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.
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.
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?
Well, they probably didn’t want me to have egg fried rice every 25. of November from now on!
Is this for real? Why is this dude’s death so important to people?
This whole article left me like “wat?”
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.
The story got traction with non-Chinese audiences precisely because it sounds silly to an outsider.
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.
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
Da fuq? How the hell is this at all controversial?
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.
Well, guess I am making egg fried rice for dinner tomorrow.
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.
Can someone explain to me what that has to do with egg fried rice?
Mao Anying was killed in a bombing run on 25 November 1950. He was assigned to a place that the then PVA commander felt would be safe from UN air raids. He was supposedly in a makeshift shelter near some caves when the bombs struck. Some rebel groups or anti-government people say that the man was cooking food in daylight, which was against Army regulations, and that gave away their position to the enemy.
Some Chinese citizens and groups who oppose Mao Zedong commemorate the anniversary of Mao Anying’s death by eating egg fried rice. According to some sources, on the morning of 25 November 1950, Mao Anying, alongside staff officers Gao Ruixun and Cheng Pu, cooked egg fried rice for breakfast in the office of Peng Dehuai, despite orders only to cook at night for fear of American air raids. It is alleged that their preparation of that meal drew the attention of American bombers, contributing to the deaths of Mao and Gao. Taken from Wikipedia.
Yeah… it’s almost like getting upset about this reinforces people’s stereotypes.
The vast majority of people would have no idea this was a thing if there wasn’t ‘backlash.’
This generation loves getting mad over bullshit I swear. Prolly cause we have so much excess we need to make up things to worry about instead of helping those who have less than us.
I call it “Not Enough Tigers.” We humans have a dynamic response range of “sitting around the campfire with friends and eating great food” to “OMFG! TIGERS!” Unfortunately, most of our daily lives have compressed the dynamic range of experience into a gamut of watching Netflix to “someone said something I don’t like.”
Most people lack true existential threats in their day-to-day lives, and we humans come unglued without a proper dynamic range of experiences. I think this is why people who do dangerous things, such as urban bicyclists, rock climbers, SAR, and open ocean sailors, tend to be so laid back.
It also doesn’t help that those with power have had millennia to dial in propaganda to keep the hoi polloi divided against each other.
This event is from 2020, why are CNN and others only reporting on it now?
And also, why bother?
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.
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.
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.
