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A food stall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has attracted the attention of the public again after one of its exotic meat dish was shared online, despite the chain eatery having been in business for several years now.

Photos of the dishes served by Sattisorru Loke Yew were put up on Facebook by KL Foodie on Aug. 18 -- to the amazement and chagrin of many.

Monitor lizard meat

The reason?

The stall is known for its sattisorru, or wok rice, a common South Indian curry dish.

Customers get to pick the meat, such as chicken, mutton, prawn, squid, wild boar, and monitor lizard, also known as biawak, that goes into the wok rice.

In the post, KL Foodie provided a short clarification as an assurance that monitor lizards are safe for human consumption: “It's said that the monitor lizards used are tree lizards that eat leaves and fruits only, thus they're safe for human consumption.”

Harvesting of monitor lizard allowed

Monitor lizards, including the common Asian water monitor, are known to eat carrion, which harbours bacteria.

According to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia [PDF], Varanus salvator, or Asian water monitor lizard, is a protected species, but harvesting them for their meat is permitted, subjected to strict regulations.

An e-license system is used to regulate the capture and harvest of the Asian water monitor lizard.

Other monitor lizards are harvested for food in Malaysia, and are protected under Malaysian law, due to the demand for their meat.

However, it is unclear which species of monitor lizard the food stall uses.

But exotic meat definitely comes at a price.

A Facebook post from 2018 showed that the price of monitor lizard is about twice that of chicken.

Top photos via