There is a new cooking competition in China stirring up controversy, and it is not because of its recipes.
Chinese tech company Tencent’s One Dish To Rule Them All, a cooking competition fronted by Hong Kong star Nicholas Tse, Haidilao founder Zhang Yong, and Michelin-starred chef Zheng Yongqi, is facing backlash for allegedly copying the format of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars.
The only glaring difference between the two shows appears to be the country’s cuisine and One Dish To Rule Them All’s long list of celeb drop ins.
Celebrity guests such as Carina Lau, Charlene Choi and Michelle Chen made appearances, adding star power to Tencent’s version.
Everything else, including the format, is painfully similar.
Like the Netflix hit, One Dish To Rule Them All’s 100 contestants were also split into black and white teams.
Sixteen renowned chefs form the white team, while 84 newbies make up the black.
Culinary Class Wars also had 100 participants, with 20 experienced chefs classed as White Spoons who competed under their real names, while the remaining 80 newbies were placed as Black Spoons, competing under an alias.
Despite some fans pointing out that Tencent’s version adds a more interesting twist with A-listers, viewers are still calling it a blatant imitation.
“That is just silly. Culinary Class Wars didn’t need to all these celeb gimmicks to become a success,” retorted a netizen.
Culinary Class Wars was fronted by Michelin three-star chef An Sung-jae, and celebrity cook Baek Jong-won as judges.
