Dirty dining equals yummy dining?

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CLEANLINESS, when it come to eateries in Malaysia doesn’t seem to be much of an issue, judging from the huge crowds that patronise dirty eateries and foodstalls that are not equipped with clean running water. It has even become a long-standing joke that some of these places churn out the best food around thanks to the added ‘flavours’ from their surroundings.

Five-footway stalls and open air food courts especially serve up some of the most delicious food, in the most disgusting surroundings. What’s more, people in Malaysia in particular, have this belief system when it comes to food i.e. “What you can’t see won’t hurt you. Just eat lah!”

Having said this, the Eye would like to relate an incident that took place at the popular SS2 food stalls inPetaling Jaya several years ago. Those familiar with Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will know that the SS2 food stalls serve up some of the best food in town. The place generally comes to life at night and you’ll practically be spoilt for choice when it comes to food there. One dish that was particularly popular there was the Penang Laksa.

Ah yes, the Eye and friends used to hang out there just for the Penang Laksa from a particular stall. One particular evening, four of us headed to the stalls. A lady in the group ordered the usual Penang Laksa special. Eye cannot recall exactly, but the other three of us had different dishes.

As we delved into our food, the Eye asked this lady friend for a scoop of her Penang Laksa gravy. It was, without argument, one of the best that Eye had ever tasted. Absolutely delish! We went on eating and as she got to the last bit of gravy at the bottom of the bowl, she noticed something which did not look like ‘asam’ nor any other ingredient for the laska. She tilted the bowl over, jumped from her seat, ran to the drains and practically threw up her guts.

We took a peek in the bowl, and there it was, lying nestled comfortably between the ‘asam’, was a WHOLE COCKROACH — all nicely cooked with its flavours blended into the gravy.

Needless to say, we never went back there, ever, for food.

Speaking of open air night food stalls, do you notice how they look and smell so good at night, but are nauseating in the day time?

Just several days ago, the Eye was talking to a friend. She mentioned that there are several No-Nos that any patron of an eatery should look out for. Some eateries look good from the front and in their dining areas. But if you really wanted to be sure about the hygiene practices of a particular food outlet, check behind the shop — are they washing their utensils by the roadside? By the drain perhaps? And what about those leftover prawn heads, fish scales, bones and other ‘body parts’?

Are these strewn across the road and clogging up the drains behind the shop? One may not notice them at night, but try going around the back in the day. You’d be lucky if you’re not attacked by huge monstrous looking flies and hugely mutated looking maggots!

The Eye personally despises eateries where they use dirty looking cloth to wipe tables, and the same cloth to wipe hands and dry utensils. The Eye will leave that to your imaginations. Of course, there are some workers and owners who have the horrid habit of wiping everything on the table, off onto the floor.

Washrooms are dead giveaways on the hygiene practices of those who run eating places. Enough said. Some of you may be halfway through your Sunday brunch and the Eye does not want to spoil it any further for you.

Restaurants that carry out their cooking behind the shops near drains and by the roadside are another big No-No for the Eye.

Unfortunately, as the Eye mentioned, most places that churn out the best food are found by the drains and roadsides and are basically ‘nang ceridak’. These places are not equipped with any oil traps or filtration system.

Then there is that horrible habit of handling chicken eggs and not washing hands after that. Egg shells equal chicken poop. Enough said.

The Eye recalls one particular stall in a foodcourt in town that served fried food — instead of wiping up the oil that splashed on the floor, the owner would just place newspapers or open cardboard boxes over the oil.

These newspapers or boxes will remain there for months till they fail to soak up anymore oil. Black, sticky, icky layers of newspapers and cardboard. Lovely breeding places for those wee little cockroaches that we call “lepeh”.

A little less than a year ago, the Eye caught sight of several workers preparing banana leaves behind a banana leaf restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. They sat by the drain behind the shop while cutting the banana leaves to the serving size. The leaves were piled on the tarmac and one worker actually had one foot up on a little pile next to him to secure it! Come try our feet flavoured banana leaf!

The Eye applauds the health and local authorities for implementing the grading system. Over the years, the Eye has noticed some eateries gradually improving from ‘C’ grade to ‘A’ grade. See, good food can be found in clean hygienic places! It is not such a hard thing to accomplish.

The Eye doesn’t expect an eatery to be clinically clean, smelling of Lysol or Dettol or bleach. But yes, maintain a good level of cleanliness, a proper disposal system, personal hygiene and it doesn’t take much for those cooking to put on a hat or a chef’s hairnet. To the enforcement officers from the health and local authorities, keep up the good work and spare no mercy for eateries who try to get away by adding ‘extra flavour’ to our food.