Five Must-Try Traditional Dishes from Malaysia

Tropical Flavours of Malaysia

Food has always been a part of every culture and community. This past year, with the world on a halt, food has somehow become an important tool for connection. With sour dough bread, Dalgona Coffee, macaroon, homemade pizza, dhokla and biryani challenges, food not only provided people a way to stay sane but also connect and explore the world from their homes. This inspired me to share dishes from around the world that could take you on a culinary adventure from your homes and maybe inspire you to try some of these dishes to make your adventure more memorable. And to give this adventure a wholesome closure from my end, I could not think of any country other than Malaysia!

Satay...and more. (Check out the best Malay dishes to have in Malaysia)

I had written an article about ten amazing Malay dishes sometime back, but Malaysia is such a boiling pot of cultures that one article is just not enough to cover the must eats from this country! Malay, Indian, Chinese, Indonesian, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese – Malaysia has a distinct flavour for each but has also made its own distinct cuisine by mixing and modifying dishes from these culinary styles. So, for this article, I am going to take you around traditional fusions that are an integral part of Malaysian cuisine.

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1.   Char Kway Teow – Around seven years back, I had a curried Pad Thai sort of a dish in an airline lounge in Kuala Lumpur but didn’t know what it was; I was just sure it was not Pad Thai. I had a similar dish a couple of years back in Boston but this time it was from a Chinese take out place. Then, more recently from a place called “Love Mama” in New York City, this time finally learnt the name - Char Kway Teow. After that I searched this dish in Thai and Chinese menus for a couple of weeks, but in vain, post which I resorted to google and realized that Char Kway Teow is actually a Malaysian dish! Apparently, early versions of the dish which used rice and pork sausage originated in Southeast China and was brought to Malaysia by the Chinese merchants and their descendants aka Peranakans modified it with chicken and shrimp with flat rice noodle base, hence making it like Pad Thai but not like Pad Thai at the same time. And because I still remembered the taste of this spicy rice noodle and shrimp dish from that lounge buffet so distinctly that I always give in to nostalgia every time I had it here in US, Char Kway Teow tops my list of traditional Malaysian dishes when in Malaysia!

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2.  Roti Cenai – Roti Cenai is probably the most famous bread of Malaysia and it is nearly impossible to escape from it in the country, unless you are planning to eat just rice or no traditional Malay food. This traditional Malaysian layered flatbread made with Maida, Eggs, and Ghee and is believed to be inspired by Malabar Paratha (type of roti from Kerela in India). Back in the 19^th Century, Indian traders and workers from Madras Presidency immigrated to Malaysia and the Indian Muslims, called Mamas or Mamaks (uncle) in Malaysia started serving roti cenai aka roti from Chennai with daal (lentil curry) in their shops and restaurants. And just like that roti cenai and daal became a loved dish of the entire nation, and you sure would love it if you got a bite of this soft flaky bread the traditional way!

3.  Laksa – If Satay is the king of Malaysian Cuisine, Laksa is surely the queen. This spicy and sour noodle curry is one of the most celebrated dishes in Malaysia and is now known all around the world for all the right reasons. Laksa basically means a wholesome meal of rice noodle in broth, and in Malaysia Laksa has a ton of regional and cultural variants but is believed to be a pure Malay dish from Malacca with a little Peranakans touch. While the Malay Laksa or Asam Laksa has a tamarind prawn and fish base, Peranakan Nyonya Laksa or Laksa Lemak has a coconut chicken and prawn base. But apparently the most famous version of Laksa and the version that I actually got to try out when I was in Malaysia is called Curry Laksa which is a mildly spicy coconut milk base with chicken and is somewhat similar to red Thai curry. Needless to say, it is absolutely mouthwatering, and a must must have in Malaysia. Luckily nowadays tofu is also used in Laksas, so vegetarians don’t have to miss out!

4.  Nasi Kerabu – I still remember the unsettling feeling yet the curiosity I had when I saw the blue rice with a ton of other side dishes at a Chinese Malay restaurant called Precious at the Central Market in Kuala Lumpur. My guide during that trip, Jeevan, then informed me that the blue colour of the rice actually comes from butterfly pea flowers and adds a very subtle taste to the rice. And the dish with the rice, fried anchovies (only thing I didn’t like in the platter), fried chicken, omelet and the fritters together are call Nasi Kerabu. I didn’t really know much about this this other than what Jeevan had said, so I did a quick search to find out more about this dish and turns out this too is a pure Malay dish originating in the northern states of Malaysia. And though the sides in this dish are not unusual, this can literally be tagged as a Malay Thali or traditional complete main course and hence is another dish I would recommend trying in Malaysia.

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5.  Cendol – And to end it in my way, here is the dessert from Malaysia that will put a smile on your face and become travel memory you will remember for a while due to its quirky look. Say hello to Cendol, a bowl of condensed coconut milk with shaved ice (traditionally with no flavour, but that has changed in a pleasant way with time) and diced jackfruit, tapioca or durian. And if this was not sweet enough, it is topped with green rice flour jelly worms and palm sugar syrup. Sounds interesting right? Cendol is apparently famous all-over south-east Asia but is believed to have originated in either Malacca or Kuala Lumpur but was inspired by a similar Javanese dessert. Nevertheless, Cendols are definitely a unique dessert from Malaysia and imagine grabbing a bowl of cendol while exploring Jonker Street in Malacca or Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur under the hot tropical sun of Malaysia – you get the picture, right?

Malaysian Cuisine has so many unique sweets!

And with that, I am wrapping up my culinary travel of the world! I am not really skilled in the kitchen, but I really hope I was able to give you all a taste of a small chunk of the world and helped you shake off your worries for at least a brief period. Let me know if you guys have tried any of the dishes I mentioned in this post or my other recent posts or ended up making any of these at home recently! How was it, and do you agree with my recommendations???

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