"I'll Never Make Egg Fried Rice Again" Famous Chef Apologizes... Due to Sensitive Chinese Taboo Words

Famous Chinese Chef Faces Backlash for Posting Cooking Video
Egg Fried Rice a Sensitive Political Topic in China
Controversy Over Mao Zedong's Son's Death Process

A famous Chinese chef posted a video of making 'egg fried rice' on social media (SNS) and was engulfed in a wave of criticism. Although this story is unfamiliar in Korea, egg fried rice is a politically sensitive topic in China.

This reference photo is provided for better understanding and is not directly related to the main text. [Image source=Pixabay]

On the 29th (local time), according to the local media 'Hong Kong Ming Pao,' Chinese chef Wang Gang, who has 3.3 million followers, recently posted an apology video on his SNS account saying, "As a chef, I will never make egg fried rice again."

Previously, Wang Gang uploaded a cooking video of egg fried rice on SNS. However, some netizens criticized him, claiming that he was mocking Mao Anying, the son of Mao Zedong, the first chairman of China. Eventually, Wang Gang had to delete the video and post an apology.

Chef Wang Kang, who was bombarded with criticism after posting a fried rice with egg video [Image source=Weibo]

Egg fried rice is a politically very sensitive subject in some parts of Chinese society. This is related to Mao Anying, the eldest son of former Chairman Mao.

Mao Anying died on November 25, 1950, during the Korean War due to a bombing by United Nations (UN) forces. The issue lies in the cause of Mao Anying's death. A Chinese People's Liberation Army officer wrote in his memoir that "Mao Anying was making egg fried rice in a bunker when his location was exposed, resulting in his death by bombing." It is said that the smoke from the fire used for cooking was detected by the allied bombers.

However, the Chinese Academy of History argued in November 2020 that this story was a baseless rumor that ridiculed Mao Anying's death. They pointed out that Mao Anying's location was exposed because of the unit headquarters' radio transmissions being intercepted.

Chinese visitors at the tomb of Mao Zedong's son located in Hoechang County, South Pyongan Province
[Image source=Xinhua·Yonhap News]

The Chinese Communist Party also released a list of "10 baseless rumors" in July 2021, including the theory that Mao Anying's location was exposed due to egg fried rice, showing their efforts to deny this claim.

In October of the same year, the movie Changjin Lake, which was produced with the largest budget ever in China, portrayed Mao Anying as a figure who went to the operations room to get a map and died heroically when a bomb fell.

Thus, egg fried rice remains a hot-button issue in Chinese politics. Chef Wang Gang posted his cooking video two days after Mao Anying's death anniversary (November 25) on the 27th and ended up facing backlash.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.