As devotees of Friday night take-out dinners and fried rice enthusiasts, we all know where to go to fix a Chinese food craving.
While our favorite Chinese restaurants aren't always where we choose to sit and eat, the times we do can be an obliviously humiliating experience. While we assume we are assimilating smoothly into the Chinese culture, surrounded by the ambiance of red lanterns and cryptic symbols, we are unaware of our obvious inattention to Chinese cuisine.
It's our repeated habitual quirks that we, as unauthentic consumers, have adopted that make us stand out abruptly in a Chinese diner.
1. Failing to use chopsticks efficiently
It’s understood that the sensei in “Karate Kid” catching flies from the air is an unrealistic standard to hold for this eating utensil. Sometimes you’re better off just stabbing your orange chicken with a wooden spear. If that’s the case, opt for a fork.
2. Pronounce Poke like the verb, not the dish
Poke is traditionally a bowl of diced raw fish marinated with soy and served over rice. It’s pronounced po-keh, so get it right.
3. Pouring on the salt
Let’s be honest, we all love soy sauce. We are pretty sure there is some healthful code in regards to the colored red and green spouts, but we don’t care. As avid Chinese food consumers, we do not discriminate. We pour that gold on everything.
4. Order Sweet and Sour Chicken... Again
As probably the most Americanized dinner option, classic sweet and sour is honored for it’s consistency amongst various restaurants. If comfort food is your game, this chicken is the name.
5. Wasabi?
Fact: Most American Chinese restaurants serve cost-friendly green horse radish as their wasabi; both contain similar taste, but most people don’t eat it anyways due to its overpowering spice.
6. Stealing the complimentary fortune cookies
Walking out with more than your share of wisdom offerings? If that’s the kind of person you are, you’re not alone. Just shamefully hide the sound of wrappers crinkling in your stuffed pockets.
