Jamie Oliver’s egg fried rice recipe sparks backlash in Asia, again

By Shelly Yang, The China Post, Taiwan |

TAIPEI (The China Post) — Following the recent backlash of the BBC fried rice video, Malaysian YouTuber “Uncle Roger” huffed and puffed again at the latest video of British chef Jamie Oliver about Asia’s staple food: egg fried rice.

To the YouTuber’s dismay, Oliver comes up with another original way of cooking the Asian recipe which will surely annoy Asian people further.

Uncle Roger noted that the chef used a saucepan to fry the rice instead of a wok. (Screengrab from the video)

To begin with, Uncle Roger noted that the chef used a saucepan to fry rice instead of a wok. After the chef popped the green onions, however, he suddenly added white rice into the pan and fried it.

Equally bewildering, Oliver added “chili jam” to his recipe, which made Uncle Roger call it “disgusting.”

Later, Oliver added “chili jam” to the fried rice. (Screengrab from the video)

After starting to stir-fry the egg fried rice, the chef suddenly filled the frying pan with water, causing Uncle Roger to break down (and almost cry).

The YouTuber stressed that if rice is too dry or wet, the dish will be completely ruined. Last but not least, Oliver tore apart some tofu and tossed it into the pot to stir-fry, leaving Uncle Roger speechless.

After starting to stir-fry the egg fried rice, the chef suddenly filled the frying pan with water. (Screengrab from the video)

The video has again attracted much attention with a commentator to write that “as a white person who grew up with a Chinese family, I am embarrassed by Jamie Oliver.”

Someone said: “Why do they always put water into rice?” while another wrote that the title of the video should be changed to “How to make Asain people annoyed.”

At the end of the video, Oliver tore apart the tofu and tossed it into the pot to stir-fry it. (Screengrab from the video)

On the other hand, some netizens hold a different view, saying that there is not always only one way to cook and that if everyone cooks according to the recipe, no one will create new dishes.