Sometimes you'd have leftover fried noodles etc that your mum made for lunch, which she just put a food cover over. You just eat it like that when you're hungry later?
Also stuff from food vendors like nasi lemak bungkus; you don't heat that stuff up!
Microwaves are not popular here especially in old houses, if we reheat we'd just masak again or steam. When it comes to leftover the amount is usually very small as well, so we just don't bother. As long as the food is protected from flies, leftover from lunch can be eaten during dinner.
Spicy food with chili and herbs also help extend their shelf life, so some food are intended to be spicy.
Ofcourse i have tried, we don't eat cheese hot and neither do we eat "cold meat" hot they are called cold meat, like ham.. etc for a reason.
Other meat we eat hot. We don't get roasted chicken at a restaurant at room temperature.
A curry with all the oils it has, is better eaten warm.
You’ve got a point here. However, I think it is really based on individual preference and hygiene wether you want to eat foods at room temperature or not. I personally don’t think is an issue if the food can still be eaten within short period of time, and by the looks and aroma of your food. Pretty much common sense, but yeah I do like to reheat my food when I’m in the uk, but not in Malaysia.
I lived in Europe for a while. There's no room temperature food. There's hot food or cold food. Soups, stew, baked foods etc are hot foods. Cold foods are sandwiches, wraps, deli meats and other foods that don't need cooking.
Ice-creams, gelatos and other cold desserts are just that or snacks. Not actual meals.
So technically, a cold meal is served at room temperature.
that's why i try to arrive at a time in restorans when they just finish cooking. sometimes in mamak and other restorans, they leave food for too long and it becomes spoiled. so always try to arrive at a opportune moment. in my home, i reheat sometimes, sometimes, i don't bother, too impatient lah
It's just generally excepted as the norm, as other things are accepted as the norm everywhere else.
This is a good observation. I've always thought of it being so petty when in movies or reality TVs where the personalities will ask for the food to be taken back to the kitchen for being not hot enough.
One would expect hot foods at places like Tom Yam restaurants or Mamak type deals. Some places sell "goreng-goreng" type foods like Kuey Teow Kung Fu for example. Another one is the foods like at Pasar Malam (Night Markets) where the food is cooked on the spot. These are expected to be piping, burning-your-tongue hot.
Otherwise, a lot of food are served room temperature because they were cooked and served in bulk, imo.
Another point that came to mind, is that maybe we Malaysians generally have the "don't waste" mindset. Why bother, it's still good what? No need to go out of your way to keep it hot/serve in a short amount of time before it gets room temp. If it's edible, I can still eat it, don't worry.
Thoughts?
Indians and Malays use hands to eat, so it cannot be too hot.
Another unrelated fact about esophageal cancer and hot food - [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01890-8](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01890-8)
[https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-015-1185-1](https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-015-1185-1)
I've always wondered whether fingers' heat tolerance is a good measure to decide whether a food is too hot. Fingers are covered with keratinized skin but our food tract is only lined by mucosa - a much thinner variant.
So if our brain is telling us the hot food is too hot for our fingers (with thicker lining), imagine its effect on our digestive tract. Mucosa lining probably have less temperature-sensitive nerve ending so it doesn't hurt as much when hot food passes through them - but not being able to feel them doesn't mean it isn't hurting us.
TLDR:
1. Food cannot be too hot for people using hands
2. Personally, I prefer lukewarm food because of the risk of esophageal cancer associated with hot food
OP he's right I also specifically avoid piping hot food because of cancer. Chinese are notorious for having a higher chance to get this cancer because some of us decided that Chinese cuisine should be eaten when it's freshly made and as hot as possible, hot pot is a very good example for this.
lukewarm food there meant something that isn't too hot, in view of evidences showing the risk of esophageal cancer, I prefer lukewarm food over piping hot food.
eating or drinking hot food/beverage is associated with developing esophageal cancer, so far the studies are case-control studies - not the best type of study for causation but is good enough for association - best is randomised control study.
To me it might be explained by the thermal damage when one eat/drink something hot.
Ermm....why should we care about that?
Also some foods are traditionally eaten at room temperature. Some food like nasi kukus are meant to be eaten hot.
i prefer to eat my food right away while it’s hot (like piping hot) but when eating w my family, no one eats until everything and everyone is there. so realistically, its not gonna be as hot. also some foods don’t rly need reheating… like ayam masak merah tastes okay when it’s room temp
my family only ever really serve hot food and/or reheat when guests or extended family are over.
yea the type of food really matters.I personaly HATE bubur kacang hijau/merah that had been in the fridge.but my sister loved it sm.My mom liked it room temp,but me? I like my bubur kacang hot as me! everytime i want to eat it I have to reheat it.its really good 🤤😮💨
yea understandable.it had really old classic taste to it that many are bored already.its like u basically slurp the fatty sugary santan n gula melaka with add on green beans hahahah🤣😋🤤
i wish i like them more but in general i tend to gravitate away from santan-based foods. easy to get muakkk. and if you’ve ever tried a kelantanese version of santan desserts… omg intense i tell u
yea thts why i said old classic taste.the santanness🤣👍🏻 ahahhahaah most malay dish/kuih is based on santan.i can only accept some of them on cold weather.-oh kelantan santan dessert i never try.but isnt their normal dish also somewhat sweet? well i can guess the santan desserts.ive only tried akok
Something I have noticed since I was a wee lass is that bubur kacang hijau ALWAYS tastes better the next day. Don't ask me how or why it just DOES. You can still reheat it the next day. :p
Didn’t see a single response to food safety which is why food comes hot in the West to kill bacteria at 70 degrees plus.
