What countries eat rice with their fingers?
Eating with your hands is the norm in some countries of Southeast Asia like Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. It might seem strange for westerners who are used to using utensils, but usually once a visitor tries “hand eating” they really enjoy it and say that the food tastes better!
Rice is a staple in India and in many regions, people prefer using their hands for a rice meal. In fact, many old-timers may even suggest that food eaten with hands tastes better.
Traditionally, the fingers are also used to feel the temperature of the food to one's taste and to combine flavors. When eating rice, it is mixed with curry, picking up small quantities with the fingers and pushing it into the mouth with the thumb.
Culture Practice
For many Arabs using their hand to eat is considered a cultural aspect. It expresses the way of how people back in the day used to eat when utensils were not a thing. Nowadays, not all Arabs eat with their hands. It is mostly practiced on certain occasions to embrace the tradition.
- Eating With Your Hands Helps Increase Blood Circulation.
- Stimulates Digestion. ...
- Believed To Help Lose Weight. ...
- May Help Prevent Type-2 Diabetes. ...
- Helps Manage Food Portions.
Arabs share their food from a communal plate and do not touch the feast with their left hand. Use the thumb, index finger and middle finger to pull out pieces of meat to roll with the rice, and push the rice balls into your mouth.
You can measure the right depth by gently placing the tip of your pointer finger on top of the rice and measuring from there (see photo below). The water level should be at your first knuckle when the tip of your finger touches the rice.
The practice of eating with the hands originated within Ayurvedic teachings. The Vedic people believed that our bodies are in sync with the elements of nature and our hands hold a certain power. Ayurvedic texts teach that each finger is an extension of one of the five elements: Through the thumb comes space.
Add enough water to just cover the rice; shimmy the pot gently to level things out. Dip the tip of your fingers straight down into the pot until they just touch the the rice, and add more water until it reaches the first joint of your middle finger.
Punjabi families use a hybrid style of South Asian and European utensil etiquette most of the times. The bread is eaten with the hands. Rice and desserts are eaten with spoons.
Do Japanese eat rice with hands?
Eating with hand is rude, depending on the food. For example, Bread is OK, Fries is OK, Rice is NO, Curry is NO.
Eating With Your Hands
If you've never been to an Indian restaurant, this concept may seem foreign. After all, we are used to having utensils of some sort to work with. However, in India it is normal to eat with your hands. It is not considered rude, and you should not be concerned that people will look at you funny.
The left hand is considered to be unclean in India, as it's used to perform matters associated with going to the bathroom. Therefore, you should avoid your left hand coming into contact with food or any objects that you pass to people.
The practice of eating with one's hands, specifically your fingers, originated within Ayurvedic teachings, where it is believed that our bodies are in sync with the five elements of nature and each finger is an extension of one of these five elements.
While cutlery is foundational to Western dining, eating with one's hands is the norm across much of the world, including large swaths of the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and South America.
The tradition of eating food with the hands is called kamayan meaning “with hands.” Kamayan is an ancient tradition in many areas of the Middle East because there is belief that eating with the hands rather than utensils has its benefits.
It is beneficial for health and for various body parts such as the mouth, throat, and intestine, and it promotes healthy digestion in the gut. Handling food with your fingers releases digestive juices and enzymes.
As many as one-third of people eat the majority of meals with their hands today. Most are in and around India, but many are in the Middle East, Africa, McDonald's and Chipotle, too.
Hand-to-mouth eating etiquette doesn't differ much from Africa and India in the Middle East. It's all the usual to-dos (use your right hand only, scoop food with your fingers and wash your hands thoroughly before and after your meal).
In most Pakistani households, food is eaten with the hands, but when cutlery is provided on the table, they should be used with the right hand.
What foods do Arabs not eat?
Forbidden food substances include alcohol, pork, carrion, the meat of carnivores and animals that died due to illness, injury, stunning, poisoning, or slaughtering not in the name of God.
Pushing your food with your fingers is akin to licking your fingers or chewing with your mouth open and, in many situations, you will be judged on the basis of that behaviour. Good etiquette is based on the circ*mstance and using your hands to eat is acceptable in many cultures and in some casual dining situations.
Kamayan, or the act of eating food with your hands, is not only a practical way of eating your food (as it eliminates the need to clean spoons and forks), but also a good way of bonding with the locals. It breaks social boundaries, and is seen by most Filipinos as a better way of enjoying your food.
In many parts of the world, the left hand is considered unclean, usually because it's used for “ablutions”. If you're left-handed and visiting places like India, Nepal and the Middle East, you may have to pretend to be ambidextrous – it's incredibly rude to eat, pick anything up or hand over money with your left.
- Rinse rice in a fine-mesh sieve until water is almost clear. Drain well and transfer to a 3-quart heavy saucepan. Add water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. ...
- Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Gently fold rice from top to bottom with a rubber spatula before serving. Cooks'note:
“Koreans, Japanese and Chinese do not add salt to plain rice when cooking it. The raw rice needs to be agitated (swirled around using a clean hand) while running cold water over it, stopping the water then draining it -- as many times as this takes for the water in the pot to look crystal clear.
