Plain water and… cheese? Here are 5 odd Malaysian pairings that just work

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s hard to not think of love and the other half of your pinang yang dibelah dua.

We often think of our other halves as being like us and spend years looking for a partner with similar interests and personality, only to be smacked in the face with a strong helping of OPPOSITES ATTRACT. It doesn’t only apply to love. When you pair two odd things together, there’s always a chance they may not just work… they may become inseparable.

When our friends at Nando’s came up with the genius idea of combining toasted seeds with peri-peri to create the PERi-crackle, they created a ‘flavor topping’ that’s a crunchy, savory rollercoaster that’s guaranteed to shoot cupid arrows at your tastebuds. Be warned though – We went to try it, and now the whole office is addicted.

Nando’s already has some special menu pairings (more on this later) that are super sedap but, during our third trip to the shop, we saw one guy who let his intrusive thoughts win and poured a bowl of PERi-crackle straight into his bottomless frozen yoghurt!

It never crossed our minds to mix those two together. And yes, it was delicious.

Inspired by that unexpected combination, we thought of other odd pairings that somehow work; starting with…

1. Touch ‘n Go card and…. Pemukul lalat

We don’t know about you, but when we think of TnG and flyswatters, it involves giving people who only start looking for their TnG cards once they reach the toll a nice smack on the head.

Yet, someone had the genius idea of taping their TnG card to a flyswatter so you don’t have to risk pulling a muscle or dinging your side mirror at toll booths. We couldn’t find who came up with the idea, but we’re certain they had short arms. Other than that though, this viral video from 2017 was likely the catalyst for specially-made Touch n’ Go stick holders sold on Shopee and Lazada today.

And all short drivers everywhere held up their stubbly arms in rejoice.

2. Phone numbers and…. Mandarin oranges

Since Valentine’s Day is all about pairs, Chinese Valentine’s day is all about oranges (that joke works better when said out loud).

The tradition of young ladies throwing mandarin oranges into rivers during Chap Goh Mei (the last day of the Lunar New Year) originated with the Hokkiens in the late 19th century. It’s believed that fate would lead to their ideal husband-material picking up the orange, kinda like old-school Tinder.

Of course, when phones came around, women would start writing their phone numbers down to make fate’s job a little easier. The tradition is still around today, except phone numbers have been supplemented with X accounts, IG, and other @’s.

What makes this a uniquely Malaysian pairing though, is that the practice actually originated in Penang.

3. Plain water and…. Cheese

In a world of Milo and Maggi and Karipap Oksigen, no food combination comes close to the simplistic genius of Air Kosong Cheese.

It adds a touch of class to avoid the awkwardness of having plain water at a mamak when your date orders a Milo Dinosaur. You get your daily calcium and water intake at the same time, AND the cheese slice acts as an eco-friendly cover for your drink.

But if you’re feeling decadent, the same place also offers tomyam coke tambah cheese. 

Why didn’t we think of that. Cis.

4. Kelantan FC and…. Dato’ Sri Vida

Kelantan Football Club has been running through muddy waters for some years, tackled by managerial and financial issues.

And then there’s Dato’ Sri Vida, the self-made beauty millionaire, influencer, and music artist. Who also happens to be from Kelantan. Back in 2016, Dato’ Sri Vida offered to sponsor the cash-strapped club. All she asked in return was the incorporation of her trademark color and her cosmetics company, Qu Puteh.

Her trademark color is pink.

Fans were in an uproar over this because the entire identity of the Kelantan team was centered around red. Like, they’re literally called The Red Warriors. But that wasn’t the worst of it. She also wanted their home stadium to be painted pink.

In the end, Dato’ Sri Vida compromised on the pink plans. The pink jerseys became a second kit, and Kelantan FC got about RM16 million in sponsorship. The pink jerseys did look good though, not gonna lie:

Unfortunately, things went downhill again for the club and they were recently expelled from the Malaysian Super League on January 17th 2024 for failing to pay their players. Dato’ Sri Vida has expressed an interest to straight-up buy the club in 2023, but at the time of writing that still remains an unrealized goal.

5. Malaysians and….. Singaporeans

Yeah, this one doesn’t need much explanation. Our shocking celebrity divorce in 1965 could have resulted in tense political relationships, but we chose to fight over food instead.

At the same time, these spats are also a result of how similar we are. We share a history, language, culture, and exchange rate love for Nando’s; making us siblings more than neighbors. As much as we fight, we will look out for each other when things get serious.

For example, the Malaysian embassy helped evacuate a Singaporean in Ukraine, with the Malaysian embassy in neighboring Poland arranging a VIP lane for his group to bypass the queue of cars at the border. Meanwhile, Singaporeans opened up their homes to Malaysian workers who were left stranded and homeless during the lockdowns in 2020.

While we like to make fun of each other, we know there’s a line. So, when a Singapore-born comedian made a controversial joke at our expense, other Singaporean comedians and the Singaporean government spoke up against it and apologized.

Now that we can even look forward to passport-free travel between Malaysia and Singapore in the near future, it’s a further sign showing that the causeway is indeed thicker than water.

BONUS: Nando’s PERi-crackle and…. bottomless frozen yoghurt!

If you’re looking for a spicy date this Valentine’s day, what better place to celebrate your special pairing than with a special pairing of Nando’s delicious meals and sides with PERI-crackle? They’ve paired the PERi-crackle with other offerings such as garlic bread, Mediterranean Rice, and – our personal favorite – silver needle noodles.

You can also totally buy the PERi-crackle on its own because Nando’s knows that one is not enough. It’s currently available at an introductory price of RM1.90 sahaja. Just like your love, there are no limits to what you can do with it – drizzle it on the chicken, eat it on its own, or even tapau it to pour into your nasi lemak for breakfast.

So just like the strange pairings that we’ve seen throughout the article, you’ll really never know whether you’ll find your perfect match until you actually try.

Whether in love or anything else, it’s better that you nanDO’S than nanDON’T.