Malaysian Cuisine
In Malaysia, history lives on through its delicious cuisine. Every mouthwatering dish has its own story to tell. Not only history, Malay cuisine draws the best of every culture that it comes across. Culinary diversity in Malaysia is a norm as a result of multi-ethnic influences. Indians (mostly Tamil muslims), Chinese, Malay, Nyonya, Europeans and people from Borneo have blessed Malay cuisine with their own styles and patterns of cooking. For example, many local dishes are cooked in a paste of dry red chillies as an influence of the Tamil muslims.
The country is home to a world famous spice hub. This makes day-to-day Malaysian dishes spicy. You can find many South Indian vegetarian restaurants here. Feel at home as you are served food on banana leaves.
Traditional cooking methods in Malaysia are quite similar to life in Malay villages, slow and laidback. Most authentic Malay delicacies and cooked on low heat for a long time. Malaysian dishes use lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, daun kemangi (a type of basil), daun kesum (laksa leaf), nutmeg, turmeric wild ginger buds, cumin, coriander, pepper cardamom, fenugreek, etc. Seasonings such as turmeric, galangal, fresh chilli paste, onions and garlic play an important role in making Malay dishes appetizing. Often fresh coconut milk is poured on the dish to add some more substance to the preparation. Visit Malaysia if you’re all set to have a gastronomic adventure.
Classic Malaysian Meal
Malay meals have rice as their staple to accompany the many delicious curries. A unique feature of Malay meals is that all dishes are served in one go. Meals are always accompanied by a refreshing drink. An authentic Malay delicacy is always enjoyed better with hands.
Chicken and mutton are the most popular meats. Fish and seafood like shrimp and cuttlefish also enjoy a huge popularity. You can’t call a Malay meal complete until dessert is served. Malay desserts are typically sweet and are often made of flour, palm sugar and coconut milk.
Breakfast
Breakfast is considered to be the most important meal of the day. Instead of being an ‘on the go’affair, breakfast dishes as detailed as lunch and dinner. Nasi Lemak (coconut rice), served with boiled egg, fried peanuts and cucumber slices isa local favourite. Nasi dagang is close to Nasi Lemak, it’s glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, served with fish curry, coconut sambal and cucumber pickle. Sambal Udang (Spicy Prawns cooked in classic Malay sauce) is an ideal accompaniment to Nasi lemak. Creamy congee drizzled with garlic oil and topped with ginger strips is a comparatively lighter option.
Lunch & Dinner
Malaysian meal pattern consists of 3-6 courses consisting of rice, one meat dish, one seafood dish and a vegetable dish. There’s no hard and fast rule to the number of dishes served in one meal, though all dishes are served in one go.
Otak Otak (fish mousse) and Roti Canai (flaky pastry pancake) are classic Malay appetizers. Roti Canaiis also known as roti prata and is often served with wotha chicken curry . Sup Kambing (mutton soup) is a popular delicacy in Malaysia.
Mee Goreng (Orange coloured fried noodles) is lunchtime favourite. It is often topped with sotong mamak (squid cooked in fiery blood red dried chilly sauce). Mee java (yellow noodles cooked in a thick tomato sauce and topped with prawns and curried squid). Lor Ark (duck braised with Chinese five spice).Char koay teow (fried flat noodles) is another lunchtime favourite. Nasi tomato (Tomato rice) with Ayam Masak Merah (Pieces of chicken are first pan-fried to a golden brown then slowly simmered in a spicy tomato sauce) is a patent Malay lunch/dinner combo. Sayur Lodeh (variety of vegetables in coconut gravy) is a great vegetarian delicacy
Other favourite lunch/dinner dishes include, steamed rice with Telur Belada (hard boiled eggs cooked in patent Malay sauce), Malaysian chicken and fish curry. These typically Malaysian mouth watering curries are made with a Malaysia meat curry powder. Often dried shrimp paste, lemongrass, galanagal, fresh turmeric and tamarind are added to enhance flavours.
On special occasions, Malaysian staple rice is often replaced by roti jala (lacy pancakes). They are made of plain flour eggs, turmeric powder and butter. Rich gravies are ideal accompaniments to roti jala.
Dessert
Malay meals can’t be called complete without desserts. Desserts become more popular during Ramadan (the religious fasting period). Almost all Malay desserts have one common ingredient, santan (coconut milk), fresh grated coconut, palm sugar and a unique plant leave called pandan or pandanus. Just like vanilla, Pandan is used to add essence to the dessert. Some of them are Nyonya Kuih (Nyonya cake), Nin Gao (new year cake), Tao Foo Faah (bean curd jelly), Pengat Pisang (sliced bananas in a rich sticky liquid sauce), Bubur Cha Cha (a delectable mix of coconut milk, sago, yam chunks and sweet potatoes) and the coconut pancake are exceptional delights.
Snacks And Street Food
Malaysia has the world’s one of the best street food culture as Malaysians are big time snackers addicted to street food. Thousands of roadside stalls have their tempting dishes laid out every day. Special treats like Keropok Lekor(Fish sausage), Ayam Goreng (fried chicken) feature among popular snacks in Malaysia.
A never ending banquet of local Laksa specialities include Asam Laksa (fish based tamarind and noodle soup topped with pineapple cucumber and mint) and Laksa lemak (noodles in a rich coconut gravy), dim sums, bean curd wrapped around minced pork, Pulut lepa (glutinous rice and fish barbecued), Satay (Pieces of marinated chicken skewered and cooked over a charcoal fire) and Ketupat Sotong (A popular tea-time dish featuring squids stuffed with glutinous rice) makes Malaysia a foodie’s paradise.
Trivia
- A Steamboat: It is an in-house dish. Diners sit round a table which has a soup tureen in the middle of the table. A fire below keeps it boiling hot. One then places prepared raw pieces of prawns, chicken, quails `eggs, sea cucumber and liver in the boiling soup.
- The word Mamak means uncle in Tamil, so the Indian muslim community locally are referred to as Mamak in Malaysia. Rojak Mamak’ a form of salad with the gravy made of finely pounded chillies is a delicacy in Malaysia.
- Chinese noodles have been crossed with Indian and Malay tastes , as a consequence, Malay fried noodles and Indian fried noodles were born.
- Coconut milk, palm sugar and freshly grated coconut are essential ingredients in most Malaysian desserts.