How to Eat Chinese Food

Traditionally, Chinese meals always consist of a soup, a rice, noodle or bread dish, a vegetable dish and at least two other dishes, which may be mainly meat, fish or chicken. The meal may be preceded and concluded with tea, but during the meal itself, soup - really a broth - will be the only beverage. That is, soup is drunk, not as a first course as in the West, but throughout the meal.

The exception to this is at a banquet when soup, if it is served at all, comes at the end of the meal or as a palate-cleanser at several points during the dinner. On such occasions, wine, spirits, beer or even fruit juice will be drunk with the food. At banquets (which are really elaborate dinner parties), dishes are served one at a time so that the individual qualities of each dish can be properly savoured. There may be as many as eight to twelve courses. Rice will not be served except at the end of the meal when fried rice might be offered to anyone who has any appetite left.