Penang has long made a name for itself both locally and internationally as being the hub of delicious hawker food thanks to decades of mouth-watering recipes being well-guarded and handed down for generations.
However, that same taste that has drawn thousands to Penang’s shores is in danger of being lost as foreigners are taking over the reins and preparing the popular dishes themselves.
13 Penang dishes to be ‘banned’ from foreign cooks
In order to safeguard the authentic flavour that Penang’s known for, the state government will be banning foreign cooks from preparing a list of dishes in all hawker stalls, food courts and coffee shops starting next year, reported Malay Mail.
The dishes in the ban list are nasi lemak, asam laksa, pasembor, mee sotong, char koay teow, koay teow soup, Hokkien mee, curry mee, wan tan mee, loh bak, chee cheong fun, char koay kak and oh chien.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) councillor Tan Soo Siang told reporters at a press conference that the ban comes after several complaints were lodged concerning the decline of quality in local food prepared by foreigners.
“Ratepayers have questioned why we were not taking action so we decided to extend this ban to privately owned hawker centres, food courts and coffee shops,” she said.
The ban was first introduced back in 2014 and came into force in 2016, where foreign cooks were barred only from hawker centres and food courts belonging to MBPP.
Tan added the proposal is targerted to come into effect at the start of next year and assured that the ban will not affect cafes, restaurants, hotels and franchises offering the same types of hawker food in their menus.
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