KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 16 -- The phrase "ugly delicious" gets thrown around a lot to describe dishes from our part of the world.

It's meant as a self-aware compliment: this won't look good on Instagram, but it's tasty. It's real. Authentic.

And yet, it's never sat right with me. Why are some dishes - sometimes entire cuisines - deemed "ugly," and others not?

More pressingly: why do "our" dishes make up so much of that first category?

Any wannabe food stylist can turn a charcuterie board or a pasta tray bake into a boring Pinterest tablescape.

But a well-loaded plate of nasi kandar from Deen Maju, splashed with colour and kuah, looks to me like a Jackson Pollock piece; a glistening, jet-black plate of Hokkien mee at Mun Wah could rival th...