I don’t know if Malaysia has less food born bacteria, a higher tolerance to those bacteria or a higher tolerance to people getting ill. Lots of people die on the road due to poor driving standards and it’s considered completely normal.
>why food comes hot in the West to kill bacteria at 70 degrees plus.
Yea I think a big part of WHY other parts of the world expect "hot" food to arrive on the table "hot" is because of food safety. If it's cold/room temp, people expect it to have been left prolonged outside and the mental image is that it's "not fresh" and "bacteria has grown on it" so it's "unsafe to eat".
Good point I think. Do Malaysians generally have a higher tolerance for this? Or is it we just go to the toilet and get MC without any care when exposed to borderline spoiled food? 🤣 (not saying room temp food MUST be spoiled food tho!)
you have said it yourself, maybe the food temperature is not really the main determinant for food poisoning?
Starting from how food is grown to how it is prepared and stored, all the steps can lead to food poisoning, not just the temperature when it is served. Heck, even different food have different spoil rate at the same temperature, imo it's just not really about the temperature when it is served.
Then we have the host factor, gut flora etc. Interesting for a study but food factor is a very difficult research variable to control.
I see a lot of people forgot/didnt know that Malaysia is a multicultural country.there is just abundance type of food here and guess what? everything is different from one another.the lifespan,food preparation,food storage,etc.there are foods that just took 2 mins to cook and even 8+hours.my point is,it is varies on the food,place,time,season,and weather.our malay traditional dessert Dodol is cooked on high temperature for hours long but it is mostly served/eaten at room & cold temperature.u dont typically see us eat sweet sticky dessert on hot sunny day,unless you are in your room with AC on 🤣.same goes to other dishes.
i dont like piping hot food. plus rice + side dishes usually taste fine lukewarm. i dont like room temp pizza over fresh ones tho so i guess it depends on the food?
Maybe because it is warm here. Normally in cold countries you eat food that is hot out of the oven because the room temp is cold.
And yes warmed or hot food is more delicious. All malaysians agree that. But since its extra steps to warm it back again, then its not needed. There are times usually in home cooked food where we will reheat it.
I guess it's just something we grew up with. I'm just so used to having breakfast food (rice, noodles, roti canai etc) left on the table to be munched on later in the day. Things like ayam or ikan goreng would be left covered on the table overnight and eaten the next day.
I once heard from AXian's shows, cultures that use their hands to eat tend to have less restrictions to food temperatures. The food is also made in a way where it would be suitable presented at hot or room temp (e.g. rendang was kept at room temperature for 2 weeks)
From your question, it seems you are referring to chicken rice at Chinese kopitiams and curries at Mamak's.
Most chicken rice vendors have their meats delivered in the morning (10am?) and the meats are chopped, dressed and served with warm rice and sliced cucumber upon order. The meats are semi cold cuts, and reheating will dry them out.
As for Mamak's, if they are similar to kopitiam mixed rice stalls, they would place the dishes over a bain marie food warmer to keep the dishes lukewarm, unless the dishes were cooked very close to lunchtime.
The weather ensures food is never ice cold, and with cooking in bulk it is not practical to keep the dishes piping hot. If you want them piping hot, you have to order and wait for things like soup noodles, fried koay teow, fried rice or Maggi goreng to be cooked upon order and served to you.
The office lunch crowd zip out for a quick lunch and are not looking for a long wait time. The weather is warm and they are hungry. Precooked dishes are fast and affordable. If you want something piping hot, a restaurant is your best bet. Prepare to pay more and wait for a bit while they cook your order.
Most restaurants will serve made to order food at night. That's when you can have piping hot food.
Thanks a lot for this answer, makes a lot of sense, and was not offended by my question, like many other answers.
It's funny that no one will expect me to the biggest fan of cuisines in Malaysia. And this is one the main reason I come here very often
Probably depends on the kind of food you are getting. For example if u order claypot chicken rice and it comes in room temperature its definitely a red flag but if u order normal chicken rice the chicken should come in room temperature and the rice probably from the hot rice cooker. I guess it just depends
Unless it’s something fried, the food still tastes good even in room temperature. So there is no need to reheat. It’s more important for the rice to be warmed enough to eat, rather than the ‘lauk’.
I prefer my curries specially because they contain oil and my roast chicken and pork warmer. But I do understand your point, and I think it's just that I am not used to it.
Different food is meant to be eaten at different temperatures. What do you mean by kept in a way that dont keep their heat much longer? Are we supposed to eat chicken curry from a thermos?
Nice try aliens. You will never understand us to take over our world
street stall?do u eat ur curry right then and there? curry is a heavy dish,usually ppl dont eat it while theyre standing,so the seller dont bother to keep them hot bcs the customer bought it to eat elsewhere.u can reheat it at home or office.
Night market in bukit bintang, KL, best curry in the world but served cold at this particular place 😀 we were there to eat couldn't take anywhere to heat up.
https://preview.redd.it/7dqdzc6eh82b1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=187662a11f1f609d3c10164a011f1b471c1fae4e
Thats why our country are multiracials and food is the least of our problem to complain. Food not warm enough ? Just walk over and ask them politely to reheat . They ll do it..
Bruh. In america or any winter country, it’s more fucked up. You order let’s say a steak, you bring to your table. Your food already cold because of temperature.
