Malay Cuisine

Nasi lemak - rice steamed with coconut milk

• Apam balik - also called "Terang Bulan" or "Martabak Manis" in Indonesia, it is 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.
• Gulai - a type of soupy curry-like dishes that could be made from various ingredients; meats or vegetables. Popular one are Gulai Kambing (Goat or mutton gulai) and Gulai Ayam (chicken gulai).
• Kari - the Malay adaptation of curry dishes. Just like Gulai, it could be made from various ingredients; meats or vegetables. Popular one are Kari Ayam (chicken curry).
• Ikan bakar - grilled/bbq-ed fish with either chilli, kunyit (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).
• Kangkung belacan is water spinach wok-fried in 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) 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 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 sweets 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.
  • 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.
• Lemang - Glutinous rice and coconut milk and cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick lined with banana leaves.
• Mee rebus - a famous noodle dish which consists of mee (noodle, 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.
• Nasi lemak - rice steamed with coconut milk
• 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 colour (dyed by a kind of blue flower), 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.
• Satay - Satay were originated from Java and Sumatra in Indonesia, and distributed widely across Southeast Asian archipelago. It is widely popular and common within Indonesian cuisine with rich variations and recipes. Malay chicken satay is closely resembled Madura satay with rich peanut sauce. In Malaysia the most popular variant are Kajang Satay.
• Soto - The most popular is Soto Ayam, chicken soup with rice vermicelli and ketupat, it clearly shows Indonesian cuisine influences.
• 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 - 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, and adopted by Malay throughout archiplego. 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 looks 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 belacan - sambal a common codiment in Indonesian cuisine as well as Malaysian cuisine. It is made with chilies, shallots, garlic, stewed tomatoes, tamarind paste, coconut sugar, salt and belacan (shrimp paste).
• Sambal sotong - squid are cooked in a sambal-based sauce, made with chilies, shallots, garlic, stewed tomatoes, tamarind paste and belacan.
• Sayur lodeh - 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 preserved and kept in an urn. Commonly eaten with chillis and other dishes.