The video offers a sharp sociological insight into how geography dictates dietary identity, though it occasionally trades structural depth for accessible cultural tropes. It successfully illustrates that our choice of staple food is a product of historical inertia rather than mere preference.
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USA vs Asia Eating Culture Differences! l Why Asians Always Eat Rice?
Added:Oh ho ho.
>> That's a lot of spice.
>> Spicy food.
>> So, where is the [singing] rice, the rice?
>> Yeah.
>> No meal is complete without a rice.
>> Without rice, there's no life.
>> Hi.
>> I mean, for me as a Filipina, I would say rice.
>> I think that's like the main [music] thing.
>> Rice is a must for us.
>> There's some rice in in the US, rice dishes, but it's not so commonly eaten compared to other countries in Asia.
>> I think for us, I don't know, probably Kazakhstan, too, but rice compared to other Southeast Asian countries, I don't think it makes much big importance.
>> Yeah, for us it's usually noodles or bread.
>> Yeah, like bread or made of flour.
>> I like plov.
>> Yes.
>> Plov.
>> Yeah, for China I think it's like different. For the north part, it's about like noodles, dumplings, something like that. But for the south part, rice.
>> Mhm.
>> I would say maybe the variety, cuz in Singapore, similar to Malaysia, uh we have a multicultural society.
So, we have much more choices. So, all around the world, you can find it in Singapore.
>> In Korea, rice is really really really important. There is rice related expressions in Korea a lot. For example, "Hanguk inun bapsimida." It means Korea gets energy from rice.
>> It's right, it's carbohydrates.
>> Yeah, and we also "Bap han beon meokja."
Means let's meet again.
>> Yeah.
>> "Babeun meokgo danini?" Means how are you doing these days? Always bap bap.
>> Actually, I have one thing I'm curious about. Also eat rice for breakfast?
>> Yeah, always rice.
>> With soup, right?
>> Yeah.
>> [laughter] >> And with kimchi, always.
>> Cuz in China we like have different breakfast with something like lunch, dinner, it's like different. But for breakfast I think like breakfast they also eat rice.
>> We eat like rice breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
>> For us we eat like a dumplings in the morning or like soup or >> I think for a Kazakh person it's kind of unimaginable to eat something like a meal in the morning. For us we would eat something like bread or sandwich. I think it's of of course it's different depending on the household, right? But for me I would say we would eat something like a European probably like bread or sandwich or probably eggs or omelet. But when it comes to other meals I would think that primarily Kazakhstan is focused more on meat.
>> Like we eat lots of horse meat. I think that would be the same thing for Kyrgyzstan. Rice and noodles are kind of like a secondary stuff.
>> It also really depends on the household because also America's very diverse, right? So it really depends but like the typical American food breakfast yeah it would be kind of the same where it would be maybe like toast, eggs, pancakes. Pancakes some kind of like on a special day, you know, cuz it takes some time pancakes. But yeah the American breakfast if you go to a diner it's like >> cereal.
>> Yeah yeah cereal. So actually growing up I ate a lot of like very typical American food. I would eat like a pop-tart for breakfast which is crazy to me now cuz I can't even eat it for like dessert cuz there's so much sugar. So yeah also for meals maybe meat, vegetable, maybe some carb, mac mac and cheese, grilled cheese.
>> [laughter] >> Pizza, lasagna, or stuff like that.
>> Here's how to eat rice. Now in British dining etiquette and continental now we never turn the fork upside down when using [music] a knife. So when eating rice with both a fork and a knife just like peas, we push the rice onto the back of the fork and eat it like so.
>> Seriously?
>> Yeah, it is a British person. He's William Hanson, who is who teaches etiquette on Instagram, right?
>> Yeah. And there's also another one who always did him.
>> Yeah.
>> But is it like um Americans also do that?
>> Um yeah, I think with like the Yeah.
>> The back of the fork?
>> The back of the Yeah, I think it's it's quite rude to use that.
>> [laughter] >> In real life, in real life, no. But I think he just teaches etiquette like when you are like at the soirée or somewhere where you are dining with a queen or something like that, probably.
>> Yeah, he's very sophisticated.
>> He's famous.
>> Yeah.
>> He he do a lot of content of how to eat in the classic >> Oh, that's the classic way. Oh.
>> How to eat banana.
