No More Licenses For Penang Hawkers With Foreign Cooks

We’re not trying to destroy anyone’s career, but sometimes you just want legit food made by legit people.

So when we found out that Penang, a.k.a. local food haven, no longer allows hawkers to hire foreign cooks, we knew we were on the right track.

All stalls operating at hawker centres under Penang Island City Council (MBPP) are not allowed to hire foreign cooks. They must have locals behind the wok.

Char koay teow is one of the local delicacies that must be prepared by a local.

The Star reported that private-owned eateries are also not allowed to have foreigners cook popular local delicacies, including asam laksa, char koay teow, loh bak, hokkien mee, curry mee, chee cheong fun, wan tan mee, pasembur, mee sotong, char koay kak, oh chien, koay teow soup and nasi lemak.

Since the council implemented the ban in January 2016, a total of 17 hawker licenses have been revoked for hiring foreign cooks illegally.

As for those who have complied with the new ruling, the foreign workers are now serving dishes instead of cooking.

So the next time you hit Penang for your staple asam laksa, mee sotong or hokkien mee, make sure you have a local preparing your local dish!