We thank “That Guy” for this very true asian observation.
Asian people are generally regarded as technologically advanced, and that is true. However, there is one machine an asian will never use: The dishwasher.
Asians simply don’t trust machines to do their dishes for them. Asians are very prideful in their work, and need to be assured that their dishes are indeed clean. Who better to assure asians than themselves? If an asian knows that a dish is machine-washed, they will question its integrity. They will stare at it with contempt. They will most likely take it to the restroom to rinse it off. It is only when an asian and only an asian does the dishes by hand that it can be considered clean.
Think about it: Can a machine really pick up all that grime and cholesterol from those delightful but ever so greasy asian meals? Asians take off their shoes for the same reason they wash their own dishes. It’s the cleaner and more obvious thing to do.
Here’s another point of view: Perhaps it is a perceived waste of money; as it takes up power, water, and time. This is absolutely true. Asians are very thrifty by nature, and would not ever think about having a machine do something that they could do themselves for a cheaper and more efficient price. Asians shop at asian supermarkets in order to save money on items that would otherwise cost them way more at, let’s say, Trader Joe’s. The extra power, water, and soap consumption that is associated with a dishwasher is also immense.
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A dishwasher goes through multiple cycles in order to get plates clean. Handwashing takes only the time it takes to lather and rinse. “A dishwasher uses 512 kilowatts of electricity per year, producing 840 lbs. of carbon dioxide. Hand washing produces nothing (well, other than when the person washing the dishes exhales …). Compared to the lather and rinse method, that’s a lot of water and energy consumed. According to ecostreet, an average person can save up over 11,000 liters of water a year by hand-washing dishes. To put that into perspective, an average sink holds 20 liters of water. That’s over 550 sinks-worth of water going to waste every year! Asians not only know what’s best for their own health, but also the environment.
It is very safe to say that in most Asian households, the closest use of the dishwasher is perhaps to store extra dishes after they have been cleaned. However, in most cases, the dishes are left to air-dry on racks conveniently located on the kitchen counter. This way, children, the elderly, and even pets can get their own dishes whenever they want. This allows them to become independent leaders of the free world in the future. (This is probably a stretch…) Asians know why to hand-wash dishes: It’s eco-friendly, time-efficient, and much cleaner than machine-washers.
This is why: Asians Love to Hand-wash Dishes.
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33 responses so far ↓
1 Chinkygirl // Feb 27, 2008 at 7:43 pm
how about changing the title to “Handwashing the dishes”
[done]
2 Ric // Feb 27, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I’m not sure what we do actually saves any water, but it sure gets those dishes clean. Unlike white people, we yellow folk will never put our dishes in a bath of water (and have the dishes swimming in their own filth). No, we must “wash neat” by firstly rinsing the dishes under a tap and then soaping them up with a sponge or scourer and finally rinsing the suds and scum off under a running tap (NOT a sinkful of water - again the notion of soaking in filth). Once that’s done, we never towel off the dishes. Air-drying is not only more convenient as you said, it is also more hygienic.
3 Maria // Feb 28, 2008 at 1:57 pm
This is so strange. I am a white girl who lived with a white guy in Asia and he always got mad about the way I did the dishes, which is basically verbatim what you wrote above. (I think I really must be part Asian!) “The dude” got mad at me about the way I did the dishes, and called me lazy. I then got very passive agressive and refused to do said dishes at all (so he could have things his way.) Which is another Asian behavior (avoiding conflict) but the situation soon spiraled out of control after that. It’s just nice to read this and know that there is some “method to the madness”.
4 Ari // Feb 29, 2008 at 2:15 pm
This whole blog reads like it was written by a white kid in love with Japan.
5 Dr. Chan // Feb 29, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Maybe we are all white kids in love with Japan.
6 Val // Mar 4, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Oh my gosh, I’ve seen this with everyone in my family but never thought it to be an Asian universal. All of the Asian people I know will use their dishwasher to store cleaned dishes.
I always perceived it was because they thought the idea of leaving soiled dishes until the dishwasher fills up (even though it’s enclosed) was kind of gross.
7 StereoTypicalAsian // Mar 5, 2008 at 7:32 am
I have to agree with this one. We (1.5 generation Korean) just started using dish washers. It works pretty well. But we still hand wash some of the small stuff.
8 kikko // Mar 5, 2008 at 10:07 am
damn, I never realized how my parents made me distrust the dishwasher since little. I got one now but scared to use it cause I don’t trust it. Now I know why…
9 johnk // Mar 8, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I think Asians just came to dishwashers at a late age, and never got into them. They were a real post-ww2 suburban thing. Asians moved into America big time in the 60s, but into cities, where the apartments didn’t have dishwashers. By the time these Asians had them, they were set in their ways.
Besides, the washers tend to leave bits of egg and dried rice on the plates, and a funny scummy surface if you don’t do it right.
10 Pacific Man // Mar 11, 2008 at 10:01 am
Dang, you are right about this….my wife (Hong Kong born) is allergic to using the dishwasher, just doesn’t have the habit, and will even do it by hand after we’ve had a dinner party and can justify using the dishwasher (having enough dishes for a full load). If that’s the case I will quickly load up the dishwasher before she can get to it to head off any arguments…
11 Anonymouse // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:32 pm
No way a dishwasher is more wasteful. They pack in the dishes and make it all efficient. Handwashing wastes much more water.
