Here Are The Top 3 Growing Food Trends On GrabFood

For something spicy like mala, there should be an equal cooling dessert like yogurt or soy.

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Everyone has indulged in the occasional (or regular!) food delivery nowadays, especially on those really busy days when you just can’t find time to cook or go out.

But if you do order delivery, what do you get? Grab shared with us three of their top growing trends in orders:

1. Mala

Mala has been on everyone’s minds (and mouths) for a few years now, with more and more restaurants offering the Chinese cuisine. The term ‘mala’ (麻辣) means ‘numbing spice’, which aptly describes the taste of it. The numb feeling comes from Szechuan peppercorn, while the spice comes from a copious amount of chilis.

Mala is popularly eaten as a spicy soup base for steamboat, or a dry stir-fry with all your favourite ingredients. Naturally, if you’re ordering delivery, the dry stir-fry (or ‘hotpot’) version wouldn’t leave such a mess, but some brave souls want their mala soup regardless!

Left: Mala hotpot, right: Chilled spicy chicken Szechuan-style.
(Credit: Yi Pin Mala Hotpot/Dragon-i)

Grab noted that orders for mala-type dishes have tripled, with many orders of Mala hotpot from Yi Pin Mala Hotpot in Melaka and chilled spicy chicken Szechuan-style from Dragon-i in KL.

2. Yoghurt

Well, if people are eating super spicy food, then it kind of only makes sense that they wash it down with something that can combat the spice.

Left: Purple rice yogurt and right: black rice yogurt.
(Credit: Hey, I Am Yogost/Teapack)

Yoghurt-based beverages have also been steadily climbing the ranks of popular things to get on Grab Food, particularly the Purple Rice Yogurt from Hey, I Am Yogost in KL and the Black Rice Yogurt from Teapack-Saradise in Kuching.

3. Soy

No worries if you’re lactose-intolerant, because there are also plenty of soy-based products as well. “Boring” desserts like tau foo fah have been given an upgrade with specialty syrups and toppings that transforms the humble bowl of soy pudding into a decadent dessert.

The Soybean Factory serves not only sweet dessert versions with butterfly pea flavours or cendol topping, but also a savoury version with chicken floss, soy sauce, and sesame seaweed!