'Singaporean Rice' for you? Netizens bewildered at existence of this dish

Carbs are a staple of Asian cuisine and in Singapore, a melting pot of ethnic cultures, some of our iconic local favourite dishes include rice or noodles.

But dumping rice and noodles onto a plate (along with some suspicious-looking sauce) and calling it "Singaporean Rice" feels sacrilegious almost. 

To start, what is "Singaporean Rice"?

That was the question many were asking on this Reddit thread when a photo of homemade "Singaporean Rice" was posted last Sunday (July 31). 

The post was accompanied by what looked like a screenshot from a separate Reddit post.

While the Reddit user who whipped up this plate of "Singaporean Rice" seemed excited to share their creation, netizens were not.

Many were clearly upset and questioned what the dish was trying to replicate given that there is no such thing as Singaporean Rice.

A point of contention was the sauce smothered atop the rice and noodles. Reddit users tried their luck at guessing what it could be — responses included carbonara sauce and white sauce typically found in New York halal food carts.

Apparently, it was a combination of ketchup, mayonnaise, hot sauce with a pinch of salt and black pepper.

This did not sit well with some netizens who were confused as to how mayonnaise and ketchup made their way onto the ingredient list of a Singaporean dish. 

"This one not Singaporean, this one also not rice. This is a tragedy what happened to the food sia [sic]," one Reddit user wrote.

Others decided to rope in the Merlion to express their dismay.

In a separate thread, the Reddit user who prepared this dish was rather saddened by the negative comments it received.

The foreigner mentioned: "I had watched a cooking video and found it interesting and shared my experience here, that's it."

A netizen suggested that they should just take the comments lightly as it is nothing more than Singaporeans "having a bit of fun".

However, the cook suggested they might just delete the post given the commotion it has caused.

One netizen attempted to dissuade them with the help of some self-deprecating humour.

If you're keen on giving the Singaporean Rice a try, though, you'll find the recipe below.

To be fair, it does look like it has the potential to be a tasty dish and the comments on YouTube are largely positive as well. The only issue here is the complete lack of Singaporean-ness.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=68&v=MyM2KB93L3A&feature=emb_logo[/embed]

This ain't the first time Singaporeans have been critical over local food being misrepresented. 

Remember what happened when New York Times shared a recipe for "Singapore Chicken Curry"?

Locals got so worked up over it with one even describing the end-product as "longkang (drain) water".

ALSO READ: Where are Singapore noodles from if not from Singapore?

amierul@asiaone.com