Rant: Family Style

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Please tell me if this has happened to you.  You’re at a Chinese restaurant with say, a group of six.  You’re going through the rituals of looking over the menu, discussing what your in the mood for, giving or receiving  recommendations based on past experience, or suggestion, or hearsay or whatever.  Then, out of nowhere, it hits you, the one-two combo you weren’t expecting.  “So, what are you gonna have?”.  Uhh, what?  What am *I* gonna have?  Then they follow up with , “I think I’ll get the Sichuan Beef”.  What?!  Your gonna eat a whole freaking platter of Sichuan Beef, like for yourself, just for you?  Suddenly your heart sinks, they don’t order family style.

Why people are so resistant to the idea family style, a laid back, inherently social, food forward way of sharing a meal, is beyond me.  It’s like a disorder that doesn’t discriminate.  I mean, I’ve eaten with folks who are food literate, are adept and comfortable using chopsticks (a skill not easily attained), who, in fact, are often too eager to share every single course when dinning out.  Somehow, when in a Chinese restaurant, they become guarded about ordering for the table.  I can see it in my mind, some freak with an oval platter of Sichuan Beef in front of them, eating the whole thing.  Do you not notice your eating off a serving platter?  Or do you just think the Chinese like to eat off of large oval plates.  Here’s a clue, there’s a gigantic serving spoon stuck in the side of it! 

 
If you are one of these people, I’m sorry but some remediation is in order.   Think of family style as creating a little buffet on your table.  This is not a foreign idea.  Imagine Thanksgiving.  Unless your family is incredibly priss, I don’t think you sit down to individually plated portions of turkey, mashers, stuffing, etc.  No, odds are there is the turkey, casseroles of every variety, mashed potatoes, gravy, all strewn about the table, each waiting to be plucked in the right order, to the specific amount, all at the discretion of the diner.  Sound familiar?  Surprise!  That’s family style.

 
When dinning at a Chinese restaurant, your table should look something like this:

Now that’s a friggin’ meal.  When plates are perched on the rims of other plates, you know your having a good time.

 
Let me say this, Chinese food, Asian dinning in general, is not the venue for the prim and the proper.  I mean have manners, but also have the mindset of a feast, and act accordingly.  What does that mean?  That means your focus should not be the food at the center of your plate.  Rather, it should be the plates at the center of the table.  You should enjoy surveying the spread, contemplating on what you are going to gorge yourself on next.  Spin that Lazy Susan dude! Consider your options.  Thinking about it is half the fun. Which brings up an important logistical tip.  Don’t feel like you need to crowd your plate with portions of every single thing on the table.  No one’s gonna come steal it, and if you run out, you haven’t ordered enough to begin with.  Take your time, pacing is key.  That said, if piling on is your preferred style, go for it.  Remember, it’s a feast.

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