Malaysians take their nasi lemak seriously. So much so, in fact, that the act of a celebrity chef in uploading a picture of a rather bare looking nasi lemak served onboard a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight, has struck a chord with many.

Internationally-renowned Malaysian, Chef Wan, whose full name is Redzuawan Ismail ( left ), had taken an economy flight on the national air carrier to Bangkok on Jan 29 when he was served the offending nasi lemak, which he labelled as “ telanjang (nude)”.

He uploaded the picture on social site Instagram , which showed a box of nasi lemak with half a boiled egg cutting a lonely figure on top, and devoid of the customary sliced cucumbers, fried nuts and anchovies.

In his Instagram post, Chef Wan bemoaned the “sad-looking nasi lemak”, saying he uploaded the picture as he felt the need for MAS to realise how serious a matter it was.

“The fact that our national carrier doesn’t take pride in providing our so-called most famous Malaysian breakfast that we boast about ( agong-agongkan ), being proud of it all over the world. To showcase this on an international flight without the proper cucumber and kacang as well as anchovies makes this Malaysian breakfast look really poor.

“We, Malaysians, surely know the quality of nasi lemak, with its choices of lauk-lauk (dishes) that go along with it, but hey... what about all the international travellers?” he stated on his posting which has since garnered some 1,000 ‘likes’.

According to Astro Awani on Saturday, MAS responded positively.

“Malaysia Airlines would like to thank Chef Wan for his comments on the standard of the nasi lemak served in economy class in a flight to Bangkok. We appreciate all comments and will take immediate action to improve the standard of food on our flights,” it was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, last night, the chef, who hosts his own cooking show 'Best Wan!' on the Asian Food Channel , commented on the traction his posting has been getting, with some even becoming “too defensive”.

“For me its simple, stick to the traditional way, it doesn’t matter if you want to put cucumber, or kangkung or nuts, as long as there are vegetables, nuts and anchovies. Even the quality of the rice used is very poor,” he said.

MAS, he disclosed, had since written to him saying it was looking into the matter, to which he said, “we will see”.