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Stefani recently opened her own restaurant in Tangerang, Indonesia. Called Panho Panmee & Nasi Kandar, it aims to give Indonesians a taste of iconic Malaysian dishes like nasi kandar.
Nasi kandar is believed to have gained popularity in Penang, where Tamil-Muslim immigrants from India peddled rice and side dishes cooked hometown-style. The well-known name came about as the roving hawkers carried their food using baskets and a pole (called kandar) slung over their shoulders.
The nasi (rice) is typically offered with a variety of curry, meat and vegetable toppings, and you can request for ‘kuah banjir’ (gravy flood) — the shop staff will ‘flood’ your plate with curries.
Indonesian vlogger Boengkoes, who visited Stefani’s restaurant to review it, asked her in his video why she had decided to open a restaurant selling Malaysian food.
According to Stefani, she ate nasi kandar every day when she visited Malaysia. “But I found it was less flavourful, so I thought I could make it myself. The difference is that [my] nasi kandar here uses fresh ingredients. In Malaysia, they use spice powders, so it feels sandy,” she said.
Malaysians who saw the video took offence at her less-than-positive description, pointing out that Malaysian nasi kandar also uses fresh ingredients and is no less flavourful.
At press time, the comment section for Boengkoes’s video was turned off, while his TikTok video was made private. Panho Panmee & Nasi Kandar’s Instagram account has also been made private.
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