# Malaysian Food



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I tried the local Malaysian Restaurant for the first time yesterday.

I really liked the food. I had shrimp and vegetables (mostly onions) stir fried in a Sumbal Sauce. (I looked up Sumbal Sauce on the internet and it appears that that is not a bad choice diet-wise.)

I will be back again. It is within exercise-walking distance. (One or three mile round trip depending how I approach things.)

The food looks like it will be mostly healthy.


----------



## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

I spent 6 weeks in Malaysia, living with a local family. I must have lost about 20 pounds. The food was good, but it was really spicy, and seems to have done wonders for my metabolism. 

They had this breakfast dish that I have never been able to find in the U.S. An unsweetened pancake with a spicy dipping sauce. I believe it was called laksa, which is a name used for several other unrelated SE Asian dishes.


----------



## A Questionable Gentleman (Jun 16, 2006)

Forsberg,

You might also try Beef Rendang, Beef Semur and Devil Curry. All very tasty and in differenct ways.


----------



## Acct2000 (Sep 24, 2005)

I noticed quite a few curried items on the menu. I will have to try some of them.

(However, I have one flaw when visiting a restaurant I don't go to frequently. If I really like something I have tried, I tend to order it again. There are a lot of restaurants where I always want the same thing if I only go there once a month or so. I will need to overcome this here. I really liked the Shrimp in Sambal Sauce.)


----------



## A Questionable Gentleman (Jun 16, 2006)

Forsberg,

Malayan food offers the perfect way around this. Go with friends/family. Everyone orders something different and shares.

The Malay peninsula offers a really neat mix of culinary traditions. British, Portuguese,Thai, Indian, Indigenous and Nonya (Straits Chinese) all blend together.


----------



## radix023 (May 3, 2007)

agnash said:


> They had this breakfast dish that I have never been able to find in the U.S. An unsweetened pancake with a spicy dipping sauce. I believe it was called laksa, which is a name used for several other unrelated SE Asian dishes.


This might be "Roti Canai". Was the dipping sauce curry-based? (I have two places here in ATL that have that on the menu as an appetizer (Top Spice, Penang))


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

laksa is usually a noodle soup with coconut and fish broth. the word "roti" designates flat bread, so usually something based on a pancake or flat breat will have "roti" in the name.


----------



## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

radix023 said:


> This might be "Roti Canai". Was the dipping sauce curry-based? (I have two places here in ATL that have that on the menu as an appetizer (Top Spice, Penang))


I travel to Atlanta a couple of times a year, and will definitely have to try those places. The Roti Canai sounds very similar to what ate for breakfast.

I have done a little research since my original post, and I believe the laksa we ate for breakfast was simply the curry powder and coconut milk that is the base of laksa soup.


----------



## cufflink44 (Oct 31, 2005)

I spent two years in Malaysia as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. I learned to love the food, and it's remained a favorite cuisine throughout the years.

Thinking about Roti Canai, that wonderful flaky pancake with curry sauce and sometimes a bit of chicken thrown in--traditionally eaten with your hands, by the way, like most Malay food--is making my mouth water. (A tip for ordering in restaurants: the modern spelling system for Bahasa Malaysia is quite transparent, but remember that the letter "c" is always pronounced "ch" as in "church" or "cheese.")

Be aware, though, that coconut milk, which forms the basis of most Malaysian curries, is apparently not all that great for your health. It's very high in fat, and the worst kind too (saturated). 

If you're in an adventurous mood, you might try a salad dish called Rojak. It combines indigenous raw fruit and vegetables, fried tofu cubes, and cold, rather slimy squid, in a dark, sweet molasses-like sauce. An acquired taste. :icon_smile: 

And of course there's durian. Ah, durian . . .

Best place I've found for Malaysian restaurants: New York's Lower East Side, over on West Grand. I believe there are three or four within walking distance of each other.


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

cufflink44 said:


> I spent two years in Malaysia as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. I learned to love the food, and it's remained a favorite cuisine throughout the years.
> 
> Thinking about Roti Canai, that wonderful flaky pancake with curry sauce and sometimes a bit of chicken thrown in--traditionally eaten with your hands, by the way, like most Malay food--is making my mouth water. (A tip for ordering in restaurants: the modern spelling system for Bahasa Malaysia is quite transparent, but remember that the letter "c" is always pronounced "ch" as in "church" or "cheese.")
> 
> ...


have you been back? I am betting it has changed....


----------



## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

cufflink44 said:


> And of course there's durian. Ah, durian . . .