>> YEAH.
>> [laughter] >> OH MY GOD, YEAH.
>> JUST EAT AS IT'S comfortable for you. I just say spoon is more convenient.
>> Like you can't >> I haven't imagined using knife when eating rice.
>> But it's possible to use with chopsticks.
>> Oh.
>> Yeah, yeah. [laughter] >> It does look elegant, though.
>> Yeah.
>> It does look elegant.
>> Um I mean, right now in Korea, I don't have spoon. I mean, I have spoon, but I don't have a fork in my house. Yeah, because I have chopsticks.
>> Just a fork, usually. I think just a fork, yeah. But the other side, right?
Kind of scoop I mean, you can use a spoon, too, but like usually we would just eat with a fork.
>> Like everything with a fork, usually.
Everything. But also to make it easier, you can use a spoon. But I think typically when I was young, I would just I would just eat it rice with a fork.
>> When I was young, I thought I could use chopsticks well, but no, I was really bad, so I just ended up using like a fork to eat the fried rice.
>> I have one thing curious too. There's a lady teaching Western people how to cook rice, and he boiled the rice with a lot of water together, And they get rice out and eat that.
>> Ah. Is it really someone follow that?
>> Yeah, and not all because Americans they don't eat rice so often. So a lot of times they just make it in the pot. They don't have a rice cooker.
But also they're not used to making rice a lot. So yeah, there's kind of like a stereotype that they would add too much water and not a rice cooker and it would just be kind of like mushy and Yeah, it just wouldn't come out good.
>> But in Kazakhstan we don't have a rice cooker either. So yeah, I get it. Like I think some people could use a pot, no? I mean there must be people who can cook rice differently. Like if you're boiling it you could use a pot, but if you're making like a traditional stuff like plov for example, but it's not actually a Kazakh cuisine it's Uzbek cuisine. So probably they would use something that's like called kazan which is like a particular pot that you use for cooking that. But I would say that nobody has a rice cooker in Kazakhstan either. If your rice is a bit like mushy you can put bread and close it.
>> [laughter] >> That's a life hack.
>> So maybe it's kind of like the same.
Yeah, but also some Americans I feel like they eat quite diverse as well nowadays. So there may be a lot of Americans that do have a rice cooker and they're able to cook rice. But maybe like my parents I'm sorry. My parents are not like the best at cooking rice, you know? So maybe like that generation isn't >> Dust?
>> [clears throat] [laughter] >> Yeah. In a restaurant if if you get like a piece of hair or something in the food, I think a lot of Americans would be like ooh, there's hair in the food.
Like they would take back the the food the whole dish and make it again.
>> It's unhygienic, right?
It is not, absolutely not.
>> [laughter] >> I think Catholic people would react in a similar way and we would probably think when I was growing up I heard a lot about like don't make any noises when you're eating your food. Like don't do anything else like watching your phone or anything like that. Also where you put your elbows when you're eating your food is also important. Like lots of the etiquette and I don't know about other families but in my family I was told how to cut a steak. Like how to hold the knife right, the fork right, the spoon right, all of that.
>> For us I think it's kind of different.
If you eat in a restaurant then you require like the quality and the service and everything need to be clean. But if you eat street food maybe not that strict. We just uh we're having fun. If there's something there.
Yeah, it is not common but maybe we won't complain a lot about that.
>> I think if it's street food no one would complain. No one should complain. I mean what could you expect from that?
>> [laughter] >> Cuz it's cheaper right?
>> Yes.
>> So in Singapore street food is really common but we are very particular about cleanliness. So the authorities will come and shut down your store if anyone complains.
>> Ooh.
>> And there's also a thing about the Singapore. If you go travel there and like throw garbage on the ground you'll be like punished too right? If you get caught.
>> You get fined if you throw up rubbish on the floor, spit on the floor, chewing gums.
You can't You can't chew gums in Singapore but you can't litter right?
>> Yeah, but you can't spit it on the floor.
>> Yeah, I think it's like a bigger deal.
>> That's kind of obvious.
>> Yeah, I mean it should be everywhere right?
>> Yeah, but it's like a really strict in Singapore.
>> I don't think we have like that popular street food culture in Kyrgyzstan yet.
We have several shops but they're very clean and it's not like it's very popular. People must eat in the restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops so I think even in the restaurants and coffee shops if I see something like that people totally pissed off.
