Deal Breakers

[SheenaGreena]

Is slurping really polite? I think its just a way to eat noodles without burning yourself and a way of cooling down the noodles at the same time. I rarely see koreans slurping their soups (without noodles) and the ones who slurp tend to be older men. I NEVER see korean women doing this.

[Gastro888]

...I don't think it's an inappropriate way to eat noodle soups, one of the most difficult foods to eat using Western table manners. Actually though, I remember reading that there's a controversy in Japan because the traditional way to eat them is with loud slurps, but there is a movement to adopt Western quiet eating habits. I'm all in favor of Western imperialism here!

The Korean Americans on my floor slurp anything that has liquid--it sounds the same as if there were noodles. I understand that's acceptable or even polite in their culture, but I'm not required to like every aspect of their culture, and it would certainly be a deal breaker in a relationship.

...

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How in the world can you not "slurp" a bowl of noodle soup? Maybe you've been exposed to those who excessively slurp but under normal circumstances it's not all that loud.

If they adopt Western eating habits for eating noodle soups, I pray that the Asian habit of removing shoes before you enter a home spreads across the globe!

Edited March 2, 2007 by Gastro888 (log)

[eipi10]

Table manners are a huge deal with me. I can't handle smacking, finger sucking, fork biting, plate banging, and Asian slurping sounds. Certainly these habits would be deal breakers. Not liking ethnic foods would be a deal breaker. Liking crappy foods would be a deal breaker.

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Please explain what are "Asian slurping sounds"? Last I checked slurping sounds were darn near universal and not limited to just Asians.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPVOHNBhfTA

btw, i'm with you on the shoe thing ! who would want to wear shoes indoors?

Edited March 2, 2007 by eipi10 (log)

[Gastro888]

The same people who use chopsticks as drumsticks at the dinner table. DEAL BREAKER! BIG DEAL BREAKER!

[SheenaGreena]

geez, don't get me started on the shoes indoors thing......at least I got my irish boyfriend to wear "house shoes" inside the apartment.

he took a pair of campus adidas (that haven't been worn outside) and wrote the word "house" and "shoe", one on each, shoe...hilarious

back to slurping! how about slurping up hot noodles while wearing glasses?

[Gastro888]

How about cooking while wearing classes? It's just a pain!

[GTO]

Cooking while wearing glasses is worst when you're frying something. You think you've gotten away with it, then you take them off to find the lenses are COVERED with tiny drops of oil. It's always on the inside of the lens too, how does it get back there?

I hate it when people salt for saltings sake (Check that alliteration). As soon as food is served, before they even taste, they salt the hell out of it.

[Gastro888]

Salting without tasting is a bad habit. As is drowing a dish in soy sauce before you taste it. Gah, I hate it when my friend does that. I admonish her every time.

I swear, that whole scene in Joy Luck Club where the bf comes to dinner? Yeah, don't ever do that. That there will get your butt on someone's poop list for life.

[GTO]

remind me never to piss you off, Gastro. I don't fancy seeing myself on a "poop" list.

[Rebecca263]

Now, see, when I've dated a man who clearly enjoys his noodles and isn't afraid to make noises while he's doing so... well, it bodes well for the future. That's probably a good match for me, someone who can appreciate a good slurping. I's a good third of the fun on eating in a Pho house. I've always told my #1boy that noodles are sexier than sashimi, just because of the slurping that goes on! So, keep your chin up, slurpers. There's someone for everyone. Oh, and Sheena? He won't go shoeless? Dear, your Syrian/Italian Auntie is not thinking this bodes well. Shape that boy up!

[Restorer]

I wish I could demonstrate the noises made while slurping noodle soups. It's not just the slurping - especially not the polite, quiet slurping as one would do with some spaghetti (ala Lady and the Tramp). This is loud, multi-noodle, wet slurping, accompanied by seemingly exaggerated smacking of the lips and open-mouth chewing. See the noodle-eating lesson scene in Tampopo (just before the executive ordering scene).

There's also the habit of one of my roommates to, as I said, stand in the middle of a room and eat. Sometimes it's crunchy snack food, like chips. And usually, his mouth is open 75% of the time he spends chewing, putting chips in his mouth one by one, chewing and smacking, and only stopping to swallow every 5 or 6 chips. When the middle of the room is right over your shoulder, this can get extremely grating.

Maybe I'm especially sensitive to these noises, but I think how you eat should depend on the culture you're surrounded by, not the culture you grew up in. Maybe I'm in the minority in the situation, though, as my Asian roommates outnumber me 3-to-1.

[ChefCrash]

You'd need a mighty sharp knife to accomplish this, Fabby!

That would surely resolve Zeno's dichotomy paradox, but what Faby proposes opens a whole new can of worms. :

Edited March 4, 2007 by ChefCrash (log)

[SheenaGreena]

I wish I could demonstrate the noises made while slurping noodle soups. It's not just the slurping - especially not the polite, quiet slurping as one would do with some spaghetti (ala Lady and the Tramp). This is loud, multi-noodle, wet slurping, accompanied by seemingly exaggerated smacking of the lips and open-mouth chewing. See the noodle-eating lesson scene in Tampopo (just before the executive ordering scene).

that's because it's hot!!!!!!! ahahah, you can't slurp up noodles without being noisy, unless you are slurping up cold noodles like soba. I would never eat soba noodles loudly....spicy ramen on the other hand.....

rebecca, at least he wears "indoor only" shoes. I wear house slippers and he wears house shoes. We both take our outdoor shoes off before we come into the apartment. Yes I have tons of shoes outside in the hallway There is just something about walking around in a public restroom and dragging those same shoes into your house that just irks me...ugh

[GTO]

I love those people who try and flick noodles up into their mouths by keeping close to the bowl and moving their head back and forth like a chicken, flicking them in.

[Restorer]

I wish I could demonstrate the noises made while slurping noodle soups. It's not just the slurping - especially not the polite, quiet slurping as one would do with some spaghetti (ala Lady and the Tramp). This is loud, multi-noodle, wet slurping, accompanied by seemingly exaggerated smacking of the lips and open-mouth chewing. See the noodle-eating lesson scene in Tampopo (just before the executive ordering scene).

that's because it's hot!!!!!!! ahahah, you can't slurp up noodles without being noisy, unless you are slurping up cold noodles like soba. I would never eat soba noodles loudly....spicy ramen on the other hand.....

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I think this goes hand in hand with the tendency of the same sort of people to eat very quickly - the type of people that can eat a bowl of noodles in 5 minutes. I've always been a slow eater. I let my food cool down to a temperature that won't burn my mouth before I try to eat it, and when it's still too hot I blow on it before it makes it into my mouth. I can't imagine eating as fast as some people do.

It's quite possible to eat a bowl of noodle soup quietly.

[Gastro888]

Seriously, it's not possible to eat a bowl of noodle soup quietly. Unless you're gonna eat it strand by strand and take an hour eating it, it's just not possible.