WHAT’S in a name? Plenty when it is normally associated with a traditionally Chinese porcine dish in Malaysia.
Hence it was a bold move by the Biri Biri Hotpot restaurant to feature lamb kut teh as one of its signature dishes.
The proprietor has assured that the restaurant sources only from halal-certified suppliers and the certs are openly displayed at the door of its Jalan Raja Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur premise.
It also stated that it is in the process of submitting application for JAKIM’s (Malaysian Islamic Development Department) halal certification.
However, the use of the moniker which is synonymous with a pork delicacy did not go well with some netizens.
One netizen opined that Malays were too adventurous to try various food even to the point of assimilating foreign cultures.
Another commenter was dripping with obvious racism as he wondered why Malays would go out of their way “to normalise” a favourite Chinese dish “just by swapping pork with lamb” to entice Muslim tastebuds.
This was when a fellow commenter enlightened him that sausages were originally made of pork but are now made available in other meat form such as chicken which render them halal for Muslim consumption.
“You need to mix more with other races to open up your outdated thinking,” advised the learned commenter.
In fact, it did not help that a video posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page featured a young Chinese lad doing a live food review by comparing the flavour of the Biri-Biri Hotpot lamb kut teh to that of bak kut teh (herbal pork rib soup).
Thankfully, there were many netizens who responded positively by wishing the restaurateur success and patience in dealing with the many challenges that come his way.
Many took the time and effort to explain that the kut teh was generic for “meat bone soup”.
Some netizens went on to cite numerous other dishes that have cross-pollinated between cultures such as rendang and char kway teow.
The restauranteur admits that it was probably not the wisest decision to use the words kut teh in its menu given the baggage it carries but was hopeful of breaking down barriers through a shared love of food.
To that, FocusM wishes the venture the very best of luck. – Oct 4, 2024
