'Scandalous' British man pours soup into dry bak chor mee, promises 'it won't happen again' after uproar
A British TikToker who set out to review Michelin-recognised stalls has horrified and amused Singaporeans, after he had the audacity to pour soup into his dry bak chor mee (minced meat noodles).
One user even jokingly called it "scandalous", prompting food reviewer Sam Lynas to apologise and solemnly pledge: "(It) won't happen again."
"I need to go to soup school," he added.
Mr Lynas, who runs the TikTok account @Fedby, has started a series documenting his personal quest to visit all the Michelin-recognised eateries in Singapore. According to the Michelin website, there are a total of 288 of these establishments in the Republic.
San Xiang Bak Chor Mee was only Mr Lynas' third stop, but the post that resulted may be the most talked about yet.
In a 1-minute 28-second clip, Mr Lynas sings the dish's praises, calling it a "spanker" that reminds him of an "English fry-up". The pork liver is soft and perfectly cooked, he says, and the stall is "ridiculously generous" with its toppings.
However, Mr Lynas then turns his attention to the small bowl of soup that typically accompanies dry noodle dishes in Singapore.
"The soup is clean as a whistle," he says, before he empties most of it into his minced meat noodles just to "break them up a little bit".
'I need to go to soup school!'
Mr Lynas' video has been viewed at least 26,500 times,
The post quickly triggered comments from users determined to school Mr Lynas on the 'right' way to consume dry bak chor mee.
"you [sic] just undone whatever genius the chef did with the noodles," said a TikToker.
"I fell off my chair when I saw you pouring the soup into the noodles," wrote another.
One commenter patiently explained: "The old school way of eating is to add half spoonful of soup if it's too dry and mix everything together let the sauce coat with all the ingredients and noodle."
In response, Mr Lynas said in his comments that he "thought it was like when you order something dry or wet. And I just made it wet? I had a little extra vinegar with chilli in it so I figured that this was the dipping sauce."
But users also defended Mr Lynas and commended him for his efforts. "many [sic] bak chor mee police here. just let the man eat the way he pleases. no one right way to make love to BCM," a commenter noted.
Mr Lynas, founder of social media consultancy Fedby, told Stomp that he has been working in Singapore since 2019.
"It's tougher than ever for food and beverage owners at all levels at the moment so I really hope that this series will highlight and celebrate the dedicated people that work in the industry and their stories," he said
Mr Lynas also appreciates TikTok users who took their time to watch and comment on the clip, admitting that he would likely make "more boo boos unintentionally along the way".
"I actually went to eat bak kut teh yesterday and found myself slurping out the ladle and then asked the people sitting next to me if it was okay," he said.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect Sam Lynas' comments.
