared to way Chinese people dine, especially when the family’s argument reaches the breaking point; Dash finishes everything off of his plate and leaves, while Violet carries her entire plate away from the table. I think this scene shows American dining can be a very distant experience compared to Chinese dining.

Violet is able to carry her plate and leave the table because like in an American household, you scoop a portion of each food onto an empty plate, and eat from it with a knife and fork. In a Chinese household, you can’t do that because food is placed in the center of the table to be shared; everyone would use their chopsticks to pick up food from the dishes, and eat them along with their bowl of rice.

So why is it Americans use knives and forks, while Chinese use chopsticks? According to Edward Wang in his book “Chopsticks,” the popularity of stew in early Han Dynasty China contributed to the popularity of eating with chopsticks. People preferred chopsticks over a knife and fork for eating stew because before it was served to you, every ingredient was already cut into bite sized pieces. Roland Barthes, also speculated that chopsticks served the duel function of a knife and fork; you can use chopsticks to separate pieces of delicate meat like fish and eel, and then scoop it up and eat it with a clump of rice. I think chopsticks are crucial in Chinese culture because our dining style is so communal; we serve large portions of food for 3 to 4 people to share at a table. For us, picking apart and grabbing food just isn’t possible with a knife and fork.

Image by: Debbie Tea via Unsplashed

For American dining, eating with a knife and fork is crucial because the meat and poultry in dishes are often served as fillets. Because of this, meals are often served as individual portions. There was once a time however, when Americans ate communally, that’s because early American colonists were poor and commonly ate “a one-course dinner of steaming pottage from a communal dish,” according to “The Oxford Companion of American Food and Drink.” Basically like the early Chinese, they ate stews, but not because they liked eating bite sized chunks, but because food was scarce; the best way to feed a community is too cut up your meat and vegetables, and then cook it in one pot.

By the mid-eighteenth century, Americans were becoming wealthier; it meant they were owning their own land, and they had enough crops and livestock that they didn’t need to share their food communally anymore. I think people adopted knives and forks because they didn’t like sharing; having a desired precut steak you can eat with your utensils is much better than eating a stew that you had less control of what ingredients you will get.

Image by: Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa

I think the knife and fork really influenced how Americans eat even when they are sharing communal dishes; “Family” style dining does happen in American households especially during Thanksgiving, but you don’t use a fork to get a serving of string beans from the sharing platter like you would be able to with chopsticks. For that, I think communal dining is not practiced as much when you eat out. From my experience, I have found dining with a knife and fork is incompatible with Chinese dining. I have had family dinners where I ate a steak on a platter, along with a side of rice and vegetables. I was able to eat with my family throughout most of the dinner, but in the end, my meals got disrupted because I couldn’t have soup with the plate I was using; the rest of my family could simply reuse the bowls that they ate from.

Going back to the dinner scene in “Incredibles 2,” I am sure the writers picked Chinese takeout as their meal for the scene because it’s quick and easy to eat when you’re in a hotel like the Parr’s were in. I also believe, that they chose it over something like pizza or burgers and fries because of the importance Chinese food has in family dining. Whether it was intentional or not, I think it’s ironic that the Incredibles got upset with one another over a meal that was suppose to bring them together.

Do you think American and Chinese eat differently? Let me know in the comments below!