>> [laughter] >> They ask for compensation. They don't even like want to change the food. They just don't go there usually.
I think the matter of like the cancellation is really like strong. So, if you hear something like that, you post into social media and the place can just, yeah, easily get cancelled.
>> Same as in Korea probably, right?
>> Mhm.
>> I think street food culture is kind of like huge in Malaysia. Usually when there's no festival like along the like the highway or like in local areas, there will be like different stalls selling like burgers, like fried banana, sweet drinks or some snacks. Some people think that it's not too hygiene. Some people think that, oh, I just like the taste or I like just like the food and they will go for it. And it's and it's cheap. We call it night market.
Sometimes like there's like morning market as well. There's like different stalls selling different kind of food like Chinese food or like Malay food. If there's like Ramadan festival, which is the fasting time. So, like when people break during Ramadan time, they will all go there and like, you know, just go for every kind of food. Yeah.
>> Yeah, it depends on like how >> you think about the hygiene in the >> Korea also has street food culture.
>> Tteokbokki >> Uh >> Sundae and twigim. It's very famous.
>> Decades ago, Koreans were like that, but I think that these days Koreans take hygiene kind of important. So, it became much better.
>> Can I also say my my piece like from the Philippines? So, for the Philippines, we have this huge street food culture. It's very convenient and at the same time not everyone is wealthy in the Philippines.
So, it's much cheaper. And I just want to say that in terms of hygiene, think about this. Like we have this huge It's like a stick of fish [snorts] ball. You have to dip it in one jar like for one flavor. Like for vinegar, we have to dip it. And other people would do that, too.
>> Sauce bar.
>> The sauce bar. So, it's like you're sharing it. So, I don't think hygiene is, you know, something that we're concerned about. Yeah.
>> But if if you have already bad like a bait, can you like dip it again?
It's okay?
>> Yeah.
>> Oh my god.
>> Wow.
>> [laughter] >> That's why you see Chinese people doing this.
>> This?
>> Uh you can fold it. How to use chopsticks in a Chinese restaurant. You need to keep the cover.
Do this to get rid of the splints on here. That's why you see Chinese people doing this. Get it clean.
>> This?
>> Uh you can fold it.
>> Fold it again?
>> Fold like a little triangle.
>> Oh.
Oh.
>> [laughter] >> Chopsticks, one on the bottom and on the top. So this one on the bottom doesn't move. Just move the top. Look at that. Look at that. That's how I use it.
>> [music] >> What a teacher.
>> That's smart with the with the rubber band.
>> thing?
>> I never thought about the >> The triangle thing? I never thought that before.
>> You can just put it on the plate. It's It's more fast.
>> Yeah, but I think the chopstick thing maybe some parts people do that.
>> Is Chinese food like considered as fast food in the States?
>> Yeah, cuz it's different. It's different. Like there's there there is Chinese restaurants, but also what's really popular is American Chinese food, which is totally different.
>> Totally different.
>> have that. [laughter] >> Yeah. It's much more unhealthy.
Yeah, it's kind of like fast food cuz they cook a lot with the oil and then the sauces have a lot of like sugar in it.
>> And I heard that you need to have quite a bit of money to be able to order Chinese fast food delivery. They say like people like who has like more money, only they can afford that. Is that true or is actually on the cheaper side?
>> For the delivery?
>> Yeah, like >> Yeah, delivery in general is very expensive in the US. So and then you have to tip on top of that. Yeah, so it can add up a lot. So I think they unless you have a lot of money, people don't do delivery often. Yeah, because it's everything's so expensive in the US, especially now. Yeah, tipping also increased. Yeah, the percentage.
>> But eating inside the restaurant is not too expensive at all in that sense.
>> It's also >> [laughter] >> expensive. It's probably more expensive cuz you have to pay for the tip, right?
With the the waiter or waitress. So, it's Oh, US is expensive. Like really expensive. So, you just get a takeout.
>> Yeah. I think the tip would would be maybe a little less if you get takeout.
>> There's no tip with takeout.
>> Yeah. Back then when I lived in the States, it wasn't common. If you just get takeout, you don't tip. But nowadays, it's actually common you also tip if you pick up the takeout.
