Editing Southeast Asia (section)

===Influences===
The region's chief cultural influences have been from some combination of [[Islam]], [[Culture of India|India]], and [[Culture of China|China]]. Diverse cultural influence is pronounced in the Philippines, derived particularly from the period of Spanish and American rule, contact with Indian-influenced cultures, and the Chinese and Japanese trading era.

As a rule of thumb, the peoples who ate with their fingers were more likely influenced by the culture of India, for example, than the culture of China, where the peoples ate with [[chopstick]]s; tea, as a beverage, can be found across the region. The [[fish sauce]]s distinctive to the region tend to vary.