Kate Connally wrote:
> I got some takeout Chinese food this week. There were
> the usual packets of soy sauce and some sweet sauce
> and mustard.
>
> I have never once in my entire life added extra soy
> sauce to my Chinese, or any other Asian, food! And
> I can't imagine anyone else actually doing so. No
> one I know does it either. I've never seen anyone
> actually use the soy sauce packets.


Dumping a bunch of soy sauce on a dish is an insult to the cook.

They keep a bucket of them there for some folks who seem to need to dump
them on everything. Its pretty useless trying to use them for anything
else because they are typically the fake brown salt water soy sauce. If
I should happen to get them I just toss them.

I only know one person who will dump a couple packets on everything.

>
> Then there's the mustard packets which they give
> you even if there's nothing in your order that calls
> for mustard. I think the mustard might get a little
> more use than the soy sauce, but I really can't remember
> seeing anyone use that either, and I never do.

I sometimes like the mustard but it usually isn't hot enough. I keep a
can of the powder on the shelf and just mix some up when I have a taste
for it.

>
> So, I would be curious to see a survey about this.
> Do you use the soy sauce?
> Does anyone you know use the soy sauce?
> Do you use the mustard?
> Does anyone you know use the mustard?
> Do you save the soy sauce and collect it in a bottle
> at home for home use?
> Ditto mustard.
>
> I do sometimes use that sweet sauce on a few things.
> It's not very good though so if I'm eating it at home
> I generally just use my Thai sweet chilli sauce instead.
>
> I guess you could include questions about the sweet
> sauce. (What the heck is that stuff called, anyway? I
> can't recall - is it duck sauce?)
>
> Anyway, every time I order Chinese I say that the next
> time I will ask them to hold the sauce packets. I hate
> all that stuff to go to waste. But it's not that often
> I do order it so I totally forget about it until the next
> time I get it and open the bag and find all those soy
> packets - I just want to scream! ;-)


The really good local mom & pop place won't stuff them in the bag unless
you explicitly ask. So there is less to carry and less waste because I
would just toss them.

>
> I wonder exactly how many soy sauce packets are discarded
> every year? Millions? I would say several thousand if not
> several hundred thousand gallons of soy sauce poured down the
> drain, as it were. What's your guess?
>
> Really - does *anyone* use that stuff?
>
> Kate