So...Malaysia is a food paradise eh? Sure, there are countless types of hawker food available but on rare occasions, the hygiene and practices in preparing them leave much to be desired. Below are some hearsay and true stories.
--This tale may be old hat to many people. A famous laksa stall in Penang was alleged to be adding cheap toilet roll in its gravy. Apparently, the aim was to thicken the gravy by stinging on fish. Well, maybe this rumour arose out of business rivalry.
--Beware of roti-canai makers who are shirtless. My friend saw this Mamak (Indian Muslim) swinging a piece of dough with both hands against an aluminium counter. When he swung his hands backward, the dough flipped over, landing on his hairy, sweaty back. Then, thud...he swung it back on the aluminium counter again...to eventually prepare roti canai for his customers.
--So... the Chinese crullers (nicknamed “fried oily devil” or yau char kwai) from this certain stall or the goreng pisang (banana fritters) from another stall tastes extra crispier eh? What’s the secret? Rumour has it that plastic drinking straws or plastic bottles are discreetly added to the boiling oil. Of course, the straws or bottles melt in the oil, and when the items are fried, the plastic-contaminated oil apparently imparts the crispy texture.
--I always try to avoid stalls that employ Bangladeshis as food handlers. A few years back, at a Bak Kut Teh stall, I saw this idiot coughing away, while he was cutting crullers with a pair of scissors. Not bothering to turn his face away, he coughed directly at the bowls containing the crullers!
--A friend told me that a famous satay stall in KL recycles the gravy that is left over by patrons. Put simply, unfinished gravy is simply poured back into the stock pot and re-heated and re-served.
--One very early morning, I saw a hawker in the Chow Kit Market roasting chicken over a gas stove! Sumpah! I am not a scientist but isn’t this method of cooking toxic? Then the chicken was cut into pieces. They were packed with rice into polystyrene boxes, and gravy was poured over the chicken.
--You are a fresh-water fish lover, especially tilapia? If yes, have you heard of integrated agriculture-aquaculture? This is a simple low-cost system for rearing fish, growing vegetables and keeping livestock. Here’s how it works: tilapia (or some other species) is kept in ponds, vegetables are grown on plots, and chickens are reared. Water from the fish ponds is used to irrigate the vegetable plots; vegetable by-products are used as chicken feed; and chicken droppings are fed to the fish! Then the fish is sold to restaurateurs to be served to customers. Of course, not all aquaculture farms practise this disgusting system.
--Some people like to eat kuih kodok. They are just mashed banana balls mixed with flour and deep fried. Some hawkers never let you see the kind of bananas their kuih kodok is made of? Why? They are usually half-rotten bananas that are only fit for monkeys at Zoo Negara.
Bon appetit!
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