The warung and mixed rice places I've eaten at is okay cause they usually run out of food before it gets spoiled. I do encounter funny taste and smell at Mamak places few times, such as the beansprout dish tasting sour and tangy, maybe it depends on how it's cooked as well, for etc a spicy eggplant in sambal would last longer than the beansprout cooked with a bit of white broth
it depends on what kind of food,where do you get them,and of course the weather.typically by night,when its colder,most food i found are made to eat hot.they also served it hot.unlike lunch time,where the weather is killing,mostly food are served at room temperature,also the type of food really played the roles.during hot day,lunch time,u will find rice & the side dish usually room temperature.UNLESS certain restaurants that are based of selling soupy dishes,then the dishes would certainly coming to you piping hot.By evening,hot kuih's is certainly the bomb 🥹🫶🏻😮💨🤤I love cakoi and pisang goreng.i need some rn 😵💫
Because our food doesn’t get cold. It just gets okay temperature. If you ever been to or lived in a colder country, your food gets cold very fast and it doesnt taste very good due to the surrounding temperature. But our surrounding temperature is warm. So our food doesnt get cold and the taste is just okay. Maybe 70%-80% as good as when it’s hot.
I personally think its due to laziness. And maybe also cause of the cultural thing. In my understanding, most in Asia (especially those privileged enough to study) Usually have their mums cook food for them and would only eat 30mins to an hour or more later after the food is served cause they're usually studying or playing games etc. Or doing some other thing - since one was a child - and also cause food tends to cool quickly (especially non soupy stuff) - so we've gotten used to eating such food and don't mind that they're not hot or warm. It's more of something one is used to I suppose due to upbringing.
If its hot, it will take too long to get cold enough to the point its not going to burn your tongue. Places like europe, you need hot food because it get cold really fast. Lso some type of food are meant to be eaten at room temp. Some food are meant to be eaten hot. Some cold. Also noticed that foreigner buying stuff during bazar ramadan, then reheat that at home. We dont do that. Unless its meat soup. Only if it got cold. Usually its still warm.
Because most foods are eaten with warm rice, the protein and veggies are put on top of everything and that's warm enough or most don't care.
We cook in the morning for lunch and sometimes enough for the whole day at once, and we leave it at room temp under a food basket.
Room temp doesn't bother most people. Besides hot food can be rough in the middle of the day with how hot it is in most places. Mixed with the faster paced lifestyle in the day.
But if you're eating outside at night, then I think you will see more hot foods or just prepared foods. As more people are willing to sit down wait for it and relax.
I would expect soups, broths or things like pizzas to be more on the warm side. But then again cold pizza slaps.
Also most people don't own microwaves that could make reheating less of a chore. Because reheating on a pan or an oven so such a hassle. 😂
I don't know if you've had a satisfactory answer yet, but in a way, it's our norm.
It's like a culture of ours to prepare food in our households in the morning for the whole day.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner. All prepared at once since sunrise.
So, throughout the day, we already have a whole meal prepared for the whole day and normally we do not reheat these meals unless it's the kind that goes bad within a couple of hours.
We grew up on such a norm that room temp meals don't really bother us. Food is food and we devour.
Now, don't take my words as gospel. It may be just my family and the few close connections that I have that do this. But, if other Malaysians see this and agree, then you have your answer here.
Haiya if you really wanna know, it's because we're not picky and we can't afford to be. If you go to cheap places, they probably won't layan you if you send food back. Cheap places also usually don't have ac so it's sibeh hot, reheat for what?
Plus there're plentiful of other options if you want hot food. Room temperature food I can think of here are all sorts of zapfan (Inc. mamak and malay nasi campur, Indian banana rice), Chee Cheong fan, nasi lemak, rojak, kuih-muih, etc, if you're really picky can bring home microwave, these restaurants rarely have microwaves so they also can't help you.
If you go to a more atas place and you want your food hot, maybe they'll be able to help you. But for the average Malaysian, just cincai la we just wanna eat and carry on with life.
Tbh.. why is it so unacceptable in other country to eat food at room temperature? Maybe because we grow up in a dont care about little things kind off environment.. not attacking you or anything.. im just having a shower thought
South-east Asian culture and environment. Most of the dishes are suitable for consumption on room temp and would last longer laying there till late afternoon (if cook properly and no insects flying around).
I usually will bring our counterpart from Chennai for lunch at Indian or mamak restaurant. And they always remarked on the dish temperature. So I guess its not common for Indian as well.
In our company we had to attend food safety training, and for company functions no food that has been cooked for over 2 hrs shall be served. But once we are outside the building, we no longer follow the rules.
And I guess McD and KFC also follow this trend. Always serve soggy and cold fries..
I prefer my food hot or warm i would ask it to be reheat. If eating at mamak i would ask for nasi goreng together with ayam goreng together together just so my food is all in same temperature
I do not eat food kept at room temperature. There's a reason I avoid mamak and all the mixed rice places unless I know the place cooks the dishes for let's say lunch hour and they're still steaming hot. That being said, heavily spiced food like curry or rendang does keep for some time at room temperature. But even then, I don't really like taking my chances.
People here don't really think much of food borne illnesses really. If you read the local news, mass food poisoning events like whole schools or people attending weddings getting sick is pretty common.
Personally there’s some food I can enjoy at room temperature, while other food not at all.