The racist fruit. My Malaysian hosts explained to me that I would not like durian, becuase I am of European descent. I was challenged, and insisted on trying the fruit that smeels like an open sewer, and sort of has the consistency of what you would expect to find floating in a sewer, and then it came right back up with everything else I had eaten that day.


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

after 20 years of traveling (and some of that living in) to asia, I have gotten to like durian. took a while, though.


----------



## cufflink44 (Oct 31, 2005)

globetrotter said:


> have you been back? I am betting it has changed....


 I visited Malaysia again in 1990, more than 20 years after I had lived there as a PCV. The place had changed radically-and, in my estimation, not entirely for the good. Certainly the standard of living was higher, especially in the poor, rural area where I had served. But with the beautiful rice paddies replaced by uninspired housing, a lot seemed lost. The mysterious jungle in the middle of the peninsula, which no roads traversed in the '60s, was now tamed, with a well-paved highway running right up the center and orderly rubber plantations on either side instead of the forest. The young Malay girls, who at the school where I taught never had to cover their hair, were now covered up like Middle Eastern matrons. And in dealing with strangers, I noted a general air of wariness-and sometimes hostility-towards westerners that I hadn't experienced before. (Of course it's also possible I was experiencing how people react differently to middle-aged men as opposed to kids barely out of their teens.) I have no doubt the changes since 1990 are just as striking.

One great experience, though, was my unannounced return to my kampong. At first I thought I was in the wrong place, that was how different everything appeared. The house where I used to live, up on stilts in the Malay style, without plumbing or electricity, with the well out front where I did my morning ablutions wrapped in a sarong-the house I rented from Mak Ngah and Ayah Ngah for the equivalent of US$5 a month-was gone. In its place was a solid looking structure with a satellite dish on the roof. No more rice paddies. No more water buffalos. Cars now, and well-paved roads. I asked around, trying to see if any of the people I remembered were still to be found. A said I should talk to B, and B said I might ask C . . . Long story short: Within an hour I was reunited with everyone I had been hoping to meet again. The most jolting change was to a former student of mine, whom I originally knew as a nice-looking, shy kid of 15 or 16 and who was probably the most brilliant math student I ever had. I remember him discovering complicated trig identities that I never knew existed. Well, in the intervening years he had gotten religion. He was now dressed in a robe and turban, with a long dark beard. He was still quiet but very friendly. He told me he ran a local religious school for children, and had two wives and 15 kids of his own.

Thomas Wolfe was right: you can't go home again.

Durian: I'm one of the relatively few westerners who loved the stuff at first bite (and sniff). I became virtually addicted, riding my bike 5 miles into town every few days just to pick up a couple from the market. Nowadays I splurge every so often and buy a durian here in L.A., where they're available in certain Asian markets. Most are imported frozen from Thailand and thawed before sale. They can be quite good, but it's not quite the same thing as buying a fresh durian from a little stand by the side of the road and gorging on it right there.


----------



## rip (Jul 13, 2005)

There was an excellent workingman's Malay restaurant near Gouverneur Hospital on the lower east side of Manhattan a few years back; absolutely nothing fancy, just huge bowls of various kinds of noodle soups with a remarkable variety of condiments and spices.


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

cufflink44 said:


> I visited Malaysia again in 1990, more than 20 years after I had lived there as a PCV. The place had changed radically-and, in my estimation, not entirely for the good. Certainly the standard of living was higher, especially in the poor, rural area where I had served. But with the beautiful rice paddies replaced by uninspired housing, a lot seemed lost. The mysterious jungle in the middle of the peninsula, which no roads traversed in the '60s, was now tamed, with a well-paved highway running right up the center and orderly rubber plantations on either side instead of the forest. The young Malay girls, who at the school where I taught never had to cover their hair, were now covered up like Middle Eastern matrons. And in dealing with strangers, I noted a general air of wariness-and sometimes hostility-towards westerners that I hadn't experienced before. (Of course it's also possible I was experiencing how people react differently to middle-aged men as opposed to kids barely out of their teens.) I have no doubt the changes since 1990 are just as striking.
> 
> One great experience, though, was my unannounced return to my kampong. At first I thought I was in the wrong place, that was how different everything appeared. The house where I used to live, up on stilts in the Malay style, without plumbing or electricity, with the well out front where I did my morning ablutions wrapped in a sarong-the house I rented from Mak Ngah and Ayah Ngah for the equivalent of US$5 a month-was gone. In its place was a solid looking structure with a satellite dish on the roof. No more rice paddies. No more water buffalos. Cars now, and well-paved roads. I asked around, trying to see if any of the people I remembered were still to be found. A said I should talk to B, and B said I might ask C . . . Long story short: Within an hour I was reunited with everyone I had been hoping to meet again. The most jolting change was to a former student of mine, whom I originally knew as a nice-looking, shy kid of 15 or 16 and who was probably the most brilliant math student I ever had. I remember him discovering complicated trig identities that I never knew existed. Well, in the intervening years he had gotten religion. He was now dressed in a robe and turban, with a long dark beard. He was still quiet but very friendly. He told me he ran a local religious school for children, and had two wives and 15 kids of his own.
> 
> ...


yeah, I was there last year the first time in almost 20 years, and was blown away.

it is amazing how nothing stays the same....


