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English Version | 中文版本 When a hawker dish moves into airline food, taste isn’t the hardest problem. Identity is. Santan has put real care into rebuilding confidence around inflight meals, and it shows. This piece looks only at one dish, Uncle   Sai's Char Kuey Teow , and what happens when a Penang hawker reference is asked to travel far beyond the conditions that formed it. When Santan introduced Sai Char Kuey Teow onboard AirAsia, the conversation quickly moved beyond whether the dish tasted good. Questions around authenticity, halal adaptation, and cultural ownership followed, not because the dish failed, but because it worked well enough to matter. This is not a review. It is an attempt to understand why this dish carries so much weight. Char Kuey Teow travels easily as a name, but much less easily as a taste. Taking a Penang-referenced Char Kuey Teow onto a plane is not trivial. Airline food operates under hard constraints: reheating, holding time, safety, scale, and a diver...

English Version | 中文版本 In a supermarket in northern Thailand, bundles of green beans, cucumbers, and herbs once appeared not in plastic, but folded in fresh banana leaves. The images went viral because they looked poetic. But the logic behind them was purely practical. The retailer, widely identified as Rimping Supermarket in Chiang Mai, was not redesigning food for trend or tradition. It was addressing a basic problem. How to reduce single-use plastic at the exact point where food meets the consumer , without introducing complex new systems, machines, or materials. Banana leaves are already part of the local food ecosystem. They are flexible, breathable, abundant, and familiar to both vendors and shoppers. They perform the same function as plastic wrap. They group produce, protect it, and signal freshness , using a material that already belongs to the region’s agricultural rhythm. This was not a new technology. It was a material substitution. The significance is not the leaf ...

English Version | 中文版本 Pizza Hut recently released a campaign focused on ingredient transparency, putting sourcing and process front and center instead of promotions. This is not a menu launch. It’s a moment designed to let the ingredients speak. In Dubai, Pizza Hut hosted a private Supper Club built around a simple idea: place familiar ingredients in a setting with higher expectations, and see if they hold up . In this context, a Supper Club refers to a small, invite-only dining session held in a private setting, rather than a public restaurant experience. The structure was intentional. Chefs and invited guests from the food industry were present. Branding was kept quiet — no logos, no menu cues, no brand signals. Guests were served a curated dining experience, before the origin of the ingredients was revealed. Only later was it shared that the dishes were made using the same ingredients used in Pizza Hut kitchens, catching many by surprise . The activation also connect...

English | 中文 Audee Cheah - President of the Penang Chefs Association (second from left) represents the association, while Ch’ng (third from left) stands for Ghee Hiang. Also celebrating the collaboration are Chow (second from right), Jordan Ooi (right), and Tian Hang (left).   In George Town, where colonial façades meet bustling markets and street aromas linger in every alley, one name threads seamlessly through memory, flavor, and culture : Ghee Hiang 義香 . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ghee Hiang (@gheehiang) For 170 years , this Penang institution has borne witness to generations of kitchens, evolving cityscapes, and the rhythms of Malaysian life, while preserving the certainty of tradition . Founded in 1856 by Fujian-born artisans, Ghee Hiang’s earliest pastries and sesame oils carried more than flavor - they carried identity, ritual, and community . Earlier this year, the brand marked its milestone with the relaunch of it...

English | 中文 In Bangkok’s hidden culinary corners, where every ingredient carries a story, At Flower cultivates a new rhythm in dining and gastronomy. What began as a small backyard experiment by ออมสิน – ชนัญธิดา ทะพลี (Omsin – Chanantida Thaplee) and เบนซ์ – นายธนธร อำไพกูล (Benz – Thanathorn Ampaikul) has become a vibrant force, connecting agriculture, design, and culinary imagination . Drawn to the delicate beauty of petals, the founders began with marigolds, butterfly pea, and nasturtium, learning through care how to nurture each bloom without chemicals. Every flower, harvested at its peak, moves from soil to plate with attention to color, aroma, and texture , offering chefs a palette that flutters between taste and experience . Thai dining has long danced between the ornamental and the functional  - flowers have decorated temples, markets, and family meals for centuries. At Flower elevates petals beyond garnish; they are edible artifacts , each carrying a voice of creati...

English | 中文 For most people, a food business begins with a restaurant - a place to sit, a menu to browse, and the smell of food in the air. Restaurants are instantly recognizable because we see them, sit in them, and eat there. But some ideas don’t need a dining room to start reaching people. COOX is Malaysia’s first hybrid cloud kitchen community , a place where food entrepreneurs can step into fully equipped kitchens and see their recipes reach customers almost immediately. The space, tools, and operational systems are ready; what matters now is creativity, consistency, and connection with the people tasting the food. Here, food businesses can exist, grow, and find their audience before becoming a restaurant -  a space of confidence and possibility where ambition meets opportunity . Every food entrepreneur brings a vision: recipes, menus, and the desire to share something meaningful. Small brands, new cooks, and experienced operators cook side by side, learning naturally by o...

English | 中文 In Malaysia’s urban dining landscape , Thong Bowl serves more than a meal; it offers a gigantic, shared ritual that blends Thai culinary tradition with local dining culture. Each massive bowl of beef noodles becomes a cultural touchpoint , carrying layers of flavor and heritage while inviting diners to participate, converse, and share . Thong Bowl’s ambition isn’t just culinary - it’s also monumental. The brand holds an ASEAN Records title for the most super-sized beef bowls sold , a recognition that cements its dominance in the region’s casual dining scene while celebrating the scale, flavor, and communal spirit of every serving. Thai boat noodles evoke memories of floating markets and narrow canals , where vendors balanced steaming bowls on small boats. Thong Bowl amplifies this heritage , transforming what might be a solitary meal into a communal experience . The broth is rich, the beef tender, and the generous portions encourage sharing, making each bowl a stateme...