Singapore companies, government agencies ride on 'rendang-gate' publicity
Companies and government agencies in Singapore have capitalised on the “rendang-gate” fray this week, with their own humorous takes on the controversy that rippled across Southeast Asia after a judge on a British cooking show complained that a contestant’s chicken was not “crispy” enough.
The comments about rendang on MasterChef UK have ignited outrage among the people of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei, who know very well that the dish is cooked in curry sauce and is not fried or crispy.
Recognising the opportunity for publicity, organisations in Singapore have poked fun at the issue in social media posts on Facebook.
We’ve compiled some of the best responses so far:
1. IKEA
Swedish furniture store IKEA took the chance to promote its “Tolerant” frying pan, posting a picture of the kitchen utensil with the words, “Tolerates everything. Except ‘crispy’ rendang,” and boasting that it could cook meals to perfection, “crispy or not”.
2. Singapore Civil Defence Force
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) reported on its fire-fighting efforts while making a dig about the delicacy, posting a warning against leaving cooking unattended.
An accompanying illustration shows a smoking frying pan on a stove, whose contents are labelled “le ‘crispy’ rendang”.
“Last year, SCDF attended to 402 fires caused by unattended cooking. Don’t leave your cooking unattended. #CrispyRendang,” says the post.
3. Tiger Beer
Homegrown brand Tiger Beer burnished its culinary credentials, saying, “Not everyone gets authentic Asian dishes. But we do.”
The beer maker posted a picture of a bottle of its product and a plate of nasi lemak with rendang, expressing its wishes for “beer that’s cold and rendang that’s not crispy”.
4. Jollibee
Fast food chain Jollibee attempted to cash in by highlighting that it, in fact, sells crispy chicken for whoever craves it.
“We don’t sell rendang. But we do crispy rather well,” said the company on its Facebook page.
5. Ministry of Defence
Even the Ministry of Defence waded into the fray, using the opportunity to raise awareness of the history and wholesomeness of military field rations.
“Unfortunately, we’ve yet to figure out how to make crispy chicken rendang field rations,” lamented the ministry in its post.
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Related stories:
Malaysian chef pokes fun at Gregg Wallace by creating crispy chicken rendang recipe
Masterchef UK judge clarifies ‘crispy’ chicken rendang remark
Malaysians eager to dig into KFC’s take on crispy chicken rendang
