Time Out London has been accused of “disrespecting Chinese culture” by comparing Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) to spots in a new video.
In the clip, created to promote London restaurant Dumplings Legend, people can been seen bursting the traditional dumplings with chopsticks.
The video was posted alongside the status: “Love popping spots AND eating dumplings? Combine the two with exploding soup dumplings at Dumplings Legend.”
But many viewers have pointed out that the correct way to eat Xiao Long Bao is to suck out the soup and eat the dumplings, adding that the video is “offensive”.
The video has received more than 600,000 views, with thousands of people leaving comments.
Many have accused the video of being “disrespectful”, while some have called it “racist”.
In response to the backlash, Time Out issued an apology on its website and invited readers to write in with their culinary tips.
In a further statement given to The Huffington Post UK, Caroline McGinn, editor in chief of Time Out UK, said: “At Time Out we love nothing more than discovering and celebrating incredible food from around the world. We sometimes do this with a tongue-in-cheek tone, but that’s just our sense of humour.
“We burst soup dumplings in our video to show people the delicious soup that was inside them, so they could enjoy that as a visual treat. Later on, you see the journalist biting into the unburst Xiao Long Bao and enjoying the ‘explosion’ on her taste buds.
“London is a great city to eat not just because of our own ’traditional’ cuisine (which includes delightful things like jellied eels) but because it’s full of amazing food from people from all round the world who’ve come here and brought their recipes with them. We’d love to hear more from the knowledgeable food-lovers of China and beyond about soup dumplings and other kinds of traditional delicacies that we should feature. And the best way to eat them. Please tell us more here.”