>> How many percent like >> Maybe takeout 15. But if you're in a restaurant, it's like 20. 15 is is not anymore.
>> [laughter] >> Not anymore.
>> Not anymore. No, no, no.
>> So, I assume like waitress waiter that gets paid quite a lot because of the tips.
>> But they barely get hourly pay. It'll be like a few dollars. So, all of their income is actually based on their tip mostly.
>> That's why some of the waiters get offended if you don't tip them well.
They're like, "Okay."
>> It's what? So rude if you don't tip.
>> It's like service for nothing.
>> Yeah.
>> But isn't it the restaurant's fault?
>> Yes.
>> Right?
>> Yeah.
>> Why is the customer accountable for that?
>> Exactly.
>> They should pay more like normal wage.
>> The restaurant is making money cuz they're paying less. Kind of controversial thing people have different opinions about tipping in the US.
>> But do waiters try harder to be for example more pleasant or polite for example to get tipped more? Probably.
>> Yeah. I think that's the gist of why there is a tipping culture, right?
>> Yeah. Sometimes it's like too much, you know? They're like, "Oh, how are you?
How is everything? Oh, do you want any Also, they try to make you buy a bit more sometimes, right? Because then they get a higher tip. It's like a salesperson in the restaurant.
>> Yeah, you should try the the dessert. So delicious. Yeah.
>> It's like they're your friend.
>> Yeah. They try. And usually you don't have to like call. They always come. And they always refill your water. If it's like just that much you drank, they're like, "Here you go."
"Here you go. How was everything?" I'm fine, girl.
>> [laughter] >> Bro, is that a Kit Kat? I'll swap you for a banana. Bro, like, are you even serious?
>> [snorts] >> Smells like bananas, too.
>> [laughter] >> Ew, is that a fish?
>> [laughter] >> BRO, CHOPSTICKS? What do you got next, a whole chicken?
They do have >> [laughter] >> Yo, my mom packed me like a ham and cheese. So good, like I wouldn't even trade it for that.
>> Bubble tea. Okay.
>> Yo, I'm not even like, you know.
>> Bubble tea.
>> I'm totally a coffee drinker now. I mean, it's a maturity thing. It's like, nothing like that.
>> I can [laughter] have a machine.
>> AVOCADO BREAD, did he get Bro, I'm not even mad. It's not even that fancy.
>> [laughter] >> cinnamon toast We have 15 minutes to lunch.
Okay.
My toast.
>> What a share.
>> [laughter] >> Wow.
>> Interesting.
>> I feel this a lot.
>> Maybe the difference is that in most Asian schools, school actually provide food.
>> Yeah, for us too. In Kazakhstan, we have a cafeteria, and we just go and eat there, or we can just buy some kind of like a bread or croissant or something like that. So, I don't remember myself packing a lunch. Never. Yeah.
>> We have to, because we have to have energy.
>> Yeah.
>> Like an entire healthy meal.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, with bread, like soup, everything.
>> There's also dessert, if you want to.
>> My mom would prepare a lot for my packed lunch, and at the same time, we also have cafeteria, so I also get money in case I get more hungry my second break time. Yeah.
>> Cuz I live together with some foreign friends together, too. And when I prepare for my lunch or dinner, I prepare a feast, cuz I do a lot. The main dish, like the dessert and the fruits, everything. So I think it's a kind of like a different in culture cuz we think the food is like really important. In China, there's a like a sentence like food is the most important thing in your life. The first thing come is food and then it's other things.
>> Yeah. You uh a lot of it is about like convenience and being quick. Pizza or sandwiches is yeah, sandwich is very quick to make. Spending time to prepare all that food is just like too much.
Yeah, a lot of parents are quite busy with working and stuff. And a lot of times the the mom will be working as well. So may not have a lot of time. So that's why like quick convenient food is best. US is expensive, so sometimes both parents have to work. I think that yeah, also reason why.
>> Filipinos, yeah.
Yeah.
So Rice is a very staple food in the Philippines and no meal is complete without a rice. And as a matter of fact, we eat rice with our hands and we eat the food. So regardless if your food is super good, super delicious, without rice, there's no life. We actually have uh rice chocolate porridge.
>> Ooh, chocolate porridge?
>> Yeah.
>> Sounds nice.
>> Yeah, it is good. It is good. So it's a sticky rice then cocoa, sugar and milk.