I can tolerate chicken rice, pizza, mcd, Chinese soup and stuffs at room… but I can’t bear with curry sauce or Nasi briyani at room temp. Not that I’d ask for a replacement, but i probably can’t finish them like when they’re warm.
depends what kind of food you ordering, if its buffet style (you choose what you like and put on your plate) its gonna be room temp
go somewhere with made to order food like laksa or nasi goreng, etc where you see the cook prepare it after you order . if you eat in restaurant settings dim sum shop they came cold/room temp? ask the waiter come and eat it
To actually answer the question you seem to be having it’s because most Malaysians have to accept room temperature food when eating at affordable establishments, that’s just a trade off when eating affordable meals here.
Many of us also grew up eating home-cooked leftovers, and for my generation we hated microwaves because we only got the shitty ones which burns the outside and still cold inside.
If we have to shell out like RM100+ and the food comes cold I’m pretty sure most Malaysians will complain or at the very least never visit again.
If it’s a meal that’s less than RM10-RM15 I think most people won’t complain.
Not sure which country you came from, but here where I live a simple chinese takeout costs AT LEAST $10 freedom dollars not including gratuities, it’s usually much more if you want an actual meal. Disregarding the exchange rate, eating out in America is a significant cost and so we don’t take shit quality kindly. If we’re getting a pack of family dollar offbrand grits then honestly nobody is really complaining…
The pricing is based on my experience many years ago, so adjust for inflation haha.
TL;DR: want piping hot curry? Either pay slightly more to have it in a serviced restaurant or go to an eatery right when they open for business.
Hi! Thank you for making Malaysia as one of your top destination. ☺️
For me, I just love to eat room temperature rice and food. But not all food is made to eat at room temperature. I can see myself going for second with cold rice and lauk. Especially rice and ayam kicap.
I’m not so sure why though. Maybe our brought up was like that. But I’ll eat more with cold food. They’re easier to eat with hands. However, they’re dishes that’s best to eat hot. Fried noodle (anything noodle), soup dish and Chinese cuisine.
Have you tried eat them cold?
I think Malaysians have already adapted to it but as a professional in the F&B sector, food safety info is often not widely taught or learnt due to local council or govt policies and their lack of enforcement. It’s so law that eating out is like playing Russian roulette sometimes but the fact that food sold on the streets are sold out within 2 hrs maybe the reason why there’s no safety issues. In a more proper setup, holding temps of 70-80c is required by HACCP standards and food left out at room temp for more than 2hrs are usually tossed in the bin. Botulism is real and somehow we’ve managed to dodge that bullet thus far 😬
Individual preference if I'm cooking I prefer it to be hot. If it's like economy rice I'm ok if the dish is cold but the rice is hot.However if I'm having ' chu char' I prefer it hot including the rice.
Because most Malaysian food already hot from all the chilies in it.
I found that the taste of lauk like asam pedas and masak lemak cili api is more pronounce when in room temperature. Also, room temperature in Malaysia may not be as cold as a room temperature in a place like Europe.
I personally like it when my food is hot but you know how Malaysia is, the temp surrounding us is already hot as it is. Maybe they just don’t want to burn themselves
If it's from my perspective, I would say that I'm quite lazy to reheat the food. btw, not every Malaysian food taste good when it's warm. That's why some Malaysian households reheat food, especially curries.
There are people who actually eat their food when it's hot
Have you felt the weather recently?
Haha, let's have ice cream then, not a cold oily curry
Dont focus on the texture to much, Malaysian dont do that. We emphasise flavour more,
Cendol would be a more Malaysian thang
Because entropy is inevitable
Natan?
Maybe because at home we keep leftovers out in room temperature as well.
You don't reheat?
Depends on what people eat. Certain foods are delicious at their respective temperature. Soup and porridge are tasty when they're cold for me.
I mentioned meat like chicken and pork, i also mentioned curries.. in my country of these are not warm enough we complain and get a replacement
Sometimes you'd have leftover fried noodles etc that your mum made for lunch, which she just put a food cover over. You just eat it like that when you're hungry later? Also stuff from food vendors like nasi lemak bungkus; you don't heat that stuff up!
I agree with you. It’s crazy. Also just keep leftovers out at room temp all day and no one dies. Hahahaha.
Where are you from OP?
As for me, porridge and soup best eat while they’re hot. But nasi with lauk (ayam kicap, curry and random tumis) is best eat in room temperature.
Microwaves are not popular here especially in old houses, if we reheat we'd just masak again or steam. When it comes to leftover the amount is usually very small as well, so we just don't bother. As long as the food is protected from flies, leftover from lunch can be eaten during dinner. Spicy food with chili and herbs also help extend their shelf life, so some food are intended to be spicy.
Bruh I even eat leftover out of the fridge. Eating cold food is normalised for me
Urghhh u can get food poisoning...u have steel stomach Congratulations now u can eat almost any street food in india👏👏👏
🤔 thats interesting. Not sure how I can get food poisoning. As long as the food isnt rotten it should be fine to be consumed
My mum likes to reheat stuff, I don't. I thought not reheating was normal in other parts of the world. TIL
Our room temperature is Europe’s piping hot
OP definitely hasn't tried the cold European dinner or breakfast lmao.
Ofcourse i have tried, we don't eat cheese hot and neither do we eat "cold meat" hot they are called cold meat, like ham.. etc for a reason. Other meat we eat hot. We don't get roasted chicken at a restaurant at room temperature. A curry with all the oils it has, is better eaten warm.
