A Malay-owned food stall in Malaysia selling claypot chicken rice has caused controversy after it was revealed it uses a dash of unheated and uncooked rice wine in each serving of the food and has been operating without halal certification.
Aman's Food Stall in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur is operated by two Malay stall owners.
The use of rice wine for their claypot dish is controversial as the ingredient contains alcohol that Muslims are not allowed to consume.
Popular among Chinese and Muslim communities
Previously, the stall in Restoran Ahmad Muzakin went viral on social media for its owners' proficiency in the Cantonese dialect.
The stall served both Muslims and non-Muslims.
The dish from the stall was popular among the Malay and Chinese communities in Malaysia and Singapore, with snaking long queues forming during lunch.
The stall also recently received positive reviews by Malay Mail.
However, the stall is now facing flak after a TikTok video was circulated online showing the stall owner Aman adding rice wine to the dish as the food was topped off with other ingredients, such as salted fish, before being served.
Although the dish is pork-free, it is not halal due to the use of rice wine, which has an alcohol content of about 16 per cent.
Alcohol typically evaporates quickly, with negligible or residual amounts of it left when used in cooking.
The amount of alcohol present in the food is also dependent on the duration of cooking and the amount of heat applied too cook off the alcohol content.
Mostly only flavour is retained when ingredients, such as rice wine, is used to cook food.
Many have been 'deceived', 'fooled'
Malaysia's syariah law forbids Muslims from consuming alcohol.
The country practises Islam as its official religion, with around 63 per cent of its population who are Muslim.
Commenters on the TikTok video expressed their shock and concerns about the use of non-halal ingredients, let alone the presence of rice wine.
One commenter said, "Oh I see, no wonder they turned the bottle of rice wine around so that [the alcohol label] wouldn't be visible to the public."
Other commenters said many Muslims have been "deceived" and "fooled", and that it's "haram" (which means forbidden by Islamic law) for the stall owners to use alcoholic rice wine in their claypot dish.
The Straits Times reported that Malaysian Muslims will unlikely be disciplined for eating at the stall, although many have asked for enforcement action to be taken against the stall owners.
https://mothership.sg/2023/09/malaysia-claypot-chicken-rice-wine/
