So, what do poor folk eat in Japan, and what can be done with rice?

[steel]

So, it seems to be acceptable table manners in China - and I've had friends who've done it in Japan. However I would not recommend it. The looks you'll get by pouring soy sauce over your white rice in Japan will be similar to if you had picked up your soup plate with both hands in a French or Italian restaurant and licked it clean.

[WingsToDiscovery]

This whole topic makes me kind of sad. The fact that something as simple as putting a condiment on rice can turn into such a big deal.

This is the land of corn on pizza, and the like. Now, some of the elitists may say that "I just don't understand," or whatever, but I'd like to think we're all intelligent enough to look at it from an objective standpoint.

Corn and pizza are foods that have absolutely no relationship to each other (they come from different parts of the world, but if you're arguing that it's American pizza then that's just being petty), and corn is a side dish by today's standards that is a standalone food but complements meals as a filler.
Soy sauce, on the other hand, is a condiment that is meant to be poured on food/dip food in. So to treat it like it's outlandish when one puts it on the staple of the nation just blows my mind.

I think it was Steel who brought up the point about his black friend eating mustard sandwiches due to being poor. If I were a father in America and I had a son or daughter and she saw a poor person eating a mustard sandwich and requested I make her one, I wouldn't go "Now, now, sweety, that's only something poor blacks do..." as you guys make it seem is the social stigma for the Chinese as a correlation. I either tell her that there are more options for our sandwiches, or I'd let her try it and see if she liked it. If she didn't, no harm no foul. If she did, I wouldn't feed it to her every day but I wouldn't smack one out of her hands as you guys make it seem a Japanese mother would do to her child with a bottle of soy sauce, attempting to put it on rice.

And then of course the fact if it's just white rice and soy sauce, it's gruel. But if there's an egg in it, it's okay, for whatever reason. I could like see a SWAT team barging into a house and being like "Oh sh!t, there's the target! Get ready on my mark! Wait, wait! There seems to be an egg in it! It's okay! Phew, for a second there I thought it might have been the Chinese and their silly rice and soy sauce again!'

[AlfieA]

Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery

This whole topic makes me kind of sad. The fact that something as simple as putting a condiment on rice can turn into such a big deal.

This is the land of corn on pizza, and the like. Now, some of the elitists may say that "I just don't understand," or whatever, but I'd like to think we're all intelligent enough to look at it from an objective standpoint.

Corn and pizza are foods that have absolutely no relationship to each other (they come from different parts of the world, but if you're arguing that it's American pizza then that's just being petty), and corn is a side dish by today's standards that is a standalone food but complements meals as a filler.
Soy sauce, on the other hand, is a condiment that is meant to be poured on food/dip food in. So to treat it like it's outlandish when one puts it on the staple of the nation just blows my mind.

I think it was Steel who brought up the point about his black friend eating mustard sandwiches due to being poor. If I were a father in America and I had a son or daughter and she saw a poor person eating a mustard sandwich and requested I make her one, I wouldn't go "Now, now, sweety, that's only something poor blacks do..." as you guys make it seem is the social stigma for the Chinese as a correlation. I either tell her that there are more options for our sandwiches, or I'd let her try it and see if she liked it. If she didn't, no harm no foul. If she did, I wouldn't feed it to her every day but I wouldn't smack one out of her hands as you guys make it seem a Japanese mother would do to her child with a bottle of soy sauce, attempting to put it on rice.

And then of course the fact if it's just white rice and soy sauce, it's gruel. But if there's an egg in it, it's okay, for whatever reason. I could like see a SWAT team barging into a house and being like "Oh sh!t, there's the target! Get ready on my mark! Wait, wait! There seems to be an egg in it! It's okay! Phew, for a second there I thought it might have been the Chinese and their silly rice and soy sauce again!'

Well soya sauce and rice is quite common in Chinese food. Hardly something that's correlated with poverty. So common that it's commonly served with the soya sauce already in it, not something you put in yourself afterwards. Although it certainly helps, if one cannot afford meat or even vegetables.

[WingsToDiscovery]

Originally Posted by AlfieA

Well soya sauce and rice is quite common in Chinese food. Hardly something that's correlated with poverty. So common that it's commonly served with the soya sauce already in it, not something you put in yourself afterwards. Although it certainly helps, if one cannot afford meat or even vegetables.

Another user expressed that that's a Japanese mentality. That "it's something the Chinese would do," meaning (from the Japanese standpoint), it's something the poor would do.

[steven]

We've had this argument on here before. People seem to speak on behalf of all Japanese and say "that never happens" or "NOBODY" does that-- including Japanese themselves. However, if you ask around enough you'll find plenty of people who do it. I suspect that there are people who don't really want to admit it though. I don't think it's something many people consciously make a meal out of-- it's probably like something that happens after eating some sashimi; why trash decent sashimi/sushi soy sauce? I think that's what happens a lot of the time.

It's funny though, because it's seen as worse than squeezing a giant gloop of mayonaise in your rise. Or how about all the kechup that is used in omurice? (Which I admittedly like). I personally don't really like a lot of soy sauce on rice (even too much with sushi gets gross). However, I think furikake is also too... salty or just thick tasting. It's a waste to use it if you've got good rice (of course that's in my experience, I'm sure there are some great furikake's out there).

I think the point is that you could complement your rice with a whole lot of other things than soy sauce. Like tsukemono or something like that. That's kind of the idea I got during the last time this argument arose on here.

[steel]

I think some people are reading too much into some of the comments...

Pouring soy sauce on rice ... in Japan:

Yes - it probably tastes good. And, for many it might be a guilty sin that one allows young children to do at home or alone in the privacy of their own home. However, it is perceived as poor manners and 'low class' so it's not something any reasonably sane Japanese would do in public. Like licking the butter knife or something similar back home -- eg. something that tastes or feels good but you just would not do in public.

If you're still scratching your head and screaming but "that does not make sense!" - table manners and protocol aren't necessarily supposed to. In Japan, you hold the rice bowl positioned on the top of your left palm; in Korea, picking up the rice bowl would be considered rude. Same goes for bowls and small plates in Japan - holding picking them up is okay, but again, not in Korea. Abiding by Japanese table manners in Japan does not make you bigoted against Koreans - no more than not refraining from pouring soy sauce over your white rice would imply you're bigoted against Chinese. Just don't expect people to be understanding.

Back to the original question .. what do poor folk eat in Japan and what can be done with rice? Another dish is called 猫飯 (neko meshi) which is not 'cat food' but rather rice mixed directly into a bowl of miso shiru. My bet is that this is a dish that a lot more Japanese will confess to having at home by themselves (versus pouring shoyu over rice) but would stress never in public.

Another thing that some college students with a rice cooker but otherwise limited cooking skills might do is to buy tinned goods like tuna, mackerel or anchovies and deposit the whole contents over the rice like a donburi.

[MissMisa]

I personally just think it sounds gross. I use soya sauce for cooking and that's it, the taste alone, let alone POURED on something is just disgusting in my view. It's taste is strong and salty, I don't know why you'd want the pure taste of the sauce on anything.

Ew. xD

[steven]

I know what you mean MissMisa, but there are a lot of dishes that are like that. Omurice is one of them in my opinion. I'm sure there are a ton of others. Speaking of soy sauce- have you ever heard of "black ramen"?

By the way, steel that was a good way of putting it.

I've heard of "猫飯" before-- I feel like it has a different name around here but I don't remember for sure. To be honest, that's kind of like something my wife's family would feed their dog though (not to be rude... it's just how they roll. I guess it's healthier than ramen/rice, which the dog is also sometimes subjected to).

[steven]

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