PETALING JAYA, Jan 21 — A Malaysian woman shocked Facebook users recently after she shared photos of her dead pet koi fish being turned into soup.
The woman, who goes by the name Amanda Omeychua, made a post on the group “Masak Apa Tak Jadi Hari Ni” (which roughly translates to “Cooking Fails of the Day” in English) which included a photo of over 20 dead koi lying on the floor.
According to one of Omeychua’s comments, the fish died of suffocation after her domestic helper forgot to turn on the oxygen pump in their pond.
She then decided to turn the colourful creatures into dinner rather than let them go to waste.
“A traditional recipe for a king. It tasted like ikan patin (silver catfish),” wrote Omeychua, along with the hashtags #drownedkoi and #MCOsoup.
Her post has gone viral with over 10,000 reactions and 4,500 comments so far.
Some users were less than enthused about Omeychua’s dish and said they couldn’t stomach the sight of pets being made into food.
“If it was me, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to eat my own pet fishes. I would just bury them, it would be too sad,” said one user.
“The fish are too cute to eat. I guess we all have our tastes,” wrote another.
Others were surprised that koi fish were even edible in the first place.
“So it turns out you can eat koi fishes. All this time, I thought they were just pretty decorations for the pond,” said one user.
Some Malaysians also claimed to have enjoyed koi fish soup at various restaurants in Penang, Sabah, and Sarawak.
In one of her comments, Omeychua apologised to anyone who may have felt grossed out by her unusual meal.
Koi fish are popular pets in many Asian countries where they are seen as symbols of good luck and prosperity.
High-quality breeds can fetch a high price on the market and the most expensive koi fish in the world was sold in 2018 to a Taiwanese woman for US$1.8 million (RM7.2 million).
