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Chinese celebrity chef vows to never cook egg fried rice again after nationalist backlash

Light, tasty and simple to make, egg fried rice has long been a beloved dish in China and one of most recognizable icons of Chinese cuisine around the world.

But in recent years, the popular stir-fry has become a highly sensitive subject for China’s online nationalists, especially around the months of October and November.

Emotions are running so high this week that one of the country’s most famous chefs has been forced to apologize – for making a video on how to cook the dish.

“As a chef, I will never make egg fried rice again,” Wang Gang, a celebrity chef with more than 10 million online fans, pledged in a video message on Monday.

Wang’s “solemn apology” attempted to tame a frothing torrent of criticism about the video, which was posted on Chinese social media site Weibo on November 27.

Angry nationalists accused Wang of using the video to mock the death of Mao Zedong’s eldest son, Mao Anying, who was killed in an American air strike during the Korean War on November 25, 1950.

mateomaui ,

Whatever, serve me up please.

hardcoreufo ,

Anyone else really want some fried rice?

Newguy ,

Good month for it

ExfilBravo ,

All my homies hate Mao.

Werbert ,

What about Mao-naise?

charonn0 ,
@charonn0@startrek.website avatar

The Streisand Effect in action.

Before reading this article I had never heard that Mao Zedong’s son got himself killed over some fried rice.

Pons_Aelius ,

I have now added Nov 25th as Mao's kid was an idiot day to my calender. Looks like meat Egg fried rice is back on the menu boys

KISSmyOS , (edited )

That’s the point of this. Make people remember November 25th for the rice thing and not for what happened on that date last year.

TheAlbatross ,

This event is from 2020, why are CNN and others only reporting on it now?

And also, why bother?

MicroWave OP ,
@MicroWave@lemmy.world avatar

Looks like the CNN article is not clear, but The Guardian explains why:

This year’s gaffe was Wang’s third offence. He released similar videos around the time of the anniversary of Mao Anying’s death in 2018 and 2020, both times prompting an outcry on social media.

theguardian.com/…/chinese-celebrity-chef-wang-gan…

FaceDeer ,
@FaceDeer@kbin.social avatar

Huh. In no way am I saying that the outrage is appropriate (it's monumentally silly and says far more about the delicate fee-fees of the nationalists than about anything else) but if this keeps happening perhaps the chef really is doing it deliberately.

Good on him, if so. I hope he's able to continue treading whatever narrow line he's on.

ivanafterall ,
@ivanafterall@kbin.social avatar

Can't wait for next year's Kung Mao Chicken recipe.

memfree ,
@memfree@lemmy.ml avatar

The CNN article addressed that, saying the chef posts fried rice a LOT – quoted below, but emphasis is mine.

But Wang’s critics are not letting it go easily.

“It might be a coincidence the first time. But can it be a coincidence every single time?” a comment said of Wang’s egg fried rice videos.

Some called for Wang to be banned on Chinese social media, while others urged authorities to punish him for insulting national “heroes and martyrs,” citing the 2018 law.

But some have also come to Wang’s defense, noting that the chef has posted egg fried rice in other months throughout the year.

“You don’t need to apologize. It is society that should apologize to you,” a Weibo user said in support of Wang.

yesman ,

There is a rumor that Mao Anying was cooking fried rice when he was killed in an airstrike and that the smoke from his cook fire betrayed his position. This is why it’s a sensitive subject.

HikingVet ,

Which is a bitch move by Winnie the pooh.

ZapBeebz_ ,

The really funny part of this whole thing is that I never knew about the rumor you mentioned until this whole thing happened. Streisand effect much?

atzanteol ,

“Streisand effect” implies they don’t want people to know about it?

narp ,

Well, they probably didn’t want me to have egg fried rice every 25. of November from now on!

KISSmyOS , (edited )

They probably do want people to remember November 25th for the rice thing and not for what happened on that date last year.

JustZ ,
@JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

Is this for real? Why is this dude’s death so important to people?

This whole article left me like “wat?”

TheAlbatross ,

Its a weird thing to publish to non-Chinese audiences in general.

To a Chinese audience, there’s cultural understanding for why this would be taboo. Someone else made the analogy of uploading a video of, say, destroying two towers around the 11th of September. It’s a culturally sensitive thing.

Why non-Chinese audiences should care what Chef Wang Gang cooks is beyond me. I’m not sure why multiple outlets are running this story.

Anyway, Wang Gang’s videos are great, check em out.

JustZ ,
@JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

So is egg fried rice (great). Staple food at my house. Thanks for the run down.

Rakonat ,

You just like saying Wang Gang, don’t you?

Cannacheques ,

No Wong gong

deegeese ,

The story got traction with non-Chinese audiences precisely because it sounds silly to an outsider.

Goronmon ,

I would argue it is silly, regardless of the explanation. Every culture has silly things, but that doesn’t make them somehow not silly.

ArumiOrnaught ,

I find this much more interesting than the big story in USA right now where a con artist is in legal trouble for being a con artist.

prole ,

Do you really not know who Mao Zedong is?

ivanafterall ,
@ivanafterall@kbin.social avatar

Fyi, if not, it's pronounced similar to "Mousy Dong," which was also his wife's nickname for him.

JustZ ,
@JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

The issue is about his son. Why does anyone care about his son?

prole ,

Because it is/was a cult of personality. He was essentially as close to “god” as you can get in a society that’s officially atheist. You don’t make fun of god’s kid I guess.

It’s fucking dumb. People do crazy shit for crazy reasons.

ivanafterall ,
@ivanafterall@kbin.social avatar

I heard he choked on the fried rice before the air strike even hit.

PrinceWith999Enemies ,

I suspect that it is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

I also suspect that they’d rather have people getting upset over fried rice than the current disease outbreak they’re having.

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