Malaysian Cuisine, read and drool :D

Malaysian Cuisine mirrors a lot from Indonesian cuisine, in particular some of the regional traditions from Sumatra.it has also been influenced by Chinese, Indian,Thai and many other cultures throughout history,producing a distinct cuisine of our own. Many Malay dishes revolve around a Rempah, which is a spice paste or mix similar to an Indian Masala. Rempah are made by grinding up fresh or dried herbs to create a spice paste which is then sauteed in oil to bring out the aromas.

Malay Delicacies
Apam balik - a bread like puff with sugar, corn, and coarse nut in the middle.
Ayam percik - grilled chicken with spicy sauce.
Ayam goreng kunyit - deep fried chicken, marinated in a base of turmeric and other seasonings.
Ikan bakar - grilled/barbecued fish with either chilli,turmeric or other spice based sauce.
Ikan pari - barbecued stingray
Ikan asam pedas - A sour stew of fish (usually mackerel), tamarind, chili, tomatoes, okra and Vietnamese coriander (Malay: daun kesum).
Keropok lekor, a specialty of the state of Terengganu and other states on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, is a savoury cake made from a combination of batter and shredded fish. Sliced and fried just before serving, it is eaten with hot sauce.
Kuih (plural: kuih-muih) is usually a selection of cakes, pastries and sweetmeats eaten as a snack during the morning or during midday, and are an important feature during festive occasions. It is a tradition shared by both the Malay and the Peranakan communities. Some example include:
       Onde onde - small round balls made from glutinous rice flour with pandan [screwpine] leaves essence, filled with palm sugar and rolled in fresh grated coconut.
      Kuih talam - steamed layered coconut pudding made of rice flour, sago flour and coconut milk is cooked by steaming. Pandan leaves lends aroma and the green color to one layer. A white coconut layer goes on top.
Layer Cake - a sweet cake with many layers
Nasi berlauk - Plain rice served with different variety of dishes
Nasi Dagang - the Nasi Lemak of east coast Peninsula Malaysia, in the state of Terengganu and Kelantan.
Nasi kerabu - a type of rice which is blue in color (dyed by a kind of blue flower or bunga telang), originated in Kelantan state.
Nasi Paprik - originated from southern Thailand, rice with "lauk", typically chicken.
Nasi goreng - fried rice. Nasi goreng kampung is a typical variant, traditionally flavored with pounded fried fish (normally mackerel), though recently fried anchovies are used in place of it.


Sate
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.
Telur pindang - Eggs boiled together with herbs and spices, popular during wedding feasts in Johor.
Kacang Pol- This dish is influenced by Arab Culture where special baked bread was served with special sauce and a 'sunny side up' egg.
Pisang Salai or Gimpi smoked banana cooked into perfection
Mee Bakso - This is almost identical with soto, only this dish have meatball instead of slices of chicken meat.
Lontong - Dish using combination of pressed rice and special coconut soup with vegetables. Served with boiled egg and chili.
Burasak - It is a type of Buginese food.
Kerutup ikan - Fish is steamed with variety of local fragrant leaves.
Pecal - It is a Javanese traditional cuisine which consists of long beans, slice of cucumber, beansprout, tauhu, tempe mix with special peanut sauce.
Tauhu bakar- it is made from soybean where it is burnt on a grill and cut into cubes and dip with special sauce.
Pendaram
Mee Siput - It is a mixture of flour that will expand in term of size when deep fried.
Rojak Petis - It is a combination of local vegetables mix with special black colored sauce made mostly from shrimp(Otak Udang).
ABC - ABC is abbreviation of 'Air Batu Campur' or known as Ice Kacang Johor. It is a special desserts created from shaved ice added with corn, jelly, redbeans, groundnut, syrup, pasteurized milk, and liquid chocolate.


Indian Delicacies,the Malaysian Style
Malaysian Indian cuisine of the ethnic Indians in Malaysia is similar to its roots in India, especially South India although there are many notable foods with influences from North India too. Before the meal it is customary to wash hands as cutlery is often not used while eating, with the exception of a serving spoon for each respective dish. This cuisine consists of curries which uses a lot of spices, coconut milk, and curry leaves. Some of the most popular curries include chicken curry, fish curry, and squid curry.

Type of food found in Malaysian Indian Cuisine
Banana leaf rice is white rice served on banana leaf with an assortment of vegetables, curry meat or fish and papadum.
Thosai (in Johor Bharu spelt Dosai) is a batter made from lentils and rice blended with water and left to ferment overnight. The batter is spread into a thin, circular disc on a flat, preheated pan, where it is fried with a dash of edible oil or ghee until the dosa reaches a golden brown colour. Then the thosai may optionally be turned over on the pan, and partially fried. The end product is neatly folded and served. Thosai is served with sambar (vegetable curry) and coconut chutney.
Naan bread is a leavened, oven-baked flatbread. It is usually eaten with an array of sauces such as Chutney and curries such as Dhal curry. Some examples of Naan bread include Garlic Naan, Butter Naan, Garlic Butter Naan, Cheese Naan, Garlic Cheese Naan.
Roti canai is a thin bread with a flaky crust, fried on a skillet and served with condiments. It is sometimes referred to as roti kosong. In Singapore, it is referred to as prahta. Roti telur is a roti canai with egg in it. Telur means egg.
Maggi goreng is a dish of fried Maggi instant noodles with flavouring (usually curry), vegetables, egg, tofu and occasionally chicken.(practically our favorite food whenever we visit a mamak )

Murtabak is a dish of savoury stuffed roti, usually including minced mutton, garlic, onion, and folded with an omelette, and is eaten with curry sauce.

