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 Malay style cooking
Coconut milk, chillies and
belacan are the main ingredients in Malay cooking. Rice and curry
feature consistently while a must-have side accompaniment with every meal
is the fantastic sambal belacan, a potent concoction of prawn paste,
chillies and lime juice. Other finger licking variations of the sambal dip
are sambal belimbing which is made with baby star fruit (belimbing), chillies
and grated coconut, and ‘sambal kicap’ which consists of cut chillies
in sweet soy sauce, tomatoes, shallots and lime juice.
Malay food stalls are a
permanent feature in Malaysian streets, whether urban or rural, offering
a varied menu of the savoury, spicy and sweet. The stalls are literally a
one-stop, drive-in eatery for the busy office crowd in search of a complete
meal. After a spicy meal, a refreshing drink to cool the mouth and throat
is ais manis or rose syrup served with shaved ice, with or without
milk. Some Malay delicacies include:
Nasi
lemak
The favourite breakfast
dish for all Malaysians. Nasi lemak is rice cooked with coconut milk
and served with spicy ikan bilis (anchovies), peanuts, sambal
(spicy gravy), sambal prawn or fish, eggs, long beans and cucumbers.
Nasi lemak is available either pre-packed in newspaper and banana
leaf, costing about 50 sen to one ringgit or 'buffet' style. The latter allows
the customer to choose the lauk (dishes) like sambal squid, fried/hard boiled
egg, fried fish, vegetables, curry chicken or beef to go with the nasi lemak.
Depending on what you choose, prices can range from RM2 to RM4 or even more.
 Purists say that nasi
lemak ought to be eaten in an authentic setting, nasi lemak should
be eaten at a mamak teh tarik stall (wooden pushcart with wooden bench
and tables arranged by the roadside, normally under a shady tree) and wash
it down with a cup of teh tarik (literally translated to mean “Pull
Tea” – or tea that is poured in mid-air from one container to another).
One of the best Malay style
nasi lemak stalls in George Town is located in front of the Standard Chartered
building in Beach Street – mornings only. Other noteworthy joints are
the mamak stall in front of the RTM building, Jalan Burmah near Midlands
One-Stop Centre – mornings only; mamak stall off Penang Road opposite
Oriental Hotel – evening till midnight; mamak stall in Penang Street
opposite Ganesh Printers – mornings only and coffee shop opposite Plus
Zone in Pulau Tikus – lunch time only.
 Satay
Some say that this dish
has Turkish roots. Be that as it may, satay has been available in
Malaysia for many years already and is synonymous with Malay cuisine. In
the olden days, satay sellers would carry their wares balanced on
a long pole and propped on the shoulder, going from house to house in a village,
calling out "satay! satay!" Whenever there was an order, the seller would
there and then set up the stove, light the fire, roast the satay, and lay
out the food on a small makeshift table for eating!
Satay consists of
beef, goat or chicken bite-size pieces marinated in spices, skewered onto
thin sticks and grilled over a charcoal stove. The chef ensures thorough
cooking of the meat by fanning the fire and turning the sticks of satay over
at the right time. Satay is best eaten with its own spicy peanut sauce,
ketupat (rice cakes) cucumber and raw onions. Costs between 25 to
60 sen per stick from hawkers. Ketupat costs RM1 per cake. Hotels
and restaurants charge more.
Nasi
Tomato
Tomato flavoured rice with
servings of your choice: chicken kurma is recommended, although beef, mutton,
seafood, egg and vegetables are also available. This rich meal will keep
you sated for a long time. Costs RM2.00 to RM5.00 or more depending on dishes
selected. Nasi tomato is also commonly served at Malay weddings.
For the best nasi tomato
in town: Stall on Jalan Tanjung Tokong opposite sea front – 6:00pm to
8:00pm daily. Nasi tomato is usually available as an option to white rice
at most gerai Melayu.
Popular Malay lauk
(dishes
to go with
rice) and
snacks
• Bergedel
– a minced beef and potato patty deep fried to a golden brown.
• Sayur pucuk masak lemak – Fern fronds cooked in
coconut milk and turmeric.
Another variety uses the sweet potato leaf.
• Ikan masak lemak – a mild fish curry cooked in
coconut milk and turmeric,
which gives the dish its distinct yellow colour.
• Ayam ros – Forget the modern stalls with the electric
stove. The best ayam ros (roasted chicken)
is made traditionally. A whole chicken marinated in turmeric and spices
is roasted over a wood fire,
which imparts a smoky flavour to the meat.
• Parjeri – pienapple or brinjals cooked in a thick
and sweet kerisik-flavoured sauce.
• Gulai masam – skate or mackerel cooked in a sourish
stock
• Ikan panggang – roasted skate eaten with a hot
and sourish dip made with tamarinds,
cili padi and onions
• Popiah – the Malay/Mamak variety is different from
the Chinese. This variation is sweeter
and spicier and not sopping wet like the Chinese kind.
• Gado-gado – deep fried prawn fritters and taukua
served with sweet peanut sauce.
Usually eaten at tea time.
• Kueh keria – Resembles a doughnut. Made from sweet
potato which is first deep fried
and then soaked in sugar syrup and air dried before eating.
• Kueh lopis – Glutinous rice patty coloured bright
green, coated with grated coconut
and served with gula melaka syrup.
• Lepat pisang – Steamed mashed banana with grated
coconut filling.
• Cucuk badak – Deep fried flour pattie with sambal
prawn filling. Sweet savoury.
• Pulut udang – Glutinous rice with sambal prawn
filling roasted over a charcoal stove
until slighty burnt.
• Seri muka – Glutinous rice topped with rich kaya.
The mark of a well made seri muka
is the softness of the kaya topping, which should be creamy
but not runny.
• Ulam – fresh greens like cucumber slices, raw
petai, boiled cashew leaves, boiled long beans,
fresh cabbage and boiled papaya leaves go into this Malay style salad.
Eaten with sambal belacan.
• Nasi minyak – Note that the translation of this
dish is not, as expected, oily rice but scented rice.
Nasi minyak is rice cooked with butter, ginger, coconut milk,
spices, raisins and almonds.
Very popular at weddings and official functions. When an elder Malay
asks a young person
when she or he is going to serve nasi minyak, he really means
to ask when they are getting married!
Section Articles
Recipes for Hari Raya
Goodies:
•
Lemang:
Click
here for full
story
• Ketupat daun
palas:
Click
here for full
story
•
Rendang:
Click
here for full story
•
Kuih
Bahulu:
Click
here for full story
The
ever versatile nasi goreng (fried rice) Click
here for full story
Belacan,
integral ingredient in local
cuisine:
Click
here for full story |
