chicken rice

satay

Food in Malaysia

You could travel to Malaysia just to eat: The variety of food is incredible. Chinese, Indian and Malay cuisines predominate, though in restaurants in larger cities we've even had French and North African dishes. Chicken, fish, noodles and curries are everywhere. The street stalls offer delicious and cheap Malaysian food. The Malaysian food is spicy and coconut milk is a common ingredient. The seafood is excellent. Some traditional Malay dishes include rendang (beef, lamb and chicken in coconut milk), satay (skewered meat in peanut sauce), pulut (various sticky-rice concoctions cooked inside a banana leaf), ikan bilis (dried anchovies fried in a sauce and served with rice) and murtabak (crepes stuffed with egg, meat and vegetables). For breakfast, you might try roti canai (crepes) with either curry sauce or dahl (lentil sauce). Desserts range from the colourful nyonya kueh (traditional Chinese rice-flour confections) to the totally cold and colourful ais kacang (shaved ice sprinkled with gelatin cubes, colored syrups, condensed milk, corn and kidney beans). Malaysia also offers a cornucopia of delicious tropical fruits: rambutan (similar to lychee), mangosteen (probably the best-tasting tropical fruit) and the infamous durian (undoubtedly the world's smelliest). Coffee and beer (Anchor and Tiger brands) are quite good. Be sure to order teh tarik in an Indian tea shop just to see the server "pull" the tea -- that is, ceremoniously pour the tea into your glass from several feet away (its not just drama -- the practice cools the tea).