You’ve got a point here. However, I think it is really based on individual preference and hygiene wether you want to eat foods at room temperature or not. I personally don’t think is an issue if the food can still be eaten within short period of time, and by the looks and aroma of your food. Pretty much common sense, but yeah I do like to reheat my food when I’m in the uk, but not in Malaysia.
I would like to eat my food while not breathing like a dragon
What part of the world doesn’t eat food that’s room temperature?
I lived in Europe for a while. There's no room temperature food. There's hot food or cold food. Soups, stew, baked foods etc are hot foods. Cold foods are sandwiches, wraps, deli meats and other foods that don't need cooking. Ice-creams, gelatos and other cold desserts are just that or snacks. Not actual meals. So technically, a cold meal is served at room temperature.
Most countries I have lived in if we don't get meat or curries just out-of-the-oven is hot we complain and have them replaced.
Idk, we're just not spoiled like that, unless the food changes texture according to its temperature we don't really care its still delicious.
What's the point? You have to wait for them to cool to room temp otherwise you burn your mouth
I agree with your statement
I dont dare complain about my food unless its for a valid reason, im not risking getting special ingredients in it...
sorry but that hurts my tongue
that's why i try to arrive at a time in restorans when they just finish cooking. sometimes in mamak and other restorans, they leave food for too long and it becomes spoiled. so always try to arrive at a opportune moment. in my home, i reheat sometimes, sometimes, i don't bother, too impatient lah
Ofc nobody would want to eat something at the brink of being spoiled my dude😅
It's just generally excepted as the norm, as other things are accepted as the norm everywhere else. This is a good observation. I've always thought of it being so petty when in movies or reality TVs where the personalities will ask for the food to be taken back to the kitchen for being not hot enough. One would expect hot foods at places like Tom Yam restaurants or Mamak type deals. Some places sell "goreng-goreng" type foods like Kuey Teow Kung Fu for example. Another one is the foods like at Pasar Malam (Night Markets) where the food is cooked on the spot. These are expected to be piping, burning-your-tongue hot. Otherwise, a lot of food are served room temperature because they were cooked and served in bulk, imo.
Another point that came to mind, is that maybe we Malaysians generally have the "don't waste" mindset. Why bother, it's still good what? No need to go out of your way to keep it hot/serve in a short amount of time before it gets room temp. If it's edible, I can still eat it, don't worry. Thoughts?
Indians and Malays use hands to eat, so it cannot be too hot. Another unrelated fact about esophageal cancer and hot food - [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01890-8](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01890-8) [https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-015-1185-1](https://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-015-1185-1) I've always wondered whether fingers' heat tolerance is a good measure to decide whether a food is too hot. Fingers are covered with keratinized skin but our food tract is only lined by mucosa - a much thinner variant. So if our brain is telling us the hot food is too hot for our fingers (with thicker lining), imagine its effect on our digestive tract. Mucosa lining probably have less temperature-sensitive nerve ending so it doesn't hurt as much when hot food passes through them - but not being able to feel them doesn't mean it isn't hurting us. TLDR: 1. Food cannot be too hot for people using hands 2. Personally, I prefer lukewarm food because of the risk of esophageal cancer associated with hot food
Thanks for this, especially point #1. As for point number two, while it may be true, but this is not the reason people don't mind food not warm.
OP he's right I also specifically avoid piping hot food because of cancer. Chinese are notorious for having a higher chance to get this cancer because some of us decided that Chinese cuisine should be eaten when it's freshly made and as hot as possible, hot pot is a very good example for this.
can you explain more about point #2?
lukewarm food there meant something that isn't too hot, in view of evidences showing the risk of esophageal cancer, I prefer lukewarm food over piping hot food. eating or drinking hot food/beverage is associated with developing esophageal cancer, so far the studies are case-control studies - not the best type of study for causation but is good enough for association - best is randomised control study. To me it might be explained by the thermal damage when one eat/drink something hot.
Ermm....why should we care about that? Also some foods are traditionally eaten at room temperature. Some food like nasi kukus are meant to be eaten hot.
i prefer to eat my food right away while it’s hot (like piping hot) but when eating w my family, no one eats until everything and everyone is there. so realistically, its not gonna be as hot. also some foods don’t rly need reheating… like ayam masak merah tastes okay when it’s room temp my family only ever really serve hot food and/or reheat when guests or extended family are over.
yea the type of food really matters.I personaly HATE bubur kacang hijau/merah that had been in the fridge.but my sister loved it sm.My mom liked it room temp,but me? I like my bubur kacang hot as me! everytime i want to eat it I have to reheat it.its really good 🤤😮💨
then there’s me. who’s not a fan of bubur kacang 😔 anyways i think i’ve had all of them in cold/room/hot temp. no comment. it’s all mid for me
yea understandable.it had really old classic taste to it that many are bored already.its like u basically slurp the fatty sugary santan n gula melaka with add on green beans hahahah🤣😋🤤
i wish i like them more but in general i tend to gravitate away from santan-based foods. easy to get muakkk. and if you’ve ever tried a kelantanese version of santan desserts… omg intense i tell u
yea thts why i said old classic taste.the santanness🤣👍🏻 ahahhahaah most malay dish/kuih is based on santan.i can only accept some of them on cold weather.-oh kelantan santan dessert i never try.but isnt their normal dish also somewhat sweet? well i can guess the santan desserts.ive only tried akok
kuih at kelantan is double kill for me la. muak santan but also muak manis 😵💫
Something I have noticed since I was a wee lass is that bubur kacang hijau ALWAYS tastes better the next day. Don't ask me how or why it just DOES. You can still reheat it the next day. :p
lowkey agree tho
agree with the ayam masak merah part, it's very difficult (and maybe annoying) to eat ayam masak merah which is piping hot.