12 Anonymous // Mar 21, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Believe it or not, a dishwasher actually does tend to leave cleaner dishes. This is because the water temperature is essentially the maximum temperature a home’s water heater will allow. Higher temperatures allow for vastly improved surfactant action from soap than at temperatures tolerable by human washers. Myth Busted, sorry to say.
13 Anonymous // Mar 21, 2008 at 4:42 pm
It took my Chinese teacher over a year of living in America before she learned to “trust” the dishwasher. Actually, I think she just got lazy.
14 Anthea C // Mar 26, 2008 at 11:34 am
I don’t know about anybody else, but in addition to using the dishwasher for storage, my family also uses the oven for storage. The Chinese families I know don’t seem big on baking. Any thoughts?
15 Xtasian // Mar 26, 2008 at 3:22 pm
My family uses the dishwasher as a spice rack and the oven for a bread basket…. I’m relieved to hear I’m not the only one.
16 AddictiveTouch // Mar 26, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Me personally, I scrub down everything that goes into the dishwasher first. Only idiots put completely grease laden crap into the dishwasher. Pots, pants, cooking knifes, utensils, etc. are generally hand washed. And when I do the dishes it usually takes an hour to an hour and a half… I’m that thorough.
17 Koko // Mar 26, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Its true, we do them by hand, the dishwasher that came with the house was broken, and my japanese father saw no point in getting it fixied (that was 18years ago) still do them by hand just like he did as a kid
18 Justin // Mar 26, 2008 at 10:48 pm
@Anthea: just a guess, maybe they like to fry/cook their food more…i just ate a lot of oily dishes in china.
19 Toby // Mar 27, 2008 at 8:41 am
My family also uses to oven to store pots and pans. Partly because we have no room. Our cupboards are full with food items and dishes, tupperwares…But the majority of chinese cooking does not involve baking. Even chinese desserts are cooked on the stove top or refrigerated. (Tofu dessert, puddings, red bean soup, etc.)
20 SumGai // Mar 27, 2008 at 9:08 am
This is so funny.
My parents absolutely refused the dishwasher my sister and her husband bought them for Christmas, saying they didn’t want or need it (I don’t think it’s like when Homer bought a bowling ball for Marge, or a vaccum cleaner for Valentine’s present).
It might have been a little “pride” thing (i.e., we support the kids, the kids don’t support us - at least while we’re able-bodied), but they won out in the end with the classic “Even if we accepted it, where would we put it?”
Anyway, fast forward to their recent visit to my place and lo and behold, my mom would handwash all of the dishes after they cooked, despite my pleas to just dump them in the dishwasher so we could spend more time watching a movie (enough dishes were used daily that the dishwasher would be on nightly so no concern of the dirty dishes sitting).
Too funny. And I agree that while a dishwasher uses more energy (electricity vs. calories), I’m pretty sure that also uses less water than handwashing (assuming that one uses the “rinsing under running water” method which I do when handwashing things not suitable or too big for the dishwasher).
21 Giun Sun // Mar 28, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Haha….I don’t agree with many things on this blog, but this one I do! And the point about using it as a drying rack for clean dishes was a nice touch!
22 Z. Yang-Do // Mar 28, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I handwash dishes because it is a stress reliever to me.
The only times I use a dishwasher is for huge family gatherings/parties - even then, I rinse and scrub all the food off prior placing the dishes into the washer. LOL.
23 Anonymous // Apr 17, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Growing up we always used the dishwasher as a storage place for snacks like crackers, cookies, etc. and always washed dishes by hand. And my family is from central Europe (I’m 1.5 generation).
24 Machan // May 8, 2008 at 11:54 am
Yes, it’s true. We use the dishwasher as a drying rack in our house.
25 Crystal // May 11, 2008 at 2:25 am
SO SO TRUE. We’ve lived in three or four houses already and my parents NEVER use the dishwasher, even when we have guests over. It’s an abomination i tell ya!
26 sy88 // May 11, 2008 at 3:37 am
What’s an abomination Crystal? The idea of using a dishwasher is an abomination, or the contraption known as the dishwasher is an abomination? … Hmm, that word makes no sense anymore…
27 avalon // Jun 10, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Rinsing the dishes and washing them a bit first, then putting them in the dishwasher, is far more sanitary than hand washing. The water in a dishwasher is hotter than a human hand could stand. Further, the time saving is immense. I will not be parted from a dishwasher.
28 Anonymous // Jun 22, 2008 at 9:15 pm
This is true in my household. My parents think that using the dishwasher is a waste of water and money. We have never touched the dishwasher — ever.
29 me // Jul 11, 2008 at 7:52 am
“the dishwasher is only for when company comes to visit.”
30 alterna180 // Aug 1, 2008 at 1:42 pm
i’m half-korean. it was my white MOM who made me hate the dishwasher and it’s wastefulness of energy and water (and show of laziness). maybe it was my asian-half that embraced her philosophy though.
i really do hate using the dishwaher!
31 chinesegirlx3 // Sep 3, 2008 at 4:17 pm
So true!
My parents make me handwash all the dishes (my chore). Lmfao. We have a dishwasher but we use it as a drying rack.
32 Anonymous // Sep 8, 2008 at 4:25 pm
I don’t know why, but hand washing dishes has always been a time for me to reflect on my life.
33 Anonymous // Sep 29, 2008 at 4:03 am
my whole family has a phobia of cleaning detergents and other household products that contain chemicals (whether harmful or not). That’s why we hand wash our dishes
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