Malay Food Guide

In Malay food, rice is the staple food, balancing the spicy cuisine of this region. Pork is not used due to religious reasons. Coconut is an important ingredient; the flesh is grated and squeezed to make the coconut milk which is then used in gravies as well as cakes, drinks and desserts.

These Malay food are the MUST try:

1. Satay
This famous Malay food, meat-on-a-stick appears on menus from New York to Amsterdam. The secret of tender, succulent satay is, of course, in the rich, spicy-sweet marinade. The marinated meat; chicken or beef, are skewered onto bamboo sticks and grilled over hot charcoals. A fresh salad of cucumbers & onions are served together with a spicy-sweet peanut sauce for dipping.

Ketupat, a Malay rice cake similar to Lontong (compressed rice roll), is also an accompaniment to satay, great for dipping in satay sauce.

2. Nasi Lemak
My personal favourite Malay food – This local Malay food is rice steamed with coconut milk and served with curry chicken or beef, fried anchovies and sambal. Sometimes pandan leaves are added when steaming rice to give it the fragrant aroma.

3. Laksa
Thick rice noodles are served in a tangy fish soup/gravy. Not at all fishy, the soupy gravy is made with mackerel and lots of aromatic herbs. Fresh garnishing of shredded cucumber, lettuce, pineapple, onion and fragrant mint leaves finishes the dish. In general the term Laksa refers to Malay style laksa, sometimes called Malay Laksa.

There are slight variations in different parts of the country. The key ingredient is tamarind, used as a souring agent, giving it a tart tangy taste. This version of laksa from the ‘hawker food capital’ – Penang, is especially famous and well known as Penang Laksa or Penang Assam Laksa.

4. Soto Ayam
Soto ayam is a traditional Malay food, a dish of spicy chicken soup with vermicelli. The soup is yellow in colour due to the use of turmeric as one of its ingredients. Besides chicken, the soup is served with hard-boiled eggs, slices of fried potatoes, celery leaves, and fried shallots. Sometimes, slices of Lontong (compressed rice roll) are also added.

Related Malaysia Food Guides:

• Malaysian Food
• Chinese Food Guide
• Indian Food Guide