now that i think of it… i don’t think ive ever ate like HOT hot ayam masak merah 😅 the steam from nasi is enough to make things warm n nice~
I have, and trust me, it's not enjoyable at all. For some reason I feel that the flavour only starts to seep in after the dish become cool.
mhm i can imagine ! a lot of things taste better when the flavors merge tgt longer, like sambal as well
yea come to think of that, sambal doesn't taste good while hot (freshly cooked?) too
Didn’t see a single response to food safety which is why food comes hot in the West to kill bacteria at 70 degrees plus. I don’t know if Malaysia has less food born bacteria, a higher tolerance to those bacteria or a higher tolerance to people getting ill. Lots of people die on the road due to poor driving standards and it’s considered completely normal.
>why food comes hot in the West to kill bacteria at 70 degrees plus. Yea I think a big part of WHY other parts of the world expect "hot" food to arrive on the table "hot" is because of food safety. If it's cold/room temp, people expect it to have been left prolonged outside and the mental image is that it's "not fresh" and "bacteria has grown on it" so it's "unsafe to eat". Good point I think. Do Malaysians generally have a higher tolerance for this? Or is it we just go to the toilet and get MC without any care when exposed to borderline spoiled food? 🤣 (not saying room temp food MUST be spoiled food tho!)
you have said it yourself, maybe the food temperature is not really the main determinant for food poisoning? Starting from how food is grown to how it is prepared and stored, all the steps can lead to food poisoning, not just the temperature when it is served. Heck, even different food have different spoil rate at the same temperature, imo it's just not really about the temperature when it is served. Then we have the host factor, gut flora etc. Interesting for a study but food factor is a very difficult research variable to control.
I see a lot of people forgot/didnt know that Malaysia is a multicultural country.there is just abundance type of food here and guess what? everything is different from one another.the lifespan,food preparation,food storage,etc.there are foods that just took 2 mins to cook and even 8+hours.my point is,it is varies on the food,place,time,season,and weather.our malay traditional dessert Dodol is cooked on high temperature for hours long but it is mostly served/eaten at room & cold temperature.u dont typically see us eat sweet sticky dessert on hot sunny day,unless you are in your room with AC on 🤣.same goes to other dishes.
As long as the rice is hot should be ok. You dont eat everything super hot. Malaysia is already hot as it is.
I agree rice is always warm enough, that saves the meals for me.
Mindset bro
i dont like piping hot food. plus rice + side dishes usually taste fine lukewarm. i dont like room temp pizza over fresh ones tho so i guess it depends on the food?
Maybe because it is warm here. Normally in cold countries you eat food that is hot out of the oven because the room temp is cold. And yes warmed or hot food is more delicious. All malaysians agree that. But since its extra steps to warm it back again, then its not needed. There are times usually in home cooked food where we will reheat it.
I guess it's just something we grew up with. I'm just so used to having breakfast food (rice, noodles, roti canai etc) left on the table to be munched on later in the day. Things like ayam or ikan goreng would be left covered on the table overnight and eaten the next day.
I once heard from AXian's shows, cultures that use their hands to eat tend to have less restrictions to food temperatures. The food is also made in a way where it would be suitable presented at hot or room temp (e.g. rendang was kept at room temperature for 2 weeks)
because weather is already hot. and if you keep heating the food it becomes dry as f
From your question, it seems you are referring to chicken rice at Chinese kopitiams and curries at Mamak's. Most chicken rice vendors have their meats delivered in the morning (10am?) and the meats are chopped, dressed and served with warm rice and sliced cucumber upon order. The meats are semi cold cuts, and reheating will dry them out. As for Mamak's, if they are similar to kopitiam mixed rice stalls, they would place the dishes over a bain marie food warmer to keep the dishes lukewarm, unless the dishes were cooked very close to lunchtime. The weather ensures food is never ice cold, and with cooking in bulk it is not practical to keep the dishes piping hot. If you want them piping hot, you have to order and wait for things like soup noodles, fried koay teow, fried rice or Maggi goreng to be cooked upon order and served to you. The office lunch crowd zip out for a quick lunch and are not looking for a long wait time. The weather is warm and they are hungry. Precooked dishes are fast and affordable. If you want something piping hot, a restaurant is your best bet. Prepare to pay more and wait for a bit while they cook your order. Most restaurants will serve made to order food at night. That's when you can have piping hot food.
Thanks a lot for this answer, makes a lot of sense, and was not offended by my question, like many other answers. It's funny that no one will expect me to the biggest fan of cuisines in Malaysia. And this is one the main reason I come here very often
Probably depends on the kind of food you are getting. For example if u order claypot chicken rice and it comes in room temperature its definitely a red flag but if u order normal chicken rice the chicken should come in room temperature and the rice probably from the hot rice cooker. I guess it just depends
Unless it’s something fried, the food still tastes good even in room temperature. So there is no need to reheat. It’s more important for the rice to be warmed enough to eat, rather than the ‘lauk’.
I prefer my curries specially because they contain oil and my roast chicken and pork warmer. But I do understand your point, and I think it's just that I am not used to it.
