The Singapore Civil Defence Force is usually in the business of putting out fires. Well, at least until they saw what New York Times whipped up and attempted to pass off as “Singaporean Curry Chicken“. That abomination ruffled the feathers of Singaporeans from all quarters.
Many who had been divided over food-related sagas just a few days ago united as one in expressing their outrage against the New York Times’ Dish. The old adage that nothing quite unites Singaporeans like having their food besmirched. Gotong royong has nothing on the collective anger that possesses us the moment someone, ever so slightly, smears our food. This comment by Maddy, an influencer, that speaks of the display of unity, was one of the most liked comment amongst almost 4,000 comments.
Another uniquely Singaporean trait, that of calling the cops over literally everything, also reared its head in the comments section. Many urged the police to step in to end the “cultural illegality“.
Although no police joined in the fray, another group of men in blue did. The Singapore Civil Defence Force fired a bunch of sick burns directed at NYT. Amongst other things, they called the gravy “longkang water” and threw shade at the “culinary disaster“.
To avoid such (culinary) disasters in your kitchen, here are some tips to ensure your attempt at the Singaporean chicken curry doesn’t look like the aftermath of an unattended cooking (complemented by ‘longkang water’ gravy). pic.twitter.com/TAElNBqivK
— Singapore Civil Defence Force (@SCDF) February 4, 2022
The Life Saving Force ended its thinly-veiled savagery on a business-as-usual note by reminding all of us to:
- Never leave cooking unattended
- Turn off the gas supply when not in use
- Keep your cooking appliances and area clean and free of grease
The resemblance between the gravy and longkang water was also noticed by Mr Brown, the blogfather of Singapore. In his trademark form, Kim Huat said that the gravy looked like “longkang chui‘. Kim Huat, a self professed connoisseur of curries, noted that the receipe looked legit but the cooking was another story altogether. In no uncertain terms, he issued a cautionary note to NYT to “not mess with our curry“.
@mrbrownlahKim Huat has a few things to say about the @nytcooking “Singapore” Chicken Curry. #sgtiktok #tiktoksg #fyp♬ original sound – mrbrown
Just like Kim Huat, who spoke about how his ancestors will take umbrage at the dish, TikTok icon Boblet also spoke about how his mother would suffer a “heart attack” if she saw the dish.
@boblet21#sgtiktok GUEL WHAT IS THIS♬ original sound – Boblet – Boblet
Boblet, who was so shook that he was visibly tearing up midway through the video, offered to personally send NYT a New Moon instant chicken curry for purposes of comparison.
Chef Bob (no relation to Boblet) who was summoned by many on Instagram and Tik Tok to defend the nation’s honour, appeared rather curious about the diet of the chickens.
Well, whatever the chickens were fed, we sure hope they lived a royal life as their deaths may have been in vain. We don’t know about you, but we’re skipping the gravy on this one.
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