If there is one thing that all the people of Malaysia will agree on, it’s about their love for food. Of the numerous elements you will get to try out and enjoy in the country through our Malaysia tour packages, it’s the food that you absolutely must indulge in.
The food in Malaysia is as diverse as the cultures and traditions present in the country, and the cuisine has Indian, Chinese, and Malay influences. When it comes to the Indian influences in Malaysian cuisine, most of it is due to the people who migrated to the country from the state of Tamil Nadu.
Malaysia shares quite a bit of similarities with Indonesia in terms of food, and the history of the foods found in Malaysia are often as interesting as the taste of the dishes itself. Here are some of the food items that you should definitely try having while you’re in Malaysia:
Roti canai is a light and crispy flatbread which has an Indian origin and is also popular in numerous Southeast Asian countries. It is created using flour, water, and butter, and some people also make use of condensed milk in their recipe.
The entire mixture is flattened, folded, oiled, and then fried in a skillet that is heavily oiled, resulting in the bread having a fluffy interior and a crispy exterior. This is often consumed with dipping sauces or curries.
Nasi lemak is considered to be the unofficial national dish of Malaysia. It is created using coconut milk, rice, and pandan leaves, and is traditionally served with anchovies, boiled eggs, peanuts, cucumbers, and sambal, which is a spicy, chili based paste.
The dish usually makes an appearance as a part of breakfasts in Malaysia, but it’s also eaten through the rest of the day and is a common sight at the roadside stalls and hawker centers around the country.
Char kway teow is a Chinese stir-fried noodle dish which is quite famous in Malaysia, with ‘char’ meaning ‘stir-fried’ and ‘kway teow’ referring to the flat rice noodles utilized to make the dish.
In order to make char kway teow, the noodles are first stir-fried over high flame in pork fat. The ingredients added are many and eclectic, such as prawns, light and dark soy sauce, chili, bean sprouts, fishcake, Chinese chives, blood cockles, and belacan, which is a paste made using fermented dried shrimp.
Curry mee, which is also known as curry laksa, is a spicy noodle soup, which is quite common in Malaysia and Singapore. This particular fusion concoction has Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian culinary influences.
The coconut milk and curry form the foundation of this creamy dish, giving it a sweet and spicy mix. The sauce which one gets to taste in curry mee is thinner than the one found in regular curry but is accompanied by a rich and strong flavor. Thin rice noodles are usually used to make this dish, which are generally cut up into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to consume them.
Assam or asam laksa is the kind of laksa that makes use of a souring agent such as tamarind or gelugur in place of coconut milk. While curry laksa is creamy and rich, asam laksa is spicy and tangy. In addition to the souring agent, it also contains shredded mackerel and vegetables such as onions, cucumber, red chilli, and torch ginger, along with laksa leaves, mint leaves, and pineapple. It’s usually served with rice noodles and topped with otak udang, which is a prawn paste.
Eating on banana leaves is quite a common practice in the southern part of India, and that’s exactly the experience you will get to have if you consume banana leaf rice in Malaysia. There are numerous items you will find on this banana leaf, including rice, pickles, multiple curries, rasam (a sour and spiced soup), and papadam (thin and crispy wafers).
Having originated in Indonesia, Satay is a dish which is highly popular in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. Satay basically means meat that is skewered and grilled over charcoal, and usually includes meat such as chicken, pork, beef, mutton, and goat, but satay is also found in the form of seafood, tofu, vegetables, and fish balls. This is served along with satay sauce, which is prepared with chili, tamarind, palm sugar, and roasted peanuts.
Sambal is a chili paste which is often found in the food of Malaysia, and sambal udang refers to a chili paste with prawns. In addition to the prawns simmering in the chili paste, the element that elevates the taste of this dish for seafood lovers is the presence of additional prawn paste. The tamarind juice added to the recipe lends it a tangy taste.
Murtabak made its entry into Malaysia due to Indian Muslim traders who hailed from the state of Tamil Nadu, which is why this dish is particularly a favorite among the country’s local Muslim community. It’s a pan-fried bread that is filled with meat and almost resembles a pancake. The meat filling in the dish is usually that of mutton, chicken, or egg. Murtabak is served with a chili dipping sauce, and there is also a vegetarian version of the dish which is made up of a potato filling.
If there is one Malaysian dish that will genuinely get you curious with its appearance, it’s nasi kerabu, which is a rice dish with a twist, and the twist is that the rice is blue in color. The blue color of the rice is derived from the butterfly pea flower. Salad is a topping found on nasi kerabu and the dish is commonly served with a side of fried chicken, dried fish, solok lada (stuffed chili peppers), and salted egg.
Bak kut the is a pork rib dish which has a Hokkien and Teochew origin and is popular in both Malaysia and Singapore. Made up of numerous pork cuts that are cooked in a delicious broth and seasoned with fennel, garlic, cinnamon, and star anise, the name of the dish translates to ‘meat bone tea’, with the ‘tea’ bit referring to the oolong Chinese tea that’s usually served with this particular dish.
For those of you with a sweet tooth, apam balik is the one dish you absolutely have to taste during your vacation in Malaysia. It’s a dense pancake whose packaging resembles that of an omelette. This dish can be either thin and crispy or soft and thick. While the traditional fillings of apam balik include butter, sugar, and peanuts, the modern versions of it could contain raisins, chocolate chips, corn, or condensed milk.
Pisang goreng is a beloved snack in Malaysia, consisting of banana fritters, which often have different versions in different countries around the world that grow bananas. The bananas are deep fried, which helps caramelise the natural sugars present in them, making them even sweeter than they originally were. The dish is also popular in Brunei, Singapore, and Indonesia. The perfectly fried banana fritters are golden, with the interior being moist and sweet and the exterior crispy.
