At the anniversary dinner on Sunday night, I was reminded of a phenomenon that I have only really come to notice as I have dined out in Chinese restaurants.
There are two kinds of people - Jup-wasters, and Jup-savers.
For those who do not understand my romanised Cantonese, or who have no idea what Jup is, prepare to be enlightened.
Jup is the sauce from a dish (usually of the oriental variety, though gravy on the Sunday Roast would also be classified as Jup - to me anyways. It's white-folk's Jup... Or Gwai Loh Jup if you prefer).
Now that we have that cleared up, please let me explain. When dining out in a Chinese restaurant, one is usually provided with a bowl, chopsticks, a Chinese tea cup, and a plate. This is the bare minimum. The essentials. But there are little additions along the way as well (the more there are, the 'classier' the restaurant - if you could call a Chinese restaurant classy - kind of an oxymoron in most cases). These could include any of the following: a soup spoon, a paper sleeve for the chopsticks, a serviette, or a reusable serviette that has been folded into the shape of a fan or a swan, a sauce dish, wine glass, a paper place mat (now we're talking true classiness right there), a little thingo to rest your chopsticks on when you are not using them so the table cloth or paper place mat does not get stains on them from your chopsticks.
I digress.
So you gay-tow (pray in my Romanised canto again), you get your rice, and then you start getting some food (some 'soong' heheh my Canto is so bad I just have to laugh).
Where do you place your food?
A. On the plate
B. In the bowl (on top of the rice)
C. Eat it straight up
If you answered A., then you my dear reader, are a Jup-waster. If you answered B., then you, my like-minded and totally cool reader, are a Jup-saver. And if you answered C., you have no manners and would probably be shunned by your Asian relatives - however, if you are non-Asian, all power to you because you don't have to worry about shaming your family and losing face.
It is a simple test and I think it reveals a lot about one's character. Jup-savers are awesome. Jup-wasters are not. Period.
If you are a Jup-waster, don't be alarmed, you CAN change. Just resist the urge to waste precious Jup, and put your food in it's rightful place - on top of the rice. You will not only give your rice the precious flavour it deserves (and, let's face it, NEEDS), you can also utilise your plate for it's rightful purpose: storage for the wastage - bones, phalanx and cartilage from the chicken feet (if you're at yum cha), or shells from your crustaceans, unfried prawn cracker bits, paper sleeve from your chopsticks, patty pan from the Dan-tart, leaf from the lo-mai-gai.
Please people, be good stewards of your Jup.
There are two kinds of people - Jup-wasters, and Jup-savers.
For those who do not understand my romanised Cantonese, or who have no idea what Jup is, prepare to be enlightened.
Jup is the sauce from a dish (usually of the oriental variety, though gravy on the Sunday Roast would also be classified as Jup - to me anyways. It's white-folk's Jup... Or Gwai Loh Jup if you prefer).
Now that we have that cleared up, please let me explain. When dining out in a Chinese restaurant, one is usually provided with a bowl, chopsticks, a Chinese tea cup, and a plate. This is the bare minimum. The essentials. But there are little additions along the way as well (the more there are, the 'classier' the restaurant - if you could call a Chinese restaurant classy - kind of an oxymoron in most cases). These could include any of the following: a soup spoon, a paper sleeve for the chopsticks, a serviette, or a reusable serviette that has been folded into the shape of a fan or a swan, a sauce dish, wine glass, a paper place mat (now we're talking true classiness right there), a little thingo to rest your chopsticks on when you are not using them so the table cloth or paper place mat does not get stains on them from your chopsticks.
I digress.
So you gay-tow (pray in my Romanised canto again), you get your rice, and then you start getting some food (some 'soong' heheh my Canto is so bad I just have to laugh).
Where do you place your food?
A. On the plate
B. In the bowl (on top of the rice)
C. Eat it straight up
If you answered A., then you my dear reader, are a Jup-waster. If you answered B., then you, my like-minded and totally cool reader, are a Jup-saver. And if you answered C., you have no manners and would probably be shunned by your Asian relatives - however, if you are non-Asian, all power to you because you don't have to worry about shaming your family and losing face.
It is a simple test and I think it reveals a lot about one's character. Jup-savers are awesome. Jup-wasters are not. Period.
If you are a Jup-waster, don't be alarmed, you CAN change. Just resist the urge to waste precious Jup, and put your food in it's rightful place - on top of the rice. You will not only give your rice the precious flavour it deserves (and, let's face it, NEEDS), you can also utilise your plate for it's rightful purpose: storage for the wastage - bones, phalanx and cartilage from the chicken feet (if you're at yum cha), or shells from your crustaceans, unfried prawn cracker bits, paper sleeve from your chopsticks, patty pan from the Dan-tart, leaf from the lo-mai-gai.
Please people, be good stewards of your Jup.
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