Malaysian Origami

Look. 

Big folded thingies made out of thick brown paper. Kind of like origami from old school grocery bags. I made these at the Shah Alam food stall of my friend, Baby Boy.

If you are Malaysian, you are probably smiling right now, and nodding your head up and down because you completely understand my delicious purpose.

But if you are a citizen of any other fine country, you might be wondering what the heck this is all about. So let me explain.

These creations begin as a large rectangular sheet of heavy paper - about 12 x 18 inches - that is coated with plastic on one side. With a few deft folds and creases, each one is transformed into a food container. Held as an inverted cone, the device is heaped with a meal called nasi lemak - chicken, spicy sambal, hard-boiled egg, cucumbers - then carefully folded shut. Once opened, the paper also serves as a disposable plate, thereby completing a perfect circle of economy and convenience.

Side note: Despite the fact that I ate nasi lemak regularly during my four weeks in Malaysia and also took a few billion photos every day, I don't have any of my own pictures of this device in action. There's a reason for that. Whenever I'm in proximity to a folded meal of this goodness, my mind is focused on eating. Ain't nobody got time for taking photos when there's warm nasi at hand.

As you may have guessed, good old Baby Boy serves plenty of nasi lemak at his food shop on the campus of UiTM, and while I was visiting him there, I helped out by folding several hundred of these bad boys every day. So happy that I could make this important contribution to the hungry tummies of Malaysian college students, and improve my origami skills at the same time.

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For a super cute story about nasi lemak containers and my little friend, Aleesya, read this:

Rice Is Nice

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For more delicious stories about Baby Boy, try these:

A Story About Baby Boy
Back With Baby Boy
Lunch At Baby Boy's House
A Coffee Shop And Chicken Blood
Grateful For Graffiti (And A Good Friend)