Singapore can be prickly about its culture, especially when it comes to food.
The New York Times is being served a hot plate of nope over a recent cooking item on a Singaporean Chicken Curry that some locals found offensive as it doesn’t resemble any curry they’ve seen.
“I’m sorry but what even is this? As a Singaporean, I’ve never seen any version of chicken curry that looks like this from any of the major ethnic groups. And honestly, there’s no such thing as ‘Singaporean Chicken Curry’ here. Just like there’s no such thing as ‘Singapore noodles,’” an Ashvinjoshua commented on the gray lady’s Instagram guide.
The clip, posted yesterday and demonstrated by Taipei journalist Clarissa Wei, has been bombarded with comments arguing that the brown-colored curry doesn’t resemble the bright orange-colored versions typically served here.
Update: ‘Singaporean Chicken Curry’ creator ‘not sure’ how her dad’s curry ended up like that
“As a Singaporean, this in no way resembles anything close to the chicken curry we eat in Singapore,” Charsiew wrote.
“Not ‘Singapore curry’ and wth is Singapore curry[?] You might wanna do some research from the food in the region before posting your recipe,” Commonnovi wrote.
“That’s not a curry. And it’s not a Singaporean curry as well,” Bettercallsel wrote.
Others called it “spice water” and “spiced lime water with chicken” instead of curry.
According to Times’ website, the recipe was adapted by Wei from a recipe by Shila Das, who it describes as a second-generation Singaporean of Indian and Vietnamese descent.
“Every family in Singapore has its own spice mix depending on heritage, though these days, premade curry sachets are easily procured at specialty stores across the island,” Wei wrote. It was one of many recipes intended to show Singapore’s ethnic diversity during the Chinese New Year.
Das could not immediately be reached for comment.
The photo on the website, however, looked completely different from the one shown in the tutorial. Whether Wei cooked it right or not, there are many renditions of the popular dish straying from the more traditional ones.
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