Concerning Tupperware

Tupperware is an unorthodox topic for a blog post. I'm aware. But as I’ve realized, it’s something that I take for granted in the US, and it's a big part of restaurant eating, so it's worth talking about. As meals are expensive and the portions are often too large for me to eat in one sitting, I typically ask for a box at most restaurants. This, in more places than not, is expected, and boxes are on hand and brought in a jiffy. Sometimes they’re cardboard. Sometimes they’re plastic. Sometimes they’re those tubular clear ones that only hold soup, but they’re given out for everything else indiscriminately. I once got one of those to put the remnants of a burger in. But here in South Korea, it’s pretty sink or swim with takeout.

I learned this the very first time I went out. It was through a CIEE school group - we went to Indian, since everybody likes Indian, and it has easy vegetarian options for the few vegetarians in the group who hadn’t researched Korean vegetarian food yet. We ordered a huge spread and dug in - after about an hour, we had a fair amount of food left, and our Korean student buddy seemed to be ready to get up, pay, and leave - WITH all the food still on the table. My instinct is always to save food, not waste it, so I asked him if I could take some to go.

He seemed confused; he explained that that isn’t really a thing here. You eat what you can and then head out. I had no choice that time, as the group was already out the door.

The next time I encountered this was at a kimbap place. I had bought tupperware, and always kept some in my backpack, but this was a surprise lunch outing with my friends and I hadn’t thought to bring my backpack. That meant no tupperware, and I’d just watched the restaurant tell someone else they didn’t have takeout containers. I was left with half of a kimbap roll that I’d paid good money for - I was about to smuggle it out in a napkin if I had to. But I didn’t want to haul a soggy napkin all the way back up the mountain to my dorm room, so what to do?

I left my friends sitting there at the table, ran to the nearest Daiso (think mini walmart), and bought tupperware. Mission accomplished - I had my remaining kimbap the next day.

Sometimes I forget my tupperware, and I have to either force myself to eat everything, or else leave the remaining food. Neither are good options, so I’m always angry at myself for forgetting my precious tupperware. It’s a little embarrassing to haul out a brightly colored bowl with a lid, especially in the middle of a restaurant, but as a poor college student, my goal is to lessen food waste and stretch my food as long as possible. I don’t and won’t regret my tupperware activism. I’ve used it for soup, noodles, rice, random crackers, kimbap, and tons of other things. I bought it microwave safe so I can reheat things easily, and it has a built-in set of silverware. It was also like a dollar, so I think it was the perfect purchase.

In Korea, I think it’s expected that people either have hearty appetites or they come with enough people to eat the meal they order. Sometimes portion sizes are too big, or we don’t have enough people, or maybe I’m not feeling too hungry but I have to order something big as it’s the only option. There are so many factors that are easy to accommodate in the U.S. with a restaurant-provided take-out box. It’s not impossible to get a takeout box - some restaurants have them. In my experience asking, sometimes those boxes are actual tupperware, and sometimes they’re plastic bags that they pour your soup into (yes, it’s true). It’s much safer just to bring your own.

Most commonly, my Korean friends leave whatever they don’t finish, and tell me to do the same. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of food waste - I understand it can be embarrassing, but I’d rather take my leftovers home and maybe get another meal out of them than leave food to be thrown out, especially if it’s really good food - as most of my food has been in South Korea so far.

Big shoutout to my tupperware.

EXPLORE SOUTH KOREA