It is really good.
>> It is not dessert, it's meal.
>> It can be your breakfast. It can also be your dessert. It's called champorado.
>> Oh man, that was such a good meal, huh?
>> I'm so full.
>> Rachel.
Why did you do that?
Food.
Shoes.
>> What's wrong?
>> This is the shoe area?
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> It's dirty.
This is food.
>> It has a cover on it.
Even though there's cover >> In a container.
>> Yeah.
>> Oh.
>> Is that really a big deal?
>> I don't think it is.
>> No, no.
>> It's kind of like It doesn't matter.
>> It's just like 2 seconds. Whatever.
>> 5 seconds or it's still okay.
>> Yeah, but if it's in a container, yeah, yeah. Yeah, maybe it's okay. Also going with the stereotype that Americans they they also like have their shoes >> In the room.
>> in the room and stuff, right? Yeah, sometimes.
>> I mean, I grew up and you cannot place your food where the dirty area is because it's unhygienic. Like my mom would always say that that don't place your food nearby the toilet or something. They're very particular where we place our food because it's like a blessing for us. So, we should honor it and put it on table.
>> It's similar in Kazakhstan because we value bread so much because we feel like back in the history of Kazakhstan, we felt like bread was something that we had when we were going through famine and that's why we never place bread, for example, if we are lying down and we're going to go to sleep, we never place bread near our food or feet, yeah, for example. That's kind of the same thing and I think for my family specifically, I would say that in that case, my family would have like a chair next door where you can put your stuff, where you go to the supermarket. You go to the supermarket, you come back, you put your food up there and then you take off your shoes.
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> We have like a specific area for that.
>> I mean, I grew up with like that kind of like like education as well that you shouldn't like put the food down on the floor. Even there's container. Like for my logic, I feel like it doesn't make sense because there's still container, but like I grew up in the environment that like it shouldn't be like anywhere uh even with the container.
>> Only in the fridge. Yeah, it does feel strange, right? It does feel anticlimactic. Yeah. You shouldn't put it next to the treasure or anything.
Something like that. You would >> [laughter] >> So cute.
>> That's a lot of spice.
>> Spicy food.
>> I I've been living abroad for a while, so I adapted and I really like spicy food. But it's funny cuz when I go back to the States and I eat something and I don't think it's spicy at all. Other people would eat it, like my family, like, "Whoa, whoa, spicy." And I'm like, "I don't taste any spice." So it kind of depends. Like there's some Americans that do like really spicy food, like hot wings or something, right? Yeah, in general I think Americans are quite sensitive to spice.
>> Well, it depends on different parts of China. North part we're not too good at that, but the south part, especially Chongqing, they eat spicy a lot. They eat spicy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
>> Yeah, the hot pots.
>> Oh, so good though.
>> Yeah, they said that spicy keep you happy.
>> I think that Korean also really love spicy food. Kimchi jjigae everywhere is spicy. Have you guys heard of buldak bokkeum myeon? That one is too spicy.
Very spicy noodles.
>> Yeah, I think like I heard that Korean take takes pride in being able to eat like spicy food. So like the more you eat you're the more like there's kind of pride.
>> [laughter] >> I think when it comes to Kazakhstan, I feel like we're just in the middle. Like we could be, for example, related to Europe or America a little bit because we do have like a similar breakfast, I would say. But, at the same time, we would be related to Asian countries, too, in a way. But, I think we're just like in the golden middle. So, that's what I expected, and I think that's what it was.
>> Singapore is also somewhere in the middle. So, for breakfast, a lot of people eat toast, too. Except that our eggs are runny eggs. So, Americans, if they see our soft-boiled egg, they would say, "Oh, that is not cooked at all.
That is raw egg." But, in in Singapore, we have that culture, too. A lot of Singaporeans also can't eat spicy food.
So, we're really somewhere in the middle.
>> Yeah, I think also every country the cuisine is quite different in Asia, too.
But, yeah, there's definitely some big differences with America, the US, and also countries in Asia. Spicy or not, and then also how we eat with chopsticks or forks.
>> [laughter] >> How we cook the rice, too.
It's definitely different.
>> So, today we reacted to cultural differences between Asians and Americans.
>> If you like the video, please like, subscribe, and comment down the video.
>> See you next time.
>> Bye.
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