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Salt Bae aka Nusret Gökçe is famous for golden steaks
Photo: Jerritt Clark / Getty Images for Ciroc
When the former soccer star Franck Ribéry had the Turkish star chef Nusret Gökçe serve him a steak covered in gold leaf, it caused quite a outcry in Germany.
One can roughly imagine what the mood was like in Vietnam after a member of the Communist Party was filmed eating the same meal in London.
Gökçe published a video last week showing him feeding the Vietnamese Minister of Public Security, Tô Lâm, gold steak.
Price: 1450 pounds, about 1723 euros.
Lâm and his delegation apparently stopped over in London after representing Vietnam at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow.
According to Radio Free Asia, they are said to have visited the grave of Karl Marx in the English capital.
The excitement in Vietnam was all the greater.
The pictures of the golden meal sparked criticism.
Many people apparently wondered why such a high-ranking party official afforded such a meal - and even had himself filmed.
One who apparently wanted to take advantage of the excitement was Bui Tuan Lam.
The 38-year-old runs a small beef noodle stand in the city of Danang.
He recorded a video in which he can be seen imitating the typical movements of star chef Gökçe.
He cuts cooked beef into slices and - instead of salt like gökçe - sprinkles green onions in a bowl.
He calls himself "Green Onion Bae".
Now Bui Tuan Lam is known not only as a noodle seller, but also as an activist who campaigns for human rights.
The police may have taken the video as a criticism of the government - and therefore summoned Lam shortly after it was published.
"They came to my house this morning - two officers from the city security department, one officer responsible for where I live, and one person in civilian clothes who was filming outside," Lam told Radio Free Asia.
The reason for the summons was not given.
However, Lam was told to go to the police "to provide information about a criminal act for investigative work," he said.
The police in Vietnam have not yet commented publicly on the case.
However, she repeatedly summons activists and people who publicly criticize the ruling Communist Party for questioning.
Lam said of the parody video that he recorded it "for fun and as a promotion" for his business.
"Since I published it, there have been more customers," says Lam.
According to his own statement, he had already been summoned by the police once in April, and no reason was given at that time either.
Lam said he had "raised his voice for a better society" in the past.
ptz / Reuters