Why You Should Always Wash Rice. The reason for washing rice (or any food, for that matter) is cleanliness. Rinsing rice removes dirt, dust, debris, chemicals, and bugs—in short, you're getting rid of the types of things you probably don't want to eat in your finished rice dish.
Using Your Hands
Firstly, you should only eat with your right hand. It is fine to break bread with both hands, but you should exclusively use your right hand to bring food and drink to your mouth. Secondly, it is considered polite to use only the thumb, index finger and middle finger to pick up food.
Meeting and Greeting
Westerners may shake hands, however, greeting with 'namaste' (na-mas-TAY) (placing both hands together with a slight bow) is appreciated and shows respect for Indian customs. Men shake hands with men when meeting or leaving. Men do not touch women when meeting or greeting.
Pakistanis will often use their hands to eat rather than cutlery. However, it is considered bad etiquette to pass, serve or spoon food to one's mouth with the left hand. It should be used to hold the plate or assist the right hand in serving food. Pakistanis often offer their guests additional helpings of food.
Do Thai eat with hands?
In the past, Thai food was usually eaten directly by hand. Today, Thais use a fork and a spoon. Chopsticks are used mostly for Chinese dishes (like noodle soups).
It's considered bad manners to leave even grains of rice behind, so be sure to clean your plate! If there are some foods you cannot eat, ask to have them left out of the dish. Do use the opposite end of chopsticks to pick up food from a shared dish.
She also emphasised that during formal settings, one shouldn't scoop or “shovel” the rice straight into the mouth. Instead, you need to push the rice grains onto the top of your fork with a knife, then “neatly place it” into your mouth.
Never touch anything with your feet, and don't point the bottom of your feet at religious altars or toward people. To avoid this, sit cross-legged or kneel on the floor while in a temple or holy place. If you must extend your legs, point them away from sacred icons. Never turn your backside to a religious statue.
Mexicans may eat certain traditional foods with their hands instead of utensils. For example, it is common to use tortillas to scoop food. Western Mexican food often uses hard-shell tacos.
Unlike Westerners, Indians use their hands and water to clean their bottoms. First, they touch the excreta with their fingers and then they clean those fingers subsequently. At one level, this highlights the particular emphasis that the Indian psyche gives to the removal of impure substances from the body.
In India, people—especially when they are your elders, relatives, or close friends—tend to feel that by thanking them, you are violating your intimacy with them and creating formality and distance that shouldn't exist. They may think that you are closing off the possibility of relying on each other in the future.
This is mainly due to the fact that walking ensures proper supply of oxygen and nutrients to the heart which in turn causes better blood circulation.
At a traditional Arab dining setting, one should eat with their right hand only, and there is no room for utensils at the dining setting.
All of India's most widely practiced religions have dietary laws and traditions. For example, Hindu texts often praise vegetarianism, and Hindus may also avoid eating beef because cows are traditionally viewed as sacred. Muslim teachings, meanwhile, prohibit pork.
Do Iranians eat with their hands?
Most tables are set with a spoon and fork though (no knives) — if you don't feel comfortable using your hands, don't be embarrassed to use the utensils. Iranians like to shower guests with abundance, so there is often more food than can be eaten.
Eating and the right-hand rule
Rule one is: eat with your right hand only. In India, as right across Asia, the left hand is for wiping your bottom, cleaning your feet and other unsavoury functions (you also put on and take off your shoes with your left hand), while the right hand is for eating, shaking hands and so on.
While most Filipinos today eat using a spoon and fork, the traditional way of eating is kamayan, or “with hands.” Kamayan was the customary way of eating in the Philippines prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, and although utensils are more accessible and common now, Pinoys often eat this old school way ...
Hand-to-mouth eating is also an important tradition in Muslim countries, where families and friends gather around tables laden with communal dishes. Many Muslims follow eating habits that were practiced and preached by the Prophet Mohammed, which include eating with the right hand and sharing food with others.
Fufu should be eaten with your hands and used to scoop up soup or stew. Pull a piece from the loaf with your right hand and hold it between your fingers, pressing slightly with your thumb to make a dent, so it will hold more food.
Using Your Hands
Firstly, you should only eat with your right hand. It is fine to break bread with both hands, but you should exclusively use your right hand to bring food and drink to your mouth. Secondly, it is considered polite to use only the thumb, index finger and middle finger to pick up food.
It's traditional
It is a traditional practice in India to use our fingertips while eating. While it takes time to master the art of bringing food to your mouth with just your fingers, the ritual has its own goodness.
Measuring water with your hands – Traditionally, Koreans measured rice water with their hands instead of cups. Most will say that the water level should come up close to your knuckles but in my experience, I find it's about 1/2 way up from your fingertips up to your knuckles – as in the picture.
For rice measurement, we use a traditional Japanese measure called go or rice cup. A level cup of this measuring cup is 1 rice cup. 1 rice cup equals approximately ¾ US cup or 180 ml.
