‘Use a spoon’: Malaysians mock British etiquette expert for eating rice with fork and knife
Published on: Friday, March 25, 2022
By: Malay Mail
.jpg "‘Use a spoon’: Malaysians mock British etiquette expert for eating rice with fork and knife")
Asians gave Lucy Challenger, who has since deleted the video, lessons on how rice is eaten across the region. ― Screengrab from Twitter Asians gave Lucy Challenger, who has since deleted the video, lessons on how rice is eaten across the region. (Screengrab: Twitter via Malay Mail)
PETALING JAYA: A British etiquette expert was schooled by Malaysians and other social media users from Asia for eating rice using a fork and knife.
TikToker Lucy Challenger was teaching followers how to eat rice in a formal setting and cautioned people to not “shovel the food”.
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“In formal Western dining, what we aim to do is push the rice onto the top of the fork,” she said.
“Simply place the fork into the food, push the rice on top of the fork, and then neatly place it into your mouth.”
The London-based etiquette expert who has 265,500 TikTok followers explained that this method makes it easier to eat the beloved Asian staple food.
As rice experts, Asians of course, vehemently objected.
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The video was removed following backlash from the Asian community online but the clip has since been reposted on social media.
Searing comments ensued by those of Asian background who mocked Challenger for her lack of cultural knowledge when it comes to how rice is eaten across Asia.
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“A spoon is created for that reason,” one person replied.
“Wait, if you aren’t allowed to scoop, how do you eat rice?” a second person asked.
“Westerners trying to teach Easterners how to eat our food,” added a third.
“How to offend Asians,” a Thai user said.
Others tagged comedian Uncle Roger who is known for lambasting Western cooks and chefs for their unorthodox ways of cooking rice.
“Uncle Roger would be very upset if he sees this .... haiyaaaa,” a Facebook user commented, using the comedian’s signature expression.
Singaporean stand-up comedian and television personality Fakkah Fuzz also chimed in to set the record straight.
“In Malay formal setting it is a bit different where we eat rice with a knife and fork.
“First we put the fork down and we stab ourselves in the neck before we eat rice like that,” the comedian said, before tucking into his meal using his hand.
When served using Western cutlery in Asia, rice is commonly eaten with a spoon and fork where the latter is used to push the rice onto the spoon.
In traditional settings, rice is eaten using chopsticks or with hands depending on which part of Asia one comes from.
While many felt Challenger should use the spoon that was above her plate, dessert forks and spoons are typically placed in this position in a Western table setting.
On Facebook, the clip was viewed 25,000 times with more than 1,000 comments.
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