Food trends during the MCO

In the weeks of the movement control order (MCO), many trends have surfaced and with so much time on their hands, curious social media users picked up trends to keep themselves occupied. One of such is the consumer preferences in the demand for food, with social media chefs sharing simple and delicious recipes for people to try at home.

Delicious, simple, easy-to-make

Malaysians spend generally a whole lot of time being on the internet. A figure released by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in 2018 states that 87.4 percent of the Malaysian population are internet users.

The majority percentage of internet users spend an average of up to four hours or more a day online. Among the users based on age group, Malaysians in their twenties spent the most time being on the internet, while those in their 60s spend the least with an average of 3.7 hours a day online.

Without a doubt, a large number of internet users spend most of their time being online to communicate with one another using communication application such as Whatsapp, WeChat and others. Next on the chart is scrolling through social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and the likes.

Blessed with the ability to communicate and network at the touch of a finger, users can receive news, information and trending topics through both platforms.

During this MCO, food trends have climbed up the ranks of trending topics on social media platforms.

Among the food trends that are popular so far were the dalgona coffee, Milo cake, Milo ice cream stick and others. Taking my time to browse around and observe, I can see that a lot of people are keeping up with the trends and even uploaded their own versions of it.

The dalgona coffee — or a whipped coffee — is a type of coffee that looks good, and tastes even better. It is a simple mixture of three tablespoons of coffee, three tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of warm water that needs to be whisked for 15 minutes until it is fluffy. The mixture would then be mixed together with a glass of ice-cold fresh milk.

According to fashion designer Arzmy Hargreaves, the dalgona coffee is not as sweet as a bubble milk tea as the bitterness from the coffee neutralises the taste. After the trend surfaced, he had whisked his way to the caffeine-infused beverage twice, and said that it will stay with him even after the MCO.

On the other hand, the Milo cake trend sees curious-minded makers steaming a simple mixture of ingredients to create a mouth-watering dessert. To make one, you will only need three ingredients: two cups of Milo powder, four eggs, and two tablespoons of condensed milk.

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The easy-to-make cake can be garnished with sprinkles of chocolate rice or whipped cream, and served over a cup of warm tea or dalgona coffee!
University student Steffie Tawie tried making it for the first time and it was a success. She confirms that the steam cake is easy to make, “So simple yet delicious!”

Steffie also added that the cake is perfect for breakfast or teatime with the family.

“The texture is chewy, and the taste is quite similar to brownies.” An avid follower of food trends, she could not wait to see what else she can do while waiting for MCO to be lifted.

Another on-trend easy recipe that internet users love is the Milo ice-creamsticks. This recipe requires the use of the 3-in-1 Milo sachet.

To prepare it, one must pour the powder out, mix it well with fresh milk and condensed milk. Then, pour the mixture back into the sachet, insert an ice-cream stick on top and freeze it.

For those with a super sweet tooth, you can use a piping bag, filled with melted chocolate and squeeze it onto the ice cream as a decoration and also to add to its flavours.

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