Triangular Eating

Triangular eating (三角食べ, sankaku-tabe) is one of the eating styles recommended or taught in Japanese elementary school lunch programs. The name comes from the triangular shape formed by the steps in triangular eating, which is to take a bite of such a staple food as rice or bread, then a sip of a soup or beverage, and then a bite of a side dish repeatedly.

Overview

In the early 1950s, schools in Japan started providing lunch that consisted of milk, bread, and side dishes, where students were instructed to eat meals in that order.[please add original footnote (FN) 2 here] It was a way to encourage the consumption of milk among elementary school students, who disliked drinking milk back then.[repeat original FN2 here] The term triangular eating was propagated in the 1970s through instructions given to students. Guidance on how to eat school lunches was established primarily at schools in Eastern Japan.[original FN1 here]

Triangular eating sequence

Triangular eating was instructed even when school meals began to use rice (implemented in 1976 because surplus rice became a problem in the agricultural policy and consumption was urged), and there were some occurrences of children having to drink milk while containing rice in their mouth. In traditional Japanese meals, which typically consist of rice, soup, and one side dish, it is common to drink miso soup or tea during the meal. However, in triangular eating, milk was served as the beverage, similar to a Western-style meal with bread, which created an unconventional combination of rice and milk consumed together, which was foreign to Japanese cuisine.

There is a criticism that the method of triangular eating led to excessive guidance and control in education because students who did not follow this set order of meals would face corporal punishment as a means of controlling behavior.[original FN3 here] Today, it is recommended to eat rice and side dishes in a balanced manner, but the specific instructions for triangular eating are rarely practiced.[original footnote 4 here]

In the Guidelines for Dietary Instruction issued by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, the statement “Eat the main dish and side dishes alternately” is no longer present today.[original FN5 here]

In-mouth seasoning

All you can eat rice- lemon steak set meal at Yayoiken.

In Japan, the most common way of eating rice served in a rice bowl is to practice in-mouth seasoning, which refers to the act of flavoring food, such as plain rice, by placing side dishes or drinks in the mouth alongside it and mixing them together by chewing.[original FN7 here] It can refer to the process of seasoning or how food is eaten in this manner.[original FN8 here]

Toyoo Tamamura describes triangular eating as “eating together.” He also says, “Americans will always put soy sauce when eating rice. While pilaf and fried rice may be eaten plain, unseasoned white rice cannot be consumed as is. They will not put rice and the side dish together into their mouth for seasoning. If forced to do so, Americans would just be confused and not know how to do it." He claims that, almost without exception, Western people cannot practice in-mouth seasoning.[original FN9 here]

The Pros and Cons of Triangular Eating

Eating in a triangular pattern raises various concerns beyond issues observed in the educational settings mentioned above.

There are nutritionists who recommend it as a way to practice the Japanese culinary tradition of in-mouth seasoning. However, there are also dentists who claim that it leads to washing down food with soup or drinks without chewing properly, leading to changes in saliva secretion and thus creating a possibility of mouth dryness disorders.[original FN6 here]

It is also pointed out that eating rice with side dishes tends to cause a rapid rise in blood glucose levels because the rice tends to be washed down with the flavor of the side dish, and that eating highly seasoned side dishes based on oral flavoring can lead to excessive salt intake.