Malaysian cuisine: Difference between revisions

The cuisine of a country is generally a microcosm of the nation and Malaysian cuisine reflects the multi racial aspects of Malaysia. Various ethnic groups in Malaysia have their dishes but many dishes in Malaysia are derived from multiple ethnic influences.

Rice tends to be a staple food in Malaysia as in most countries in the same region. The rice eaten in Malaysia tends to be the local variety of rice or fragrant rice from Thailand, its northern neighbour. Varieties of rice such as basmati, Japanese short grain rice and others are slowly entering the Malaysian diet as Malaysians go to the ends of the earth and the ends of the earth come to Malaysia.

Besides rice noodles are another staple. Noodles such as "Mee Hoon" (vermicelli), "Kuay Teow" (soft fluffy noodles shaped like fettuccine but made of rice and white in colour), "Mee" (yellow noodles), "Mee Suah", "Yee Meen" (pre-fried noodles), "Tang Hoon" (transparent noodles made from green beans), macaroni, and others provide a source of carbohydrate besides the ubiquitious serving of rice that accompanies every meal.

Western style bread is a relatively new addition to the Malaysian diet, having gained acceptance only in the last generation or so. Even so, bread is generally consumed as part of breakfast.

Chicken is generally available from local farms and is a cheap source of meat. Farms used to be family affairs, with chickens slaughtered fresh on demand at the community wet market. For a small fee a vendor would put the dead chicken into a machine where the feathers would be removed. Gutting and cleaning the chicken would be performed at home.

Today, while the wet market is still around, most urban Malaysians purchase frozen poultry which are raised on huge farms run by for-profit companies.

A special type of chicken in malaysian cooking is called the "kampung chicken" (literally village chicken). These are free-range chickens which are allowed to roam instead of being caged. These chickens are generally considered to have higher nutritional value. They are scrawnier than their farmed counter-parts, meaning they have less body fat. Cooking of kampung chicken is usually by way of steaming or preparation in a soup.

Duck and goose also form part of the Malaysian diet.

The Hindus and the Buddhist do not consume beef. The Malays has various meat dishes that can interchange the chicken meat with beef. The Chinese that do eat beef enjoy beef noodles in soup.

Pork is largely consumed by the ethnically Chinese people in Malaysia. Malay people are generally Muslim hence their religion forbids them from consuming pork.

Fish features in the Malaysian diet but most local fish is purchased the day after it is caught, at latest. Some local fish is salted and dried. This dry, hard, salted item is also used as an ingredient.

Frozen fish are usually of the imported kind. Fish such as salmon and cod are well received on the Malaysian table but are unavailable here. Such fish are frozen and flown in as pieces or as whole fish and usually sold by weight.

Vegetables are usually available year round as Malaysia does not have four seasons. During the rainy season, sometimes vegetable yield decreases but does not stop altogether. Therefore, vegetables can be purchased year round but are slightly more expensive at certain times of the year.

Malaysia's climate allows for fruit to be grown year round. Most tropical fruit is available in Malaysia as demand for fruit is quite high.

Malay food is best eaten at roadside stalls, hawker centres or at home.

Satay (grilled meat skewers served with spicy peanut sauce) is a food largely influenced by Malay culture. It is found almost everywhere. In the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, satay is a breakfast dish while it is eaten in the evening elsewhere.

Generally Satay is served with ketupat which is a kind of rice wrapped in palm leave and then steamed. The palm leaves used are not easily acquired now so many street vendors use plastic bags instead. The change of wrapping has resulted in ketupats which lack the aroma generated by the palm leaf wrapping.

The serving is usually rounded out with a few slivers of pungent shallots and cucumber. These days, most vendors use less pungent onions in place of the shallots or omit it out right.

Perhaps the unofficial national dish of Malaysia is nasi lemak, literally rice in cream. The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in rich coconut cream and then the mixture steamed.

Traditionally, this comes as a platter with cucumber, small dried anchovies, roasted peanuts, kangkong (water convulvulus) hard boiled egg and hot spicy sauce (sambal). Nasi lemak can also come with any other accompaniments such as chicken, squid or beef curry. Traditionally most of these accompaniments are spicy in nature.

Asam fish is fish cooked in a sauce of the Asam(tamarind) fruit. The cooking process involves soaking the pulp of the tamarind fruit until it is soft and then squeezing out the juice for cooking the fish. Asam paste may be substituted for convenience. Various vegetables are added to make a spicy and tart fish stew. It is important that the fish remain intact for serving so generally the fish is added last.

Mamak (or Muslim Indian) dishes have developed a distinctly Malaysian style.

Roti Canai (also known as roti chennai or roti prata), is a uniquely malaysian dish which has its origins lost in the Indian community of malaysia. It is dough mixed with copious amounts of fat, usually clarfied butter (ghee), and then repeatedly flattened and folded, much in the way filo pastry is made. It is cooked on a flat iron skillet coated with a lot of oil. The ideal roti is flat and fluffy on the inside but also crispy and flaky on the outside.

Usually it is served with lentil stew or curry. Sometimes it is served with sugar or condensed milk.

Roti is generally consumed as breakfast or as supper (the fourth meal of the day, generally eaten after nightfall).

Mamak rojak consists of chopped pieces of fried foods combined with fresh vegetables like cucumber slivers and boiled potato. It is liberally slathered with a thick syrupy peanut sauce which is spicy and sweet. Optionally, boiled squid may be added.

An unusual mix can be found with rojak, which is a fruit salad with a topping of thick dark prawn paste.

Hokkien fried mee, a dish of thick yellow noodles fried in thick black soy sauce and pork lard which has been fried until its crispy.

Bak kut teh (literally "Pork bone tea"). This is a soup dish which is eaten with Rice or fried dough crullers. Generally it is served in a clay pot with various parts of the pig, various varieties of mushroom, and dried bean curd sheets or pieces (taufu pok). The soup itself is a broth which consists of many herbs and soup bones which have been boiled for many hours. It is usually accompanied with tea in the believe that tea dilutes or dissolves the copious amounts of fat which is consumed in the eating of this dish.

Bak kut teh has variations usually depending on the closest major Chinese enclave. Klang is regarded as the place with the tastiest bah kut teh. Most punters are almost religious about their favourite bah kut teh outlet. It was not surprising to know of Klang businessmen a generation ago who frequented the bah kut teh store on a daily basis.

Asam laksa (also known as penang laksa) a bowl of thick white rice noodles served in a soup made of fish meat, asam, pineapple and cucumber in slices.

Hainanese chicken rice is poached chicken served with "oily" rice (cooked with chicken stock) and chicken soup. Usually one is able to also get roasted pork and barbecued pork at the same outlet.

Char kway teow are stir fried rice-flour noodles, with prawns, eggs and beansprouts.

Voices of both Chinese and Malay culture can be found in Nyonya foods.

Thai food also features strongly in Malaysian cuisine and a localized version of Thai favourites like Tom yam is widely available.

The variety of wonderful tropical fruits and fruit juices available is huge, and strange sweet concoctions include cendol (sugar syrup, coconut milk and green rice noodles) and ais kacang or air batu campur (beans and jellies topped with shaved ice, syrups and condensed milk).

See also: Cuisine

• wokme.com Asian Cooking Guide - Malaysian Cuisine