Liking a certain type of food is a subjective matter as each person has different tastebuds and may find the food to be either very tasty or simply inedible.
A woman from China recently attracted much brickbats from Malaysians after she uploaded a video of her making a face and giving not-so-nice feedback about several iconic local dishes such as asam laksa, rojak, and ice kacang.
China woman calls asam laksa ‘stinky’
In a 35-second video uploaded by the woman named Winnie Jiang on Xiaohongshu on Mar 5, it showed her having a bowl of asam laksa at a restaurant in KL.
Even before she took a mouthful of the asam laksa, Jiang said the restaurant “stinks” and pinched her nose, adding that she could “only eat like this” before digging into the asam laksa.
Suffice to say, her facial reaction after eating the asam laksa was a clear sign that she wasn’t a huge fan of it at all.
Jiang then ordered a plate of rojak but was left deeply confused by the sight of of it. When she asked a cashier what it was, she was told that it was “fruits”.
However, Jiang admitted that she couldn’t quite communicate effectively with the staff as she couldn’t understand what they were saying in English.
As for the ice kacang, she likened the smell of the syrup to “essential oil balm”.
Towards the end of video, Jiang summed up her verdict on Malaysian food with a scrunched up face and told viewers to try it out for themselves.
Sparks outrage from M’sians
Needless to say, Jiang’s negative review of popular Malaysian dishes didn’t sit well with netizens, who took to the comment section to call her out over it.
‘Don’t come to another country just to demean the food.’
‘Just like luoshifen, there are people who aren’t used to eating it but won’t review it the way you did. You can say that you don’t get how it’s eaten but to say that it stinks, where are your manners? Please learn to respect others.’
‘You’ve gotten used to eating gutter oil back in China so of course you’re not used to Malaysian food cause we don’t use that here.’
‘I didn’t mean to disrespect anyone’
Following the massive backlash, Jiang eventually stepped forward to clear any misunderstanding that may have occurred as a result of the video.
Speaking to MS News, she said she made the video purely for laughs and to share it with her fans on social media.
When I tried the laksa, my immediate, instinctual reaction was to squeeze my nose, a moment my friends found hilarious and decided to capture on video.
“As a comedian, documenting the lighter, humorous moments of my life is something I genuinely enjoy,” said Jiang, who’s a stand-up comedian by profession.
Jiang also denied claims that she intentionally threw shade at Malaysian food, adding that her use of the word ‘stinky’ wasn’t meant to put it in a negative light.
“In my culture, it’s a term not associated with negative connotations. It’s like we actually use the word ‘stinky’ to advertise our stinky tofu from Hunan.
“I’d like to invite Malaysians to try stinky tofu, luoshifen, and douzhi in China and anyone unfamiliar with such “stinky” cuisine would squeeze their noses instinctively.
“I won’t blame people for doing this because the food being ‘stinky’ is a fact,” she said.
What do you think of Jiang’s review and explanation? Share with us in the comments!
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