----------



## Journeyman (Mar 28, 2005)

*Mmmmmmmmm... Malay food.....*

This thread is making my mouth water.

I spent a fair bit of time in SE Asia about 10 years ago, primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Whilst in Penang, I used to love wandering down to a small cafe in a street near the waterfront (quite near the E&O Hotel, which was sadly closed for renovations at that time) to have roti canai and dahl for breakfast every morning, followed by a cold lassi.

I also like durian from the moment that I tried it, although I did find the "aftertaste" a bit hard to swallow (forgive the pun). The fruit always left a strange feeling in the back of my throat that reminded me of the unlikely combination of petrol and bad meat. I also liked durian ice-cream, commonly available from shops in small cardboard ice-cream containers.

Just near where my wife and I now live in Australia, there is a Malay noodle restaurant - not quite the "hole in the wall" hawker store that was ubiquitous in Malaysia, but not too far removed, either. It does most of my favourites, and the staff are always very friendly, and shower our two-year old child with attention. We can fill up on roast pork laksa and peach bubble tea to our heart's content whilst kitchen staff use their break time to play peek-a-boo with our son.

My absolute favourite, however, and one that I have sadly not found in any Malay or Indonesian restaurant that I have yet visited in Australia, is murtabak. Has anyone tried it? Essentially, it's a thin, savoury crepe with a filling of either spicy mince and vegetables, or chicken, egg and vegetables (or really anything else that you care to stuff inside). It's best bought piping hot from a little vendor's cart or streetside warung, with a little bag of pickled chili and carrot as an accompaniment.

Hmmmm... I'm going to have to suggest to my wife that we take our son out for dinner to the Laksa Hut tomorrow night!


----------



## cufflink44 (Oct 31, 2005)

Journeyman said:


> My absolute favourite, however, and one that I have sadly not found in any Malay or Indonesian restaurant that I have yet visited in Australia, is murtabak. Has anyone tried it?


You bet! Murtabak was one of the first things I looked for when I returned to Malaysia. I'm most familiar with the egg-stuffed version. Delicious.


----------



## phillys (Aug 7, 2007)

Being a Malaysian, I'm very happy that many of you enjoyed your stay here and the food as well. I'm blessed with quick metabolism rate in my body and I don't seem to get any fatter(for now until I'm married, I guess) no matter how much I each. That's all good for me, I guess.

It seems like many of you have touched on Malay and Indian food such as curry, laksa, rojak and roti canai. However, don't miss out the CHINESE FOOD as well. Chinese food here isn't exactly Chinese food from China but it's actually a fusion between traditional chinese food with local(or Malaysian) qualities. Have you ever tried fish head curry with mee hoon(thin noodles)? There is also this wonderful pork stew called Bah Kut Teh that's cooked in claypots and usually eaten with yam rice.

I can go on and on if any of you want to know more about ANYTHING Malaysian but for now it's making my mouth water way too much than it should.


----------



## globetrotter (Dec 30, 2004)

I'll be in KL later on in august - any recomendations?


----------



## phillys (Aug 7, 2007)

globetrotter said:


> I'll be in KL later on in august - any recomendations?


Hi, globetrotter! It is wonderful to hear that you will coming over to Malaysia soon and I hope that you will have an enjoyable visit.

As for food, it really depends on how far are you willing to go to eat. We have road side delicacies to chinese/indian/malay restaurants as well as high class(well, to us, anyway) restaurants, etc... etc...

First off, let's talk a bit about *road side delicacies*. Malaysia's night scene consist of not only discotheques but also road side stalls that we call '_mamak_ stalls' around here. Many times these stalls are located by the road side or even sometimes with tables and chairs extending out unto the road itself eventhough the government banned such move as it is unsafe but people around here still do it anyway. The ugly side of Malaysia, ladies and gentlemen.

Anyway, the kind of food served here is what gave Malaysian food its 'identity'. We have '_teh tarik_', which is basically milk tea that's been given a couple of pulls in the air to give the milk tea a bubbly surface. You have to watch it to know what I'm talking about and if you're lucky, some of here are really talented and will perform some stunts for you.

