Malaysian Food as National Heritage and UNESCO Heritage

The nasi lemak you ate this morning is now officially recorded in two different heritage registers — one in Putrajaya, another in Paris. Both are real, but they are conferred by different bodies, on different bases, and mean different things.

Many people conflate domestic “heritage food” with “UNESCO heritage”. This page separates the two: who declares it, when, and which foods actually make the list.

What is the difference between “National Heritage” and “UNESCO Heritage”?

The first is a domestic decision. The Department of National Heritage (JWN), under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, declares a dish a National Heritage object through the Commissioner of Heritage, in accordance with the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). That declaration is gazetted in the Government Gazette.

The second is international recognition. UNESCO inscribes a cultural practice on a list under the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage through a vote of its Intergovernmental Committee — a process entirely separate from the domestic register. The Convention has more than one list; most Malaysian elements sit on the Representative List, while one (Mek Mulung, 2023) is on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Feature	National Heritage	UNESCO Representative List
Declaring body	Commissioner of Heritage, Department of National Heritage	UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee
Basis	National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645)	Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Food scope	213 foods (as of 2018)	1 element — breakfast culture (2024)
Official record	Government Gazette	Element reference number (e.g. 02113)

How many foods have been declared National Heritage?

Many. According to the Department of National Heritage, 213 foods from various communities had been elevated to National Heritage status as of 2018 — and staggered declarations have continued since then, so the cumulative total today is likely higher.

The list goes well beyond popular dishes like nasi lemak. It also covers near-extinct and highly localised foods, for example:

• Manok Pansoh — chicken cooked in bamboo, of the Iban and Bidayuh communities
• Pulut Kukus Dalam Periuk Kera — steamed glutinous rice of the Semelai indigenous people
• Opok-opok — a crispy East Coast snack
• Kuih Cincin — a ring-shaped kuih from Sabah
• Kari Ayam Debal (Devil Curry) — a Portuguese-influenced dish from Melaka

Which foods were gazetted in 2024?

The most recent and best-documented example is the batch gazetted on 23 February 2024, when the Commissioner of Heritage declared ten dishes as National Heritage objects — including bak kut teh, the only Chinese-community dish in the batch.

No.	Food gazetted (23 Feb 2024)
1	Bak kut teh
2	Mi kolok (kolok mee)
3	Burasak
4	Nasi ambeng
5	Dodol kukus tahi minyak
6	Kuih genggang / kuih lapis
7	Kuih karas
8	Uthappam
9	Jeruk tuhau
10	Air katira

What exactly did UNESCO inscribe?

Not a single dish, but a practice. At the 19th session (19.COM) of the Intergovernmental Committee, which met in Paraguay in December 2024, UNESCO added “Breakfast culture in Malaysia: dining experience in a multi-ethnic society” (reference number 02113) to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The element’s official description characterises it as a living heritage tied to traditional food practices that encompass staple foods such as nasi lemak and roti canai as well as the beverage teh tarik. So those dishes are named specifically — but they are recognised as part of a shared breakfast practice, not as standalone heritage items.

Are any other foods already on the UNESCO list?

Not so far. Malaysia has nine elements on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage lists: Mak Yong (2008), Dondang Sayang (2018), Silat (2019), the Ong Chun/Wangchuan ceremony (2020), Songket (2021), Mek Mulung (2023), Kebaya (2024), Breakfast culture (2024) and Pantun (2025). Eight of them are on the Representative List; Mek Mulung (2023) is inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, not the Representative List. Of all of them, only breakfast culture is food-related — the rest are performing arts, textiles, dress, ceremonies or oral literature.

This means UNESCO recognition for Malaysian food remains highly selective: one element, one year.

What comes next

The two systems move at different speeds. The domestic register keeps growing in batches — hundreds of foods have already been declared and more are gazetted each time. The UNESCO list moves far more slowly, one nomination at a time on an annual cycle.

If you cite a dish’s heritage status, name the correct system: whether it is a National Heritage object gazetted in the Government Gazette, or part of a UNESCO element. Nasi lemak happens to belong to both — but most dishes sit on only one register, and the distinction matters.