In article >, sackv@uni-
duesseldorf.de says...
> Recently, we ate at a Vietnamese restaurant, possibly the only truly
> authentic one in Germany. Among other things, we had whole curried frog
> legs, as well as whole, unpeeled giant prawns, some deep-fried, some
> grilled. Only chopsticks were provided. Whole large frog legs are as
> impossible to eat with chopsticks as whole chicken legs. Besides,
> covered with thick curry sauce, they were rather messy, of course.
> Giant prawns needed to be peeled, but were very hot indeed. We ate them
> all using our fingers regardless. Was this correct? The restaurant was
> full of Vietnamese who didn't appear to be surprised, but maybe they
> were just polite or used to farangs' uncouth behaviour...
>
> Victor
>
I took a quick poll of my co-workers, about 90 per cent of whom are
Vietnamese. They basically said, "how else were you going to eat them?"
You should have been given, or asked for, a lot of napkins to wipe your
hands while eating. Other than a knife or the platter serving spoon to
dis-joint the frog legs, they would have just used their fingers as you
did. In general, those large prawns they peel by hand, and then some of
them would finish them with chopsticks. The others said they would just
continue using their fingers to hold them while dipping them into sauces,
especially if they were at home, or at less formal restaurant.

The smaller headless shrimp can be eaten shell and all if you are used to
them, except for the tail.

Dennis