Malaysian Cuisine : Foods in Malaysia

Some important facts about Malaysia :

Malaysia is a country with 13 states and the type of government is constitutional monarchy but at the same time it is federated. Malay is the national language and is adjacent to the neighboring countries like Thailand Borneo and Indonesia. It is also considered near to the Philippines, as you just cross the sea from the Sulu Sea and you can reach Borneo -- part of Malaysia. This gives us a hint of the food availability in the area.

The food in Malaysia is a by product of its multi-ethnic background, religion and local tastes of the people, they mostly eat chicken specially among Muslims. Beef is eaten by some Buddhists with consideration and Hindus don't eat beef at all.

Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia and considered a multi-ethnic country. There are Chinese, Indians and the native Malays who practiced different religions but are living harmoniously. Majority of Malaysians are Muslims,then Buddhist and Hindus in that order. So in terms of food, you can see that there is variation of food in relation to their basic religions, although we will see later on that rice is the basic staple which is common in Southeastern Asia region.

In Malaysia there are variations of food according to ethnic backgrounds like :

• Chinese -- Malay foods
• Chinese -- Chinese/Malay foods
• Malay - Indian foods
  
• and Malay foods -- the natives

Nearby Country influences :

Thailand, Indonesians -- Sumatran culture and food tradition plus Indians and Chinese influenced the food choices of Malaysians. Rempah is a seasoning or condiments grinded so as to produce a paste for flavorings and nice smelling food. it is the same as the masala of Indians.

Fruits and Vegetables in Malaysia:

Malaysia lies in the equator and is a tropical country, fruits and vegetables are abound and green, and the same with nearby countries.The vegetable produce are expensive during off season.

Fruits like papaya, melon, mangosteen, durian, rambutan (red hairy covered fruit) mangoes, bananas and a lot more. They also eat  lychee (harvested in cooler climate),

Fish paste or shrimp paste and chili peppers are also used as spices. Like in other Asian countries the Malay use curries and shrimp paste for flavorings and seasoning purposes. Chilies, sambal, tumeric, soy sauce are also used as ingredients in noodles and dishes.

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What is satay? it is a meat which was grilled chicken, beef or lamb meat with coconut milk as the sauce and fried peanuts and oftentimes they are sold int he streets, They grill it in an open grill and then mixed with spices as sauce, usually chili sauce.

Another famous dish in Malaysian cuisine is the murtabak, which has other variants in the Muslim countries like the Middles eastern countries. it consists of chopped lamb meat with spices  and omelet styled plus a mixture of curried powder.

• Nasi Paprik
• Nasi goreng
• Soto
• Pulut
• Rendang
• Roti jala
• Sambal sotong
• Sayur lodeh
• Sup kambing -

• Serunding -
• Tempoyak
  

• Apam BalikAyam percik

• Ayam goreng kunyit
• Ikan Bakar
• Ikan Asam Pedas
• Kangkung belacan
• Keropor lecor
• Kui
• Mee rebus
• Nasi berlauk
• Nasi Dagang
• Nasi kerabu -

• Mee Siam.
• Nasi Kunyit
• Nasi Ulam
• Ngoh Hiang
• Otak otak
  
• Perut Ikan
• Se Bak,
• Ter Thor T'ng

Noodles rice noodles with herbs and spices used for cooking usually of Chinese Malay mixed cooking.

Pineapple and cucumber are also added plus the sour tamarind.

Other foods which are of Chinese Malay mixture of food culture

• Acar
• Ayam pongteh
• Ayam buah keluak
• Bak chang
• Cincalok
  
• Itek Tim
• Jiew Hu Char
• Kerabu Bee Hoon
• Kiam Chye Boey
• Laksa lemak
• Lam Mee
• Masak Belanda
• Masak Lemak
• Masak Titik

• Mee Hon Koor
  
• Ngah Choy Kai
• Ngah Po Fan
• Pan Mee
• Pao
• Popiah
• Rojak
  
• Sin Chow
• Turmeric chicken
• Tau foo fah
• Tong sui
• Wantan Mee
  

• Wu Tau Guo
• Yau Zha Gwai
  

• Zuk or zhou

Although Chinese loves to put pork as main ingredients for their foods, they also have to consider Malay who are mostly Muslim and they consider this when establishing a restaurant. Soem of the foods which are Chinese - Malay foods are :

• Bak kut teh
• Bakkwa
  
• Bread with curried chicken
• Cantonese Fried Mee
• Chai tow kwa
• Char kway Teow
• Chee cheong fun
• Curry mee
• Duck Noodle soup
  
• Ginger Duck Mee
• Hainanese chicken with rice
• Hakka cuisine
• Hokkien Mee
• Prawn Mee
• Kaya toast
• Kway chap
  
• Loh Mee

wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_cuisine for the List of different ethnic foods.

• Rasam
• Sambar
• Mamak
• Roti Canai
• Mamak rojak
• Maggi goreng
  
• Murtabak
• Biryani
• Teh tarik

• banana leaf rice
• Fish head curry
  
• Chapati
• Thosai
• Idli
• Payasam
• Pongal
• Putu Mayam