10 unexpected - but delicious - connections in the world of food

This post is brought to you in part by Tiger Beer.

Peanut butter and jelly; cider and spinach; cheese and banana roti – sometimes the most unusual bedfellows just somehow seem to work. And when these seemingly opposite treats come together, something magical happens. Here are a few unusual combinations that have been created at various restaurants around KL – let us know what you think of them:

1. Chili crab churros

Singaporean seafood meets Spanish snack: Churros have recently entered the Malaysian food scene as a go-to treat, and with good reason. Traditionally a sweet snack, the chilli crab churros at Churros N Co. take a 180 degree-turn and pair with the Spanish fried dough with a spicy sauce reminiscent of Singapore’s famed chilli crab.

2. Chicken teriyaki pizza

Japanese meets Italian: Pizza is a versatile Italian dish that come with a variety of toppings to satisfy just about anyone. The world has adopted pizza as a global comfort food and in this part of the world, the Italian dough marries Japanese flavours in Pasta Zanmai to create the teriyaki pizza, a fusion that can do no wrong.

3. Nasi lemak crème brulee

Malaysian breakfast gets the French touch: Featured in the now closed Ecole P in Damansara, it’s probably one of the only dishes we know of where we want the chef to burn our food. The dessert was served with an equally innovative berry sambal and peanut and anchovy praline.

4. Beef rendang sandwich

Comfort food from Malaysia but for people living British on-the-go lifestyle, Madame Kwan released these special treats for the Ramadan weekend – a rich beef rendang between two slices of bread and a serving of fries.

5. Salted egg molten lava cake

Opposites attract and these opposite attract us. Savoury just seems to work when it’s combined with super sweet – and in this case,  a big portion of oozy salted egg yolk goodness. This dish ticks all the boxes and it’s available at Softcore in Sunway.

6. Chicken rice cake

Chinese lunch or Western dessert? Who knows, but this cake – available at Lepaq Lepaq, on Jalan Ceylon in Bukit Bintang is weirdly delicious. It tickles the palate with all the familiar flavours of chicken rice and cake, a wild trip for the senses.

7. Bombe Alaska

Hot and fluffy, we’d like to introduce you to cold and creamy. Boathouse in TTDI, now a restaurant called Meatology, created a special version of the Baked Alaska dish – an innovative way to ‘bake’ ice cream.

8. Poke burrito

Mexician meets Hawaiian – hola and mahalo. Makirito,  a pop-up in Bangsar, combines the Japanese classic, sushi, Hawaiian favourite poke (pronounced ‘po-kay’) into a Mexican-style burrito – a fun Latino way to get your fill of fish and rice.

9. Salted egg yolk charcoal waffle

Our best friend salted egg yolk makes the list again, this time in a ‘dessert for breakfast’ feast at  Inside Scoop in Bangsar. Seeing as it’s at Inside Scoop, it would be rude not to smother it with a huge ball of creamy vanilla ice cream – just for good measure.

10. Street food and Michelin-starred cuisine

The final combination is certainly something you don’t see very often: the collaboration of a Michelin-starred restaurant and local street food. But, Tiger STREATS, by Tiger Beer, is exactly that: the world’s first ‘street food meets fine dining‘ pop-up restaurant, held on 17 December 2016, from 6.30pm to 11pm.

The event will feature a unique culinary mash-up between Tiger STREATS resident chef Hawker Chan and Chef Jeff Ramsey. Hawker Chan Hon Meng is the owner and chef of the first hawker stand to win a Michelin Star, for Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle in Singapore, and American-Japanese chef Jeff Ramsey helms the progressive modernist restaurant Babe KL.

More about Tiger STREATS

As well as creating their own individual dishes, both Hawker Chan and Chef Jeff Ramsey will work together to craft a new culinary creation which symbolises the ‘Unexpected Connections‘ that Tiger Beer aims to create – this event will be the only time that anyone will get the chance to try this dish created by these two award-winning chefs.

To top it all off, some of KL’s favourite street food vendors will also be creating unique mash-up dishes just for this event and there will be special performances by Tiger Jams artists to add to the entertainment of the evening.

To learn more about Tiger Beer and the Tiger STREATS event, follow their event on Facebook.