We can all agree that food is life, and when someone attacks one of our favourites, it takes a lot to hold back our disbelief. So when one journalist seemingly attacked Asian foods, the internet took no time to fire back.
In a series of articles, SHEFinds writer Emily Belfiore deemed fried rice, dumplings, and egg rolls "unhealthy," stating that you should never eat them "like, ever."
Specifically, the fried rice article, which appears to have been taken down, was shared on social media on Wednesday. According to NextShark, Belfiore listed 11 reasons why you should avoid this dish at all costs, and even turned to a health expert to back up her arguments.
While she brought up typical western concerns in her reasoning, such as the potential high-calorie count, some of her arguments made no sense at all...
And other arguments raised some eyebrows. Belfiore's particular comment about fried rice containing "low-quality proteins" was taken as a personal attack on the dish, which is traditionally served at Chinese restaurants.
But the biggest problem with Belfiore's articles was that she failed to acknowledge the cultural significance of these foods. Twitter users were quick to call her out on this and noted the racist undertones in her work.
One user even noted that Belfiore previously wrote an article about a McDonald's menu item that you can "eat every day and not gain one pound," demonstrating her discrimination against Asian foods.
To say that Twitter was infuriated is an understatement.
Fried rice is an Asian dish that has a number of variations, which is why it's not always an unhealthy food. Factors such as meat, sauce, and oil can influence this. For example, limiting additional sauces can decrease fat, calories and sodium.
Additionally, fried rice isn't necessarily an everyday food and, in certain cultures, it's held in high regard and is eaten on specific holidays, NextShark notes.
And lastly, to Belfiore's point about "low-quality proteins," it's important to note that the meat in these dishes is always chosen with care. Nguyen Tran, who co-owns the underground Singaporean restaurant Starry Kitchen in L.A., explained this in an interview with Thrillist.
"In Americanized places there's a generic fried-rice formula. Fried rice equals choice of protein plus fried rice," he said. "But with more authentic places it's more about marrying a specific protein to a specific profile; that's what's unique about stir-fry. So instead of shrimp fried rice, you'd be looking for something like yeung chow fried rice."
While it's valid to say that eating fried rice all day, every day isn't the healthiest, it's definitely unfair to claim that you should never eat this dish, especially when millions of people do so on the regular.
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