Singaporeans love their food, so it’s no surprise that when a Reddit thread spotlighted a little-known “Singaporean” dish in Japan that doesn’t actually exist here, it quickly sparked confusion, jokes and plenty of “Since when got this?” reactions online.
The dish in question is otchahoi, a stir-fried noodle dish from Niigata, Japan, that is apparently considered “Singaporean cuisine” there despite most Singaporeans having never heard of it. It even has its own Wikipedia page.
A photo of the dish shared on Reddit showed flat rice noodles resembling kway teow stir-fried with bean sprouts, cabbage and egg, prompting several commenters to compare it to local hawker favourites.
“This one looks like char kway teow without dark soy sauce,” one netizen wrote.
Others speculated that otchahoi could be an older version of Singapore street food preserved overseas while local recipes evolved over time, like fried carrot cake, which was originally white.
According to Wikipedia, otchahoi originated in Shibata City in Niigata Prefecture after World War II. The founder of a restaurant called Singapore Shokudo, which literally means Singapore Cafeteria in Japanese, reportedly recreated the dish based on memories of Singapore street food after returning from Southeast Asia. The origins of the unusual name, however, remain unclear.
The Reddit discussion soon spiralled into Singaporeans sharing other baffling encounters with “Singaporean” food overseas, with the most infamous example being “Singapore noodles”.
One Redditor recalled ordering the dish at a Chinese restaurant in Europe, only to receive noodles “heavily dosed with curry powder”.
Others said they had spotted versions of “Singapore noodles” in countries including the United States, Australia, India, Vietnam, and the Netherlands.
Several commenters pointed out that dish, commonly made with stir-fried vermicelli and curry powder, likely evolved from Sing Chow bee hoon (星洲米粉), a Cantonese-style dish believed to have originated in Hong Kong rather than Singapore.
Still, many netizens noted that confusing food names are hardly unusual.
“Same concept as Hainanese chicken rice not found in Hainan,” one commenter quipped.
Others referenced dishes like Swiss rolls and Hawaiian pizza — foods whose names have long puzzled people for decades.