There is also the _Ramly Burger_. It's just a burger but the taste.... ooohhh.... the meat patty... yum... Our neighbouring country, Singapore, banned it from its shores because it claimed the meat is unhygienic but still thousands of Singaporeans flocked to Johor Bahru, right across the Causeway(which is the bridge separating the 2 countries) JUST to have _Ramly burgers_. That's how good it is. It's spicy and hot. The secret in making this burger tasty is in the special blend of sauce that they put on the burger. It's a mixture of curry powder, BBQ sauce and Chemical X. 

Another food that I would suggest to all visitors of Malaysia would be the _Roti Canai_! It has been covered in this thread but I would like to go a little deeper. It's a lot like pita bread but it's much thinner. It's so thin that the guys who make it can sometime toss it in air and spin it around, like those pizza commercials on TV. The most common kind of _Roti Canai_ is '_Roti Kosong_', which is just plain flour pita bread and below I will list a couple of different flavours of Roti Canai with a brief explaination of what they actually are:

*Roti Kosong* - Plain bread
*Roti Pisang* - Bread with bananas, very very sweet.
*Roti Planta* - Bread done with butter and sugar. Eat lots of this if you want to get diabetes.
*Roti Bawang* - Bread with onions
*Roti Sardine* - Bread with....sardine fish!
*Roti Telur* - Bread with eggs
*Roti Bomb* - Nothing terrorist-y about this at all. It's bread but made in such a way that it's a quarter size of a regular Roti Kosong. The reason why it's so small is because it has condensed milk wrapped in it. That's right: *CONDENSED MILK*. 'Nuff said.
*Roti Tisu/Tissue* - Incredibly thin kind of bread that's made into a shape of a cone. It's roughly 1.5 foot high and most people use their hands to break off little pieces and share them with each other because again, it's very sweet.

There are more exotic ones around but I think those will suffice for the moment.

I must also suggest a kind of 'salad' around here that we call _Rojak_. It is actually a bowl of vegetable salad with a variety of vegetables and sometimes fruits thrown in and mixed with cuttlefish and fried flour with thick sauce. It really is spectacular if you find the right stall, which isn't hard at all, actually.

There are so many other things that you can try in a _mamak_ stall such as fried rice and fried noodles but those are either too spicy or really risky as they will very much spoil your tummy if you're not used to such food.

The reason why I started off with road side delicacies because it's the cheapest of all the other options around here and secondly, you now go home to wherever you came from and tell your friends that your stomach went through the baptism of fire of food haven. I remember once there were roughly 10 of us eating out and after stuffing ourselves full of food, the total bill was less than RM$50, which is roughly USD$13+.

One more thing is that these road side stalls is NOT a good place for anyone who would like to have a quiet evening out with his/her significant other because there will be large projector screens showing English Premier League football and then there will be people talking loudly and laughing happily. It really is a place for you to go out with your friends to hand out and chat. Oh, and try not to wear your expensive suits out at night as it won't be very safe for your wallet(remember, bring only what you NEED!) since these stalls only open at night, about 7 or 8pm onwards.

I'm sure there are lots of other things that I have missed out and if I do, I apologise in advance. Take a pen and paper and jot down anything that I have written which you think might help you or even names of food that you would like to try.

That's all for now and I hope you have enjoyed reading it, my friends.

With much love and regards,
K'Chai `07

p/s: Notice that I didn't name any specific stalls or road names because there are literally lots of such stalls littered around Malaysia and almost everyone of them is good. Remember to find a place that you are comfortable with because sometimes the stalls can be quite dirty.


----------



## phillys (Aug 7, 2007)

What? No love for Malaysian road side food?


----------



## Journeyman (Mar 28, 2005)

*Mamaks and warungs*

Hi Phyllis,

There's certainly an appreciation for roadside food stalls here - they're my favourite places to eat when travelling in Asia.

It's interesting that all three of the countries where I have spent the most time in Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan - all have a still-thriving tradition of streetside food stalls.

In Japan they are called "yatai" and they spring up around train stations in the evening, traditionally selling small dumplings (gyoza), savoury pancakes (okonomiyaki), octopus balls (takoyaki) or bowls of noodles. Even in areas of Tokyo such as Shinjuku (quite an upmarket area with lots of business and large department stores, there are permanent food stalls that sell (for example) noodles. They are separated from the street only be a plastic curtain and have a counter that you stand at to eat.

In addition to murtabak, I also love roti and a whole range of other delicacies that can be purchased at hawkers' stalls. I also have very fond memories of some great nonya (Straits Chinese) meals that I had in Melaka some years ago.

Thanks for bringing back so many tasty memories!


----------

