How this dish became a bone of contention
- Published
Former footballer Rio Ferdinand found himself at the centre of a social media controversy. And it had nothing to do with football.
The defender-turned-pundit has been documenting his trip to Singapore. On Saturday, he posted an innocuous looking selfie on Twitter, external and Instagram, external. The picture showed the 37-year-old wearing a dressing gown and gesturing towards a rice dish - nasi goreng - and used the hashtag #Singapore.
The only slight issue with the reference is that nasi goreng - which literally translates as "fried rice" - is widely considered to be Indonesia's national dish. President Obama said he was a fan during his official visit to the country in 2010. However, the dish is also popular in other parts of South East Asia, including Singapore.
For the uninitiated, the rice is fried with kecap (which is a sweet, thick soy sauce), acar (a type of pickle) and chilli. It can contain other vegetables including shredded carrots, as well as meat and prawns. It's not a time-sensitive meal - and is eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Social media users were not slow to point out what they felt was a regional misunderstanding. One person commented: "Lol Rio get a grip."
He was also inundated with suggestions of other dishes to sample. Not everyone was criticising the ex-England international, though.
Another person posted: "All these Indonesians claiming every food comes from their country lmao."
Food and Ferdinand has been a topic of controversy before. In his autobiography, he claimed former Manchester United manager David Moyes angered the team by banning chips, external before matches. In fact, the former defender has tweeted about the dish before, external, back in June 2011. He claimed then that it's "the most popular Indonesian food". He also owns a restaurant in Manchester.
We'll leave the final word to the man himself, who doesn't seemed convinced there is a story at all.
Blog by Harry Low, external
NEXT STORY: All tied up: 'How to escape' videos go viral
A video of a girl escaping from a zip tie has been watched more than 60 million times
You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.