Imagine not being able to cook a dish, because someone gets upset about someone cooking it in the past, and stuffing up in wartime. That's just nuts. Especially if they believe the story is false. Talk about social paranoia.
The controversy isn't simply about egg fried rice. Lots of people cook and eat egg fried rice and make videos about it. The issue is the accidental timing of the video release coincided with the anniversary of Mao's son's birthday and many others have used egg fried rice as a way to dissent against the government, specifically around Mao Anying's birthday or death anniversary.
I think it would be somewhat akin to bringing sushi to a Bush Sr. press conference to highlight when he puked on a Japanese official, though that would probably go over fairly well in the States.
But basically, egg fried rice protests are a Chinese phenomenon, Chef Wang Gang accidentally played into that, and it probably got more steam than it should because this happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For further watching (with a lil cooking lesson!) here's a video Wang Gang has listed on his channel on Egg Fried Rice, released in May, so, no controversy
A Chinese celebrity chef has apologised after he was accused of insulting the memory of Mao Zedong’s son by posting a video about how to cook egg fried rice.
“As a chef, I will never make fried rice again,” Wang said in his apology on Monday after taking down the video.
Mao Anying, a Chinese military officer, was killed by US bombers on 25 November 1950 during the Korean war.
A persistent but frequently denied rumour says he was trying to cook egg fried rice instead of taking shelter, and the smoke from the fire exposed his position to enemy forces.
The Chinese Academy of History has said the claim about Mao Anying is a “most vicious rumour”, but the story remains popular.
The rumour – and references to egg fried rice – are now a taboo topic in China’s highly sensitive and controlled political environment.
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Isn't this an old story? I don't think this happened recently in the least. Anyway, Chef Wang Gang is phenomenal, one of my favorite YouTube cooking channels, highly recommended for Sichuan recipes of varying complexity, from simple to challenging.