WELCOME TO MALAYSIA ( Cuisine ) Part 1

Assalamualaikum..

Malaysia Cuisine ( malaysian food )

Malaysian cuisine is influenced by various cultures from all around the world. Malaysia's population consists mostly of three ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. As a result of historical migrations and Malaysia's geographical advantage, Malaysia's culinary style is a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai and Arabian cuisines - to name a few. This resulted in a symphony of flavors, making Malaysian cuisine highly exotic.

Malay cuisine:

Malay cuisine bears many similarities to 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 their own. Many Malay dishes revolve around a rempah, which is a spice paste or mix similar to an Indian masala. Rempahs are made by grinding up fresh and/or dried spices and herbs to create a spice paste which is then sauteed in oil to bring out the aromas.

• Apam balik - a bread like puff made from flour based batter with raising agent, topped with castor sugar, ground peanut, creamed corn, and grated coconut in the middle.

• Ayam percik - Typically a dish made from grilled marinated chicken basted with spicy coconut milk gravy.

• Ayam goreng kunyit - deep fried chicken, marinated in a base of turmeric and other seasonings.

• Ikan bakar - grilled/barbecued fish with either chilli, kunyit (turmeric) or other spice based sauce.

• Ikan pari - stingray wings, usually grilled/barbecued, and served accompanied with "air asam" (a dip made from shrimp paste, onion, chillis and lime/tamarind juice). Sometimes also cooked as "asam pedas"

• Ikan asam pedas - A sour stew of fish (usually mackerel), tamarind, chili, tomatoes, okra and Vietnamese coriander (Malay: daun kesum).

• Kangkung belacan is water convolvulus wok-fried in a pungent sauce of shrimp paste (belacan) and hot chilli peppers. Various other items are cooked this way, including petai (which is quite bitter when eaten raw; some older generation Malays still eat it as is), kai lan and yardlong beans.

• 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 rice flour and minced 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 freshly grated coconut.

• Kuih talam - steamed layered coconut pudding made of rice flour, sago flour and coconut milk is cooked by steaming. Pandan (Screwpine)leaves lends aroma and the colour to one layer. A white coconut layer goes on top. The bottow pandan flavoured layer is sweetened and the top half is usually left savory.

• 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.

• Layer Cake or kuih lapis - a sweet steamed cake made from rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and various shades of edible food colouring done with many individual layers.

• Nasi Lemak - rice steamed with coconut milk, usually served with sambal

• Nasi Berlauk - If you want to sample various dishes in one sitting you would be wise to go with Nasi Berlauk which literally means Rice with Dishes. You will be given a plate of plain rice and you would get to choose from a variety of dishes placed on the same plate. The cost of the meal would depend on what you take and how many different items you choose from. Generally meaty dishes cost more than vegetable 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 Minyak - a multi-colored rice (dyed in a similar manner to Nasi Kerabu) usually eaten with rendang. It is very oily as the name implies. (minyak means oil)

• Nasi Ambang - white rice served with dishes like soy sauce chicken, fried noodle, sambal goreng, serunding, egg and mixed vegetable. Popular in the state of Johor.

• 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.

• Pulut - Glutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely used during the Raya festive seasons as traditional food.
• Ketupat - Originally from Indonesia, a type of glutinous rice dumpling that has been wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch and boiled. As the rice cooks, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed. This method of cooking gives the ketupat its characteristic form and texture. Usually eaten with rendang (a type of dry beef curry) or served as an accompaniment to satay or gado-gado. Ketupat is also traditionally served by Malays at open houses on festive occasions such as Idul Fitri (Hari Raya Aidilfitri).
• Rendang - a spicy meat stew originating from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia, rendang is traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions.

• Roti jala - The name is derived from the Malay word 'roti' (bread) and 'jala' (net). 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.

• Sambal sotong - squid are cooked in a sambal-based sauce, made with chillies, shallots, garlic, stewed tomatoes, tamarind paste and belacan.

• Sayur Lodeh - Originally from Indonesia, a stew of vegetables cooked in a lightly spiced coconut milk gravy.

• Sup kambing - a hearty mutton soup slow simmered with aromatic herbs and spices, and garnished with fried shallots and fresh cilantro.

• Serunding - Shredded meat in a form of meat floss with spices.

• Tempoyak - a popular Malay delicacy. It is durian extract which is fermented, preserved and kept in an urn. Commonly eaten with the accompaniment of chillies and other condiments during meals.

Javanese influence cuisine:

There are a few Johorean dishes with Javanese influences or copied from Javanese. These include lontong, nasi ambeng and bontrot or berkat - both traditionally served after feasts like wedding ceremonies, Yasinan and others; and ungkep.

• Soto - Soup with rice vermicelli or ketupat.

• Mee soto noodle in soto soup.
• Mee rebus - a famous noodle dish which consists of mee (a spaghetti like mixture of flour, salt and egg) served with a tangy, spicy and sweet potato-based sauce. It is sometimes also called mee jawa, perhaps as a nod to its Javanese origins.

• Mee Bandung Muar is also a dish originated from Johor, specifically from Muar. The term 'bandung' is not derived from Bandung, Indonesia but is a term for anything that is mixed from many ingredients. One of the most important ingredient is dried shrimp.

• Penganan Kacau keledek is a dessert normally reserved for the Johor monarch and elites. It is made from sweet potatoes, a lot of eggs (at least 40), fresh coconut milk (not instant ones) and huge amounts of sugar. It is mixed and stirred on a simmering heat for at least 4 hours.
• Arisa (ayam arisa) - A unique chicken dish that is very rare nowadays, and is normally served to the royalties and social elites of Johor at formal functions and celebrations.
• 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.