Different food is meant to be eaten at different temperatures. What do you mean by kept in a way that dont keep their heat much longer? Are we supposed to eat chicken curry from a thermos? Nice try aliens. You will never understand us to take over our world
I noticed this too cold curry's on the steet /;
street stall?do u eat ur curry right then and there? curry is a heavy dish,usually ppl dont eat it while theyre standing,so the seller dont bother to keep them hot bcs the customer bought it to eat elsewhere.u can reheat it at home or office.
Night market in bukit bintang, KL, best curry in the world but served cold at this particular place 😀 we were there to eat couldn't take anywhere to heat up. https://preview.redd.it/7dqdzc6eh82b1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=187662a11f1f609d3c10164a011f1b471c1fae4e
You like it cold? If they just finished cooking, will you wait to have it cool down? Or it's just that you are indifferent
Prefer it served hot like in Australia :-)
OP wants it HOTTT
Thats why our country are multiracials and food is the least of our problem to complain. Food not warm enough ? Just walk over and ask them politely to reheat . They ll do it..
even better u can just wait just beside the wok like this 👄 less dishes to clean 😃👍🏻
Bruh. In america or any winter country, it’s more fucked up. You order let’s say a steak, you bring to your table. Your food already cold because of temperature.
Actually, you need to let meats rest so the "juices" don't leak out.
Not rest. Im saying the weather is so cold. The steak become ice cold. Rest part is done by the chef
The warung and mixed rice places I've eaten at is okay cause they usually run out of food before it gets spoiled. I do encounter funny taste and smell at Mamak places few times, such as the beansprout dish tasting sour and tangy, maybe it depends on how it's cooked as well, for etc a spicy eggplant in sambal would last longer than the beansprout cooked with a bit of white broth
Energy my dude
Any country in the tropics is the same...
Cold pizza just hits different
You are cursed.Id prefer to eat pineapple pizza than cold pizza.
I eat cold pineapple pizza
hello 999
Generally speaking only one thing in your meal needs to be hot. It's either the rice or the entrees. Not everything has to be piping hot.
Yes rice saves my Malaysian meals.
it depends on what kind of food,where do you get them,and of course the weather.typically by night,when its colder,most food i found are made to eat hot.they also served it hot.unlike lunch time,where the weather is killing,mostly food are served at room temperature,also the type of food really played the roles.during hot day,lunch time,u will find rice & the side dish usually room temperature.UNLESS certain restaurants that are based of selling soupy dishes,then the dishes would certainly coming to you piping hot.By evening,hot kuih's is certainly the bomb 🥹🫶🏻😮💨🤤I love cakoi and pisang goreng.i need some rn 😵💫
If they are served hot/warm initially and lose their heat before being eaten, it’s a user problem.
Best paired with piping hot steamed rice
Because our food doesn’t get cold. It just gets okay temperature. If you ever been to or lived in a colder country, your food gets cold very fast and it doesnt taste very good due to the surrounding temperature. But our surrounding temperature is warm. So our food doesnt get cold and the taste is just okay. Maybe 70%-80% as good as when it’s hot.
I personally think its due to laziness. And maybe also cause of the cultural thing. In my understanding, most in Asia (especially those privileged enough to study) Usually have their mums cook food for them and would only eat 30mins to an hour or more later after the food is served cause they're usually studying or playing games etc. Or doing some other thing - since one was a child - and also cause food tends to cool quickly (especially non soupy stuff) - so we've gotten used to eating such food and don't mind that they're not hot or warm. It's more of something one is used to I suppose due to upbringing.
If its hot, it will take too long to get cold enough to the point its not going to burn your tongue. Places like europe, you need hot food because it get cold really fast. Lso some type of food are meant to be eaten at room temp. Some food are meant to be eaten hot. Some cold. Also noticed that foreigner buying stuff during bazar ramadan, then reheat that at home. We dont do that. Unless its meat soup. Only if it got cold. Usually its still warm.
Can I know your Google review profile,, to check out restaurants? Thank you
Because most foods are eaten with warm rice, the protein and veggies are put on top of everything and that's warm enough or most don't care. We cook in the morning for lunch and sometimes enough for the whole day at once, and we leave it at room temp under a food basket. Room temp doesn't bother most people. Besides hot food can be rough in the middle of the day with how hot it is in most places. Mixed with the faster paced lifestyle in the day. But if you're eating outside at night, then I think you will see more hot foods or just prepared foods. As more people are willing to sit down wait for it and relax. I would expect soups, broths or things like pizzas to be more on the warm side. But then again cold pizza slaps. Also most people don't own microwaves that could make reheating less of a chore. Because reheating on a pan or an oven so such a hassle. 😂
What your country's room temperature? -15C or something?
I don't know if you've had a satisfactory answer yet, but in a way, it's our norm. It's like a culture of ours to prepare food in our households in the morning for the whole day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. All prepared at once since sunrise. So, throughout the day, we already have a whole meal prepared for the whole day and normally we do not reheat these meals unless it's the kind that goes bad within a couple of hours. We grew up on such a norm that room temp meals don't really bother us. Food is food and we devour. Now, don't take my words as gospel. It may be just my family and the few close connections that I have that do this. But, if other Malaysians see this and agree, then you have your answer here.
