KUALA LUMPUR — In a show of solidarity over a beloved local dish, Malaysians on Twitter wasted no time defending nasi lemak after a version of it was ridiculed by a UK-based journalist.

Ms Katie Morley shared a photo on Twitter of a meal she had been served on board a British Airways (BA) flight, expressing her disgust with the dish.

From the photo, the dish looked similar to nasi lemak: it contained ayam masak mera (chicken cooked with red chillies and tomato), a slice of boiled egg and fried anchovies.

However, according to Ms Morley, the dish was listed as "chicken curry with rice".

In her tweet, Ms Morley vented her frustration with her unsatisfactory meal: "In the name of public interest, am sharing this wickedly bad meal British Airways treated me to during a 13-hour flight. Behold: chicken curry served with anaemic boiled egg, topped with smelly, slimy anchovies. ANCHOVIES. I quite like plane food usually, and this was a 0/10."

Another non-Malaysian replied to Ms Morley, asking: "Why on earth would anyone pair chicken with anchovies? And I am so confused by the random egg... What a disaster."

Malaysians swiftly berated her for putting down the beloved local dish.

One Twitter user replied to Ms Morley's tweet in Malay, calling her "bodoh" (stupid). The user went on to berate her in Malay, telling her to stick to her "tasteless dishes" and not to try Asian food.

"You opted for the nasi lemak meal, and then you want to insult our food," wrote the disgruntled Twitter user @IniAlannnLah in Malay.

Another user, @deanzail, was more calm and explained what the dish was to Ms Morley: "Nasi Lemak is my people's heritage, and whoever cooked this was not doing justice."

After being bombarded by angry replies, Ms Morley took the criticism levelled at her in stride and posted: "Many Malaysians have got in touch to say the meal I tweeted about yesterday is a popular national dish. I'd not come across it before and meant no offence. As many have pointed out, I was clearly served a very poor version by BA. Sure it can be lovely and hope to try the real thing one day!"

Mr Darren Cronian, the Englishman who made headlines last year after flying from Greece to Malaysia to get a taste of nasi lemak, also replied to Ms Morley's tweet.

"Katie, the Malaysians are very passionate about the local food," Mr Cronian wrote. "I mean I flew 6,000 miles for it." NEW STRAITS TIMES