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.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • Melllvar@startrek.website
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • ThrowawayOnLemmy@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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?

    • Tangent5280@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        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.

        • JayleneSlide@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          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.

    • mindlight@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Shark fin… I have no regrets whatsoever eating meat… But shark fin is animal cruelty on a quite high level.

        • mindlight@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          The problem with shark fin as an ingredient is that the fishermen normally catch a shark, cut off the fin and throw it back alive… and it slowly dies in agony.

          If we’re going to kill to eat we could at least try to let the animal suffer as little as possible and use as much of the animal we can.

          • Tangent5280@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Why do they keep the sharks alive? I imagine its harder to cut the fins when its alive and thrashing than to kill it first. Whats up with that?

            • boomzilla@programming.dev
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              1 year ago

              If I would write about this topic as I feel about it this would end in extreme hate-speech about the demographics who eat them and those who do those unbelievable deeds. It’s a beyond vile, absolute devoid of any value, twisted & sick industry. Just read the wikipedia entry for shark-finning.

              In addition to causing immeasurable suffering and death to a mindboggling number of sharks, with up to 70-80% reduction within a lot of shark-species, they’re setting the fate of other marine ecosystems too…

              The main task of sharks is to balance out those systems by hunting too numerous species. A Sea-Wolf. Now there’s a constant flow of rotting shark carcasses which will possibly let the wrong species thrive which won’t be regulated anymore. But those 400 million years old species time has come anyway in the very near future because it won’t have anything to regulate anymore.

              Look up what happened in Yellowstone with the reintroduction of the wolf (that was killed off previously in 1930) and the resulting self-regulating system. In the adjacent Montana they shoot up to half of the wolf population and in surrounding states the “game” is coyotes and foxes. With cruel traps like sadistic trappers do. Now they have to mow down super-boar herds with MGs. Instead of finding better ways to co-exist with natures ranger-creatures which are doing a way better job in Yellowstone than hunters.

              It’s the wolfs merit that beavers, foxes, songbirds and willows came back just by regulating elk and deer populations. But in a completely different way than hunters. Disclaimer: I’m from Europe and only read up on that so I may have recited a few things incorrect.

              Don’t wanted to discuss this topic and I don’t expect an answer. Just wanted to vent.

              I can’t answer your question and wikipedia doesn’t as well. I guess it has something to do with speed. Would fit those pieces of walking excrements who run that industry.

            • FeminalPanda@lemmings.world
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              1 year ago

              Cheaper, they catch them and hang them upside down, cut the fins and drop them back in the ocean. No disposal, and quicker.

              • Tangent5280@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                That make sense and paints a horrible picture. I imagine the sharks can’t swim without the fin? Just float until it starves to death? Fuck. Ruins my day.

                I’d rather they cut an artery or something before dropping them so it can atleast die quicker.

            • mindlight@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Well, someone who takes time somehow engage in the discussion would be a sign of them caring.

              So I guess the answer to your question is you…