Not only has there been modifications to Chinese foods, there have also been modifications to the food culture of Chinese cuisine through the functions of dinner. Chinese eating culture transformed from family-style dinner to individual-style dinner and overall eating.
Family Style Dinner
Traditionally, dining serves as a social gathering for family. It is a sacred time where grandparents, kids, parents, and other relatives share a meal to catch up with each other.
During a family-styled dinner at home, Chinese families sit around a dinner table consisting of many different dishes in the middle. Each person has a bowl of rice and a plate where they can choose from the selection of dishes from the center of the table to enjoy.
At a restaurant, traditional dinner parallels “family style” dinner in the home. Dinner dishes are placed in the middle on a raised spinning platform in the middle of the table, that allows the dishes of food to be circulated and accessed easily. The dishes sold at traditional restaurants are usually not served over rice. This style of eating is most preferred during big family events such as birthdays, weddings, and holidays.
This picture is an example of family style dinner, where many dishes are placed in the center for all to enjoy. Taken from: http://www.yumsugar.com/Family-Style-Dining-Love-Hate-6669388
Individual Style Dinner
Like Americans, younger generation Chinese prefers individual style dinner, where each . One of the many reasons for this comes from the circumstances of new immigrant families in America; working immigrant parents aren’t able to join their family at dinner, leading the younger Asian American generation to dine out and thus order individual dishes that come with rice or noodles.
The Americanized Chinese dishes at restaurants, are served “over rice” or “with noodles.” This discourages sharing from consumers and encourages eating as a practical function over social bonding.