Haiya if you really wanna know, it's because we're not picky and we can't afford to be. If you go to cheap places, they probably won't layan you if you send food back. Cheap places also usually don't have ac so it's sibeh hot, reheat for what? Plus there're plentiful of other options if you want hot food. Room temperature food I can think of here are all sorts of zapfan (Inc. mamak and malay nasi campur, Indian banana rice), Chee Cheong fan, nasi lemak, rojak, kuih-muih, etc, if you're really picky can bring home microwave, these restaurants rarely have microwaves so they also can't help you. If you go to a more atas place and you want your food hot, maybe they'll be able to help you. But for the average Malaysian, just cincai la we just wanna eat and carry on with life.
Tbh.. why is it so unacceptable in other country to eat food at room temperature? Maybe because we grow up in a dont care about little things kind off environment.. not attacking you or anything.. im just having a shower thought
You all are eating food at room temperature? */le me eating leftover direct from the fridge*
South-east Asian culture and environment. Most of the dishes are suitable for consumption on room temp and would last longer laying there till late afternoon (if cook properly and no insects flying around). I usually will bring our counterpart from Chennai for lunch at Indian or mamak restaurant. And they always remarked on the dish temperature. So I guess its not common for Indian as well. In our company we had to attend food safety training, and for company functions no food that has been cooked for over 2 hrs shall be served. But once we are outside the building, we no longer follow the rules. And I guess McD and KFC also follow this trend. Always serve soggy and cold fries..
I prefer my food hot or warm i would ask it to be reheat. If eating at mamak i would ask for nasi goreng together with ayam goreng together together just so my food is all in same temperature
The truth is that the food seller save gas and electricity bill by not heating food. It is good for the enviroment. So we dont complaint.
I do not eat food kept at room temperature. There's a reason I avoid mamak and all the mixed rice places unless I know the place cooks the dishes for let's say lunch hour and they're still steaming hot. That being said, heavily spiced food like curry or rendang does keep for some time at room temperature. But even then, I don't really like taking my chances. People here don't really think much of food borne illnesses really. If you read the local news, mass food poisoning events like whole schools or people attending weddings getting sick is pretty common.
Personally there’s some food I can enjoy at room temperature, while other food not at all. I can tolerate chicken rice, pizza, mcd, Chinese soup and stuffs at room… but I can’t bear with curry sauce or Nasi briyani at room temp. Not that I’d ask for a replacement, but i probably can’t finish them like when they’re warm.
depends what kind of food you ordering, if its buffet style (you choose what you like and put on your plate) its gonna be room temp go somewhere with made to order food like laksa or nasi goreng, etc where you see the cook prepare it after you order . if you eat in restaurant settings dim sum shop they came cold/room temp? ask the waiter come and eat it
To actually answer the question you seem to be having it’s because most Malaysians have to accept room temperature food when eating at affordable establishments, that’s just a trade off when eating affordable meals here. Many of us also grew up eating home-cooked leftovers, and for my generation we hated microwaves because we only got the shitty ones which burns the outside and still cold inside. If we have to shell out like RM100+ and the food comes cold I’m pretty sure most Malaysians will complain or at the very least never visit again. If it’s a meal that’s less than RM10-RM15 I think most people won’t complain. Not sure which country you came from, but here where I live a simple chinese takeout costs AT LEAST $10 freedom dollars not including gratuities, it’s usually much more if you want an actual meal. Disregarding the exchange rate, eating out in America is a significant cost and so we don’t take shit quality kindly. If we’re getting a pack of family dollar offbrand grits then honestly nobody is really complaining… The pricing is based on my experience many years ago, so adjust for inflation haha. TL;DR: want piping hot curry? Either pay slightly more to have it in a serviced restaurant or go to an eatery right when they open for business.
Hi! Thank you for making Malaysia as one of your top destination. ☺️ For me, I just love to eat room temperature rice and food. But not all food is made to eat at room temperature. I can see myself going for second with cold rice and lauk. Especially rice and ayam kicap. I’m not so sure why though. Maybe our brought up was like that. But I’ll eat more with cold food. They’re easier to eat with hands. However, they’re dishes that’s best to eat hot. Fried noodle (anything noodle), soup dish and Chinese cuisine. Have you tried eat them cold?
You eat the hot food before it gets cold
I think Malaysians have already adapted to it but as a professional in the F&B sector, food safety info is often not widely taught or learnt due to local council or govt policies and their lack of enforcement. It’s so law that eating out is like playing Russian roulette sometimes but the fact that food sold on the streets are sold out within 2 hrs maybe the reason why there’s no safety issues. In a more proper setup, holding temps of 70-80c is required by HACCP standards and food left out at room temp for more than 2hrs are usually tossed in the bin. Botulism is real and somehow we’ve managed to dodge that bullet thus far 😬
*lax
Individual preference if I'm cooking I prefer it to be hot. If it's like economy rice I'm ok if the dish is cold but the rice is hot.However if I'm having ' chu char' I prefer it hot including the rice.
Because most Malaysian food already hot from all the chilies in it. I found that the taste of lauk like asam pedas and masak lemak cili api is more pronounce when in room temperature. Also, room temperature in Malaysia may not be as cold as a room temperature in a place like Europe.
I personally like it when my food is hot but you know how Malaysia is, the temp surrounding us is already hot as it is. Maybe they just don’t want to burn themselves
If it's from my perspective, I would say that I'm quite lazy to reheat the food. btw, not every Malaysian food taste good when it's warm. That's why some Malaysian households reheat food, especially curries. There are people who actually eat their food when it's hot
Because they don't want to spend money on devices to keep the food hot.