Every year (or month), there’s bound to be something new in Malaysia’s competitive F&B scene. From Japanese cheese drinks to Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls, to freakshakes, nothing can stop us from wanting to eat and drink new things. For some reason, we Malaysians are just born eaters – we love and want to eat everything!
But while we impatiently wait for the arrival of the hippest, newest food creation, here is a list of food trends we hope to see in Malaysia:
1. Ube Donuts
Purple foods are dominating 2017 but none caught our attention other than ube donuts. Before we tell you more about the trendy snack, let us tell you more about ube.
Ube (pronounced as oo-bae) is sweet purple yam originating from the Philippines. It is traditionally boiled and mashed with condensed milk and butter to form a mashed potatoes dessert. However, the purple ingredient has become a popular flavour for many artisanal, hipster eateries around US.
So what does ube donuts taste like? According to the peeps at Chowhound, the vibrant purple snack has a subtle, well-balanced sweet taste. It’s crispy on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside. Yum!
2. Mermaid/Unicorn Toasts
Talk about open toast game strong! The mermaid/unicorn toast trend was first started by food stylist Adeline Waugh, who has over 82,000 followers on Instagram (handle: @vibrantandpure), and needless to say, her posts took social media by storm.
In an interview, Waugh explained that she doesn’t use artificial food colouring. For her magical toasts, she uses almond milk cream cheese and makes the colours with beet juice (pink), turmeric root (yellow and orange), blueberry powder (purple), and more. Then, she’ll usually decorate it with gold-leaf flakes or pearly pastel sprinkles.
To be honest, we wouldn’t mind spending a little more money on these toasts. Just look at them – they’re so pretty!
3. Colourful “lattes”
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Want to cut down your caffeine intake but love the milky texture of a cup of aromatic latte? Then these non-coffee lattes are the perfect alternatives. Not only do these drinks look good, but they’re also delicious and nutritious.
Yes, we know what you’re thinking: How can something so colourful and bright be healthy?
Well, the colours of these vibrant lattes derive from organic ingredients. For example, the golden-coloured latte is made of tumeric and ginger, while the main ingredient for the blue latte is blue live algae (otherwise known as E3 algae).
4. Edible cookie dough
Although there are plenty of cookie dough-flavoured desserts such as ice cream and cakes, we sometimes prefer eating uncooked cookie dough even though we’re well aware that it will make our tummies hurt. But fret not, because safe-to-eat cookie dough exists in real life!
Now, sweet tooths can get their cravings (safely) fixed at Dō, a cafe that serves raw, edible cookie dough like ice cream. Opened by New Yorker Kristen Tolman, the popular joint only uses pasteurised eggs and heat-treated flour in the recipe. Customers can also order other doughy treats like the Ice Cream SanDōwich (with cookie dough instead of baked cookies), a Cookie Dō Milkshake, Cookie Dō fudge, and a Cookie Bomb.
We don’t know about you but we totally need this in our life right now. Can someone please bring this to Malaysia?
5. Korean Street Toast
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Korean street toast, or known as Gilgeori-toast in South Korea, is typically an egg sandwich that is usually eaten during breakfast time. According to Korean food YouTuber Seonkyoung Longest, what makes Korean street toast different than any other egg sandwich out there is amount of veggies. Savoury and sweet, this yummy and healthy sandwich is mainly made of eggs and a large amount of thinly sliced vegetables like lettuce and carrot. The toast is traditionally topped with ketchup and sugar but many street toast chain stores use their own special sauces. Besides that, customers can also choose to add other toppings (such as ham and cheese) to their toasts.
6. Avocado pizza
Avocado is a brunch staple – be it mashed or sliced. While it’s usually served on sliced breads with sides like poached eggs or feta cheese, one New York restaurant upped the avocado toast game by creating the avocado pizza. Jon Feshan, the chef behind the trend, uses handmade whole wheat dough as the base and besides avocado, he also tops the pizza with cilantro, radish, sunflower seed, and serrano. In case you haven’t noticed, the pizza is cheese-less. So it’s safe to say that this green dish is vegan-friendly.
As avocado enthusiasts, we can’t wait to get our hands on a slice of that green goodness. In fact, we might just try to make one ourselves 😉
7. Black Ice Cream
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Fancy an ice cream that is as dark as your soul?
Activated charcoal has become a very popular ingredient in the F&B industry. From bread to waffles, to coffee, the possibilities are endless! The latest trend is to add charcoal into ice cream. Yup, you’ve read that right. Black ice cream (also known as goth ice cream) is a legit thing now.
Made viral by Los Angeles-based ice cream parlour Little Damage, their black almond-charcoal flavoured soft serve ice cream comes with a matching cone. We don’t know how it tastes, but one thing’s for sure, we’ll buy it for the likes.
8. Cootella (Cookies & Milk Spread)
Move over Nutella, 101 Spread’s Cootella is going to take over the world! The cookie and milk spread is very popular in South Korea and it has been featured on numerous cooking videos. Aside from bread, Cootella can also be eaten with biscuits, crepes, cakes, and all sorts of other pastries.
But keep in mind that it’s fairly expensive compared to Nutella. Cootella costs KRW8,500 (approximately RM32) for 250g while the hazelnut spread is priced at RM29.90 for 680g.
P/s: 101 Spread also produces Noktella (green tea and almond spread).
What else do you think should it be in the list? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments box below 🙂
Sources: VOGUE, Chowbound, Refinery 29, BuzzFeed, Some Cards, Buro 24/7, Cookat Korea.
