{"id":2278,"date":"2016-02-07T15:00:54","date_gmt":"2016-02-07T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/?p=2278"},"modified":"2021-07-01T10:19:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T02:19:33","slug":"use-your-hands-traditional-filipino-way-of-eating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2016\/02\/07\/use-your-hands-traditional-filipino-way-of-eating\/","title":{"rendered":"Use Your Hands: Traditional Filipino Way of Eating"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eating using your hands is generally frowned upon. Western cultures see it as being unhygienic, barbaric, and taboo. However, in certain Asian countries it\u2019s a perfectly normal way of eating your food. This is especially true in the Philippines.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kamayan<\/em>, or the act of eating food with your hands, is not only a practical way of eating your food (as it eliminates the need to clean spoons and forks), but also a good way of bonding with the locals. It breaks social boundaries, and is seen by most Filipinos as a better way of enjoying your food.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also good for enjoying anything that\u2019s fried, broiled, grilled, or barbecued. Soups and stews are a challenge, but not impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

“KAMAYAN”.\u00a0Eating with your hands is seen by some Filipinos as the best way to enjoy your food.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the uninitiated and the hesitant eater, here\u2019s a simple guide to eating with your hands:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Gather up the rice in a small mound<\/em>. Using whichever hand you use to hold a spoon, gather up the rice into a small mound. Use your fingers to do this. (Optional) Put a bite-size portion of whatever your viand is underneath the rice.<\/p>\n

2. Squeeze in, then press down. <\/em>Using the same hand you used in step 1, squeeze your fingers together and press down on the mound of rice you\u2019ve gathered. This makes it easier for you to do the next step.<\/p>\n

3. Lift and push.<\/em> Lift your hand as soon as you\u2019ve pressed down on the rice mound and bring it to your mouth. All that\u2019s left is for you to open your mouth and push the food in with your thumb.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just follow these steps and hey, presto! You can now eat with your hands! But it doesn\u2019t end there. Make sure you keep these things in mind when you eat with your hands:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Wash your hands thoroughly<\/em>. It\u2019s rather obvious, but since you will be using your hands, it\u2019s best to wash them thoroughly. It\u2019s customary for Filipinos to have a basin or pail of water close to or on the table if they plan on eating using their hands, so you don\u2019t need to excuse yourself and go to the toilet beforehand. Don\u2019t forget to do it after eating as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Never use your palms. <\/em>It\u2019s not practical, since you won\u2019t be able to do much with your palms. You\u2019ll also look like you haven\u2019t eaten in days if you use your palms when you get your serving of rice and eat it off of your palm.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 You don\u2019t need both hands to eat. <\/em>Your off-hand is normally used for holding your plate, bowl of soup, or glass of water. Trying to eat with both hands will only complicate things, so don\u2019t even try it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eating using your hands is generally frowned upon. Western cultures see it as being unhygienic, barbaric, and taboo. However, in certain Asian countries it\u2019s a perfectly normal way of eating your food. This is especially true in the Philippines. Kamayan, or the act of eating food with your hands, is not only a practical way of eating your food (as it eliminates the need to clean spoons and forks), but also a good way of bonding with the locals. It breaks social boundaries, and is seen by most Filipinos as a better way of enjoying your food. It\u2019s also good for enjoying anything that\u2019s fried, broiled, grilled, or barbecued. Soups […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1730,1729],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-history","category-everyday-life-hacks"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2278"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9251,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2278\/revisions\/9251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}