Nasi Beriani or Biryani is a rice dish made from a mixture of spices, basmati rice, meat/vegetables and yogurt. The ingredients are ideally cooked together in the final phase and is time-consuming to prepare. Pre-mixed biryani spices from different commercial names are easily available in markets these days, which reduces the preparation time though the taste differs considerably.
Teh tarik literally meaning "pulled tea", is a well-loved drink amongst Malaysians. Tea is sweetened using condensed milk, and is prepared using out-stretched hands to pour piping hot tea from a mug into a waiting glass, repetitively. The higher the "pull", the thicker the froth. The "pulling" of tea also has the effect of cooling down the tea. Teh tarik is an art form in itself and watching the tea streaming back and forth into the containers can be quite captivating.

Mamak Culture
Mamak (Indian Muslims) dishes have developed a distinctly Malaysian style. Available throughout the country, the omnipresent Mamak stalls or restaurants are particularly popular among the locals as they offer a wide range of food and some outlets are open 24 hours a day. A type of Indian Muslim meal served buffet-style at specialist Mamak eateries is called nasi kandar (analogous to the Indonesian nasi padang, where you pay for what you have actually eaten), white rice or briyani rice served with other dishes of curry either with chicken, fish, beef, or mutton, and usually accompanied with pickled vegetable and papadums.


Malaysian Chinese food

Malaysian Chinese food is derived from mainland southern Chinese cuisine such as Fujian cuisine and Hakka cuisine but has been influenced by local ingredients and dishes from other cultures though it remains distinctly Chinese. Most Chinese meals have pork as their sub-ingredient, but due to the popularity and unique taste of the actual food, there are chicken options available for the local Malays (most Malays are Muslims). Some Chinese food restaurants nowadays can be found serving halal food. Chinese restaurants serving food in halal can introduce a wider range of customers to it.


Bak Kut Teh (Chinese : 肉骨茶) (pork ribs soup). A soup cooked with herbs, garlic and pork ribs which have been boiled for many hours. The city of Klang is famous for it. In some towns, additional ingredients include sea cucumber and abalone. Bak kut teh is believed to have medicinal properties.
Bakkwa (Chinese : 肉干), Known also as barbecued pork and it literally means dried meat. This delicacy is sold everywhere throughout Malaysia and is especially popular during the Chinese New Year celebrations period.


Char Kway Teow (Chinese : 炒粿條，炒河粉). Stir fried rice noodles with prawns, eggs (duck or chicken), chives and beansprouts. Usually, with an option of cockles as well.
Chee cheong fun (Chinese : 豬腸粉) is square rice sheets made from a viscous mixture of rice flour and water. This liquid is poured onto a specially-made flat pan in which it is steamed to produce the square rice sheets.
Curry Mee (Chinese : 咖喱面). A bowl of thin yellow noodles mixed with beehoon (rice vermicelli) in spicy curry soup with coconut milk with dried tofu, prawns, cuttlefish, chicken, mint leaves and topped with a special sambal.

Hainanese Chicken Rice (Chinese : 海南雞飯). steamed chicken served with rice cooked in margarine or chicken fat & chicken stock and chicken soup. The rice is usually served in a bowl or a plate but in Malacca (a historical town), the rice is served in the form of rice balls.

Kaya toast or Roti bakar is a traditional breakfast dish. Kaya is a sweet coconut and egg jam, and this is spread over toasted white bread. Traditionally served with a cup of local coffee/tea and soft-boiled eggs in light/dark soya sauce & ground white pepper.
Pan Mee or Ban Mian (Chinese : 板面) is a Hokkien-style egg noodle soup, some forms of Ban mian, comprises hand-kneaded pieces of dough, while others use regular strips of noodles.
Pao (Chinese : 包) also known as bao, is a steamed bun made of wheat flour, with fillings of various types of meat. It is usually a menu item found in Dim Sum places, although these days it can be seen in most coffee stalls.
Popiah (Chinese : 薄饼), Hokkien/Chaozhou-style rolled crepe spring roll style, stuffed mainly with stewed vegetables, usually shredded tofu, turnip and carrots. Other items may also include egg, Chinese sausage ("lup cheong").
Tau foo fah or Dau Huay (Chinese : 豆腐花 or 豆花) is a curdled version of soya bean milk and is flavoured with syrup. It looks much like Tau Foo but it is very tender. Sold in many places. It is a popular dessert among Malaysians and Singaporeans.

