Malaysian cuisine

Malaysian cuisine is influenced by various cultures from all around the world. Malaysia's population is made up mainly of 3 main ethnics -Malays, Chinese and Indians, with a number of other ethnic groups living together mostly in harmony. As a result of historical migrations and Malaysia's geographical advantage, Malaysia's culinary style is a mixture of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Thais and Arabian cuisines - to name a few. This resulted in a symphony of flavors, making Malaysian cuisines highly exotic albeit a touch underrated as compared to some of its neighbouring counterparts.

Staple foods :


 

 Nesi Lemak :  A popular dish based on rice in Malaysia is nasi lemak: rice steamed with coconut milk to give it a rich fragrance, and served with fried anchovies, peanuts, sliced cucumber, hard boiled eggs and a spicy chilli paste known as sambal. For a more substantial meal, nasi lemak can also be served with a choice of curries, or a spicy meat stew called rendang. Of Malay origin, nasi lemak is often called the national dish. Although it is traditionally a breakfast dish, because of the versatility of nasi lemak in being able to be served in a variety of ways, it is now often eaten at any time of the day. The Malaysian Indian variety of the sambal tends to be not very spicy, and the Malay sambal in a nasi lemak tends to be a bit sweeter. Nasi lemak should not be confused with nasi dagang, which is sold on the east coast of Malaysia — Terengganu and  Kelantan— although both nasi lemak and nasi dagang can usually be found sold side-by-side for breakfast.

Roti Canai :  Indian style bread such as roti canai, dhosai eaten by most Malaysians as part of breakfast. Western style bread is a relatively new addition to the Malaysian diet, having gained acceptance in the last generation.

 Satay:  satay - is a popular food in Malaysia. Made from marinated meat or chicken and burnt on charcoal grill. Cooked satay is dipped in special peanut sauce. A favourite Malay food in Johor, mostly found in Johor Bahru and Muar.

Ikan Bakar: Ikan Bakar is an Indonesian, Malaysian and most of the South East Asian countries dish of fish or other forms of seafood grilled using charcoal. The word literally means "burnt fish" in malay. Usually, the meat is  marinated (with spices and sometimes sambal belacan) and then grilled; sometimes with a banana leaf between the seafood and hotplate. Some of the popular forms of seafood besides fish include squid (locally known as sotong) and stingray.

Bak kut teh:    Kut Teh name literally translates as "meat bone tea", and at its simplest, consists of meaty pork ribs simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices (including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, dang gui, fennel seeds and garlic) for hours. Despite its name, there is in fact no tea in the dish itself; the name refers to a strong oolong Chinese tea which is usually served alongside the soup in the belief that it dilutes or dissolves the copious amount of fat consumed in this pork-laden dish.



 

Char kway teow:    Char kway teow, literally "stir-fried ricecake strips", is a popular noodle dish in Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore. The dish was (and still is in some places in Malaysia and Singapore) typically prepared at hawker stalls.

It is made from flat rice noodles (河粉 hé fěn in Chinese) of approximately 1 cm or (in the north of Malaysia) about 0.5 cm in width, stir-fried over very high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chilli, a small quantity of belachan, whole prawns, deshelled cockles, bean sprouts and chopped Chinese chives. The dish is commonly stir-fried with egg, slices of Chinese sausage and fishcake, and less commonly with other ingredients. Char kway teow is traditionally stir-fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, and commonly served on a piece of banana leaf on a plate.

                                                                                       

Laksa:

Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and Indonesia.

Ais kacang:  Ais kacang is a Malaysian dessert which is also common in Singapore and Brunei.Traditionally a special ice machinen is used to churn out the shaved ice used in the dessert, originally hand cranked but now more often motorized.

Formerly, it was made of only shaved ice and red beans, though the number and diversity of ingredients has since expanded. Today, ais kacang generally comes in bright colours, and with different fruit cocktails and dressings. In Malaysia, almost all variants now contain a large serving of attap chee (palm seed), red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly and cubes of agar agar as common ingredients. Other less-common ingredients include aloe vera, cendol, nata de coco, or ice cream. A final topping of evaporated milk, condensed milk, or coconut milk is drizzled over the mountain of ice along with red rose syrup and sarsi syrup. Some stalls have even introduced novelty toppings such as durian, chocolate syrup and ice cream. There are also versions that shun the multi-coloured syrup and are served with just a drizzling of gula melaka syrup instead.

Hainanese chicken rice:   chicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin, and is most commonly associated with Hainanese, Malaysian and Singaporean cuisines, although it is also commonly sold in Thailand. It is based on the well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞), due to its roots in Hainan cuisine and its adoption by the Hainanese overseas Chinese population in the Nanyang area (present-day Southeast Asia). Hainanese chicken also appears as a speciality in Vietnamese cuisine.

Nasi goreng:  Nasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, a meal including stir fried rice in small amount of cooking oil or margarine, typically spiced with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), shallot, garlic, tamarind and chilli and accompanied with other ingredients, particularly egg, chicken and prawns. There is also another kind of nasi goreng which is made with ikan asin (salted dried fish) which is also popular across Indonesia.

Nasi goreng has been called the national dish of Indonesia, though there are many other contenders. There are many Indonesian cuisines but few national dishes. Indonesia's national dish knows no social barriers. It can be enjoyed in its simplest manifestation from a tin plate at a roadside warung, travelling night hawker's cart; eaten on porcelain in restaurants, or constructed at the buffet tables of Jakarta dinner parties.

