Host is blasted by guets for putting meat in a tofu dish

A party-goer has revealed how they sparked uproar after mixing tofu with pork in a dish they brought to a gettogether. 

Posting to Reddit’s Am I The A****** thread, the person, thought to be from the US, explained how dishes at the party weren’t labelled – but as soon as they were asked by one guest if the meal was vegetarian, they revealed it wasn’t. 

But one vegetarian party-goer who overheard this ‘freaked out that she ate meat’, with the Reddit poster adding: ‘It turns out a lot of other vegetarians ate my dish assuming it was vegetarian. 

‘For the rest of the party, I’ve had so many people (including non-vegetarians) tell me I’m an (a******) for putting meat in a vegetarian dish,’ they added. 

But the Reddit user then went on to explain that the item they’d made was actually a traditional recipe they’d grown up with and that they considered tofu as an ingredient, not a meat substitute. 

They finished their story by revealing that no one had queried if the dish was vegetarian before eating and asking if they were the a****** or if the other people were overreacting.

Their post read: ‘This happened at a potluck. I brought a dish that was tofu stir fried with minced pork, ginger and spring onions. Similar to Mapo tofu but not spicy.

‘Everything was fine except when someone asked me if my dish was halal, I said no, it has pork. 

‘That’s when Jen overheard and freaked out that she ate meat. And it turns out a lot of other vegetarians ate my dish assuming it was vegetarian. 

‘For the rest of the party, I’ve had so many people (including non-vegetarians) tell me I’m an a****** for putting meat in a vegetarian dish. 

‘But this is a dish I grew up with, tofu for me is just an ingredient, not strictly a meat substitute. Also, no one asked me if my dish was vegetarian. So am I the a****** here or are people just overreacting?’

After a flurry of comments, the original poster clarified the situation further, adding: ‘Since so many people are asking. Nothing was labelled.

‘I just left the dish on the buffet table along with the rest of the dishes. There were many other meat dishes.

Posting to Reddit’s Am I The A****** thread , the person, thought to be from the US, explained how dishes at the party weren’t labelled – but as soon as they were asked by one guest if the meal was vegetarian, they revealed it wasn’t

Everyone commenting was in unanimous agreement that the poster was not an a****** and the blame fell firmly on those who had eaten the dish and assumed it was vegetarian

‘About 20 people at the party, 4 were vegetarian. No one asked about my dish except for the person asking if it was halal.’

People responding in the thread were unanimous in the their agreement that the original poster was in the right. 

One Reddit user wrote: ‘They assumed it was a vegetarian dish because they have a weird misconception that tofu exists only for vegetarians. That they didn’t bother to ask is on them.’

‘Chinese tofu dishes (and other vegetable dishes!) often contain pork to add flavour. It’s not your fault they didn’t know that, and I’d bet they’ve accidentally eaten pork at Chinese food places since they didn’t,’ agreed another person.

A third social media user added: ‘Mapo tofu usually comes with meat. The person that asked if it was halal was responsible. 

‘The vegetarians that ate it were not responsible. I live in an extremely health conscious area and know several people with allergies so I’ve started to put a list of ingredients with dishes I bring to potlucks.’

Another person replied: ‘I can get why people saw tofu and assumed vegetarian, but like, if they looked closer they should have also been able to see the minced pork. 

‘Also ultimately it is up to an individual to make sure anything they eat conforms to their dietary preferences. If there is an unlabelled dish at a potluck it is definitely best to ask.’