Wantan Mee
Wonton Mee (Chinese : 雲吞麵), Chinese noodles with Chinese dumplings (Chinese : 雲吞), chooi sam and BBQ pork . Dumpling are usually made of Pork and/or prawns. The noodles may be served either in a bowl of soup with dumplings or on a plate with some dark soya sauce flavoured with oil and slices of roast pork and vegetable. For the latter, the dumplings will be served in a separate bowl with soup.
Wu Tau Guo (Chinese : 芋頭糕), is yam cake that is made of mashed yam and rice flour. It has deep fried onion and shrimp on top, and usually served with red chilli paste.
Yau Zha Gwai or Eu Char Kway or You Tiao (Chinese : 油炸鬼 or 油条) is Cantonese doughnut, a breakfast favourite eaten either like a doughnut—with coffee, or as a condiment for congee. It is shaped like a pair of chopsticks, stuck together. The name itself amusingly translates into "greasy fried ghosts".
Zuk or zhou (Chinese : 粥) is congee, a rice porridge that comes with such ingredients as fish slices, chicken breast, salted egg, century egg and minced pork. Mui is the teochew version of rice porridge, and is usually more watery with visible rice grains. It is often cooked with sweet potato and served with an assortment of Chinese dishes like vegetables, meat and salted egg.

 Peranakan Dishes
Nyonya food was developed by the Nyonya (Straits Chinese) and Peranakan (mixed Chinese/Malay ancestry) people of Malaysia and Singapore. It uses mainly Chinese ingredients but blends them with South-East Asian spices such as coconut milk, lemon grass, turmeric, screwpine leaves, chillies and sambal. It can be considered as a blend of Chinese and Malay cooking with some Thai influence .
Examples of Nyonya dishes include:
Acar - various pickled meats and vegetables like acar keat lah (honey lime/calamansi), achar hu (fried fish), acar kiam hu (salt fish), acar timun (cucumber), acar awat (mixed vegetables).
Asam Laksa (Malay: 亞三叻沙). A bowl of thick white rice noodles served in a soup made of fish, tamarind, onion, basil, pineapple and cucumber in slices.
Ayam pongteh, a chicken stew cooked with tauchu or salted soy beans and gula melaka. It is usually saltish-sweet and can be substituted as a soup dish in peranakan cuisine.
Ayam buah keluak, a chicken dish cooked using the nuts from Pangium edule or the "Kepayang" tree, a mangrove tree that grows in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Bak Chang. Similar to the original zongzi, or Chinese rice dumpling, made from glutinous rice wrapped in leaf along with pork, shiitake mushrooms, nut and salted egg yolk of a duck's egg. A common Peranakan variant (Nyonya zong (娘惹粽) involves pandan leaves being used as the wrapping instead.
Cincalok, a distinctly Nyonya condiment made of fermented shrimp
Itek Tim or Kiam Chye Ark Th'ng is a soup whose main ingredients are duck and preserved mustard leaf and cabbage flavoured with nutmeg seed, Chinese mushrooms, tomatoes and peppercorns.
Jiew Hu Char is a dish made up mainly of shredded vegetables like turnip or jicama, carrot, and cabbage and fried together with thinly shredded dried cuttlefish.
Kerabu Bee Hoon is a salad dish comprising rice vermicelli mixed with sambal belacan, honey lime (limau kesturi/calamansi) juice, and finely-chopped herbs and spices. Other famous salad dishes are kerabu bok née (black fungus/tikus telinga), kerabu kay (chicken), kerabu kay khar (chicken feet), kerabu timun (cucumber), kerabu kobis (cabbage), kerabu kacang botol (four angled bean), kerabu bak poey (pork skin).
Laksa lemak is a type of laksa served in a rich coconut gravy.
Laksa Johor is from Johor. It differs from Laksa Penang by having coconut milk added during cooking. It also differs from other laksas by using spaghetti instead of rice-based noodles.
Lam Mee is long yellow rice noodles cooked in a rich gravy made from the stock of prawns and chicken. It is always served at birthdays to wish the birthday boy or girl a long life, and is also known as birthday noodles.

Being a multicultural country, Malaysians have over the years adapted each other's dishes to suit the taste buds of their own culture. For instance, Malaysians of Chinese descent have adapted the Indian curry, and made it more dilute and less spicy to suit their taste.
Chinese noodles have been crossed with Indian and Malay tastes and thus Malay fried noodles and Indian fried noodles were born.




A bowl of cendol
Desserts in Malaysia tend to make use of generous amounts of coconut milk. Some common desserts include:
Cendol. Smooth green rice noodles in chilled coconut milk and gula melaka (coconut palm sugar).
Ais kacang (also known as air batu campur or just ABC. "'air batu' is ice in Malay") Sweet corn, red beans and cincau (grass jelly) topped with shaved ice, colourful syrups and condensed milk.
Bubur cha cha. Yam and sweet potato cubes served in coconut milk and sago, served hot or cold.
Honeydew sago. Honeydew melon cubes served in chilled coconut milk and sago.