 Burian:  Regarded by many people in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow as large as 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and it typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale yellow to red, depending on the species.The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour that is strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Some people regard the durian as pleasantly fragrant; others find the aroma overpowering and revolting. The smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust, and has been described variously as almonds, rotten onions, turpentine, raw sewage, and gym socks. The persistence of its odour has led to the fruit's banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in southeast Asia.

Rojak:  Rojak ( Malaysia and Singaporean spelling) or Rujak ( Indonesian spelling) is a traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in  Indonesia, Malaysiaand Singapore. The term "Rojak" is Malay for mixture.In Malaysia and Singapore, the term "rojak" is also used as a colloquial expression for an eclectic mix, in particular as a word describing the multi-ethnic character of Malaysian and Singaporean society.

Rice noodle roll:  Malaysian cuisine, many people prefer serving chee cheong fun with a kind of black sweet sauce called (甜酱, timzheong). It is likely a variation of hoisin sauce. The popular Malaysian Penang version uses a shrimp paste called hae ko which is also black and sweet. Ipoh, being another food capital of Malaysia, chee cheong fun is mainly served in two ways, the dry or wet versions. In the 'dry version', it is served with soy sauce, sesame seeds, fried shallots, onion oil and in most cases, chilli sauce as well as pickled green chilli. In the 'wet version', it is served with curry and mushroom gravy, other than sesame seeds and fried shallots, giving Ipoh Chee Cheong Fun a rather distinctively Ipoh character. Chee cheong fun is a popular breakfast food in Singapore and Malaysia. Chee cheong fun is frequently served in kopitiams and Chinese restaurants.

Hokkien mee:  mee refers to fried noodles cooked in Hokkien (Fujian) style. Hokkien mee is served in many Southeast Asian countries (mostly Malaysia and Singapore) and was brought there by immigrants from the Fujian province in southeastern China.

Wonton noodles: [Mandarin: Yun-tun mian; Cantonese: Wan-tan Min], sometimes called wanton mee ("wanton" is a Cantonese word for dumpling while noodles in Hokkien is "mee" or in Cantonese, "min") is a Cantonese noodle dish which is popular in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The dish is usually served in a hot broth, garnished with leafy vegetables, and wonton dumplings. The types of leafy vegetables used are usually kailan also known as Chinese kale. Another type of dumpling known as shui jiao is sometimes served in place of wonton. It contains prawns, chicken or pork, spring onions with some chefs adding mushroom and black fungus

Mee Bandung: Mee Bandung Muar, or simply Mee Bandung, is a traditional cuisine originated from Muar, Johor, Malaysia. The word 'bandung' in its name is due to literal definition which means "mixed" or "pairs" in Malay language as in several Malay words like "Sirap Bandung" (rose syrup beverage mixed with condensed milk)

Upma or uppuma :            is a common South Indian breakfast dish, cooked as a thick porridge from dry roasted semolina. Various seasonings and/or vegetables are often added during the cooking, depending on individual preferences.

You tiao: fried bread 
stick- is a long, golden-brown, deep fried strip of dough in Chinese cuisine and other   East and Southeast Asian  cuisines. Conventionally, youtiao are lightly salted and   made so they can be torn lengthwise in two. Youtiao are normally eaten as an accompaniment for rice congee or soy milk.

Suman: Suman is a rice cake originating from the Malaysia. It is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, and often steamed wrapped in buli or buri palm (Corypha) leaves. It is usually eaten sprinkled with sugar. 

 Kek Lapis: Kek Lapis Sarawak is a layered cake, traditionally served in Sarawak, Malaysia on special occasions. In the Malay language, they are known as Kek Lapis Sarawak, Kek Lapis Moden Sarawak, Kek Sarawak or Kek Lapis. They are often baked for religious or cultural celebrations such as Christmas, Deepavali, birthdays and weddings.

 Zong zi: Zong zi is a traditional Chinese food, made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Laotians, (known to them as Bachang) and Cambodians (known as nom chang) have also assimilated this dish by borrowing it from the local overseas Chinese minorities in their respective nations. In the Western world, they are also known as rice dumplings. In Malaysia, they are known as bakcang, bacang, or zang Chinese: 肉粽 a loanword from Hokkien, a Chinese dialect commonly used among Indonesian-Chinese, rather than Mandarin. Along the same lines, zongzi are more popularly known as machang among Chinese.

Roasted Duck:
A popular Malaysian delicacy that is not crispy like the roasted duck in China. The famous duck roaster is located at Lunas, Kulim.

Roti jala:

Roti jala is derived from the Malay word 'roti' (bread) and 'jala' . A special ladle with a five-hole perforation used to make the bread look like a fish net. It is usually eaten as an accompaniment to a curried dish, or served as a sweet with 'serawa'. Serawa is made from a mixture of boiled coconut milk, brown sugar and pandan leaves.

Pulut inti:

a kind of steamed 'dry' rice pudding made from glutinous rice & coconut milk. It is traditionally wrapped in banana leaves folded into a pyramid shape, and topped with fresh grated coconut sweetened with palm sugar.






Bubur cha cha:

Bubur cha cha is Yam and sweet potato cubes served in coconut milk and sago, served hot or cold.