Take The Path Less Ordinary

Eating your way around Malaysia can be much of an adventure itself. There are meals that feed your soul, and not just your taste buds. You never go hungry in Malaysia.

“Don’t eat street food” - there’s no greater myth in travel lore. Take heart, Malaysia is one place you never have to brush teeth with Evian and street food is usually cook fresh in front of you over a blazing fire. If you can’t take the heat on the streets, there a loads of swanky restaurants with their high-octane culinary scene that are ready to swallow you whole.

The thing you learn very fast about Malaysia is - people love to eat.

Remember, you’re in a multicultural crossroad. The array of cuisines is as dazzling as the country itself. You can spend a month in Malaysia and still haven’t skimp 5% of its culinary delights (by the way, most Malaysians haven’t even skimp 30%). There are ordinary food like the pasembur that looks like a recipe gone wrong and there are extraordinary food like the protein-rich butod worm - we call delicacy, you call yucks - that gives new meaning to the word “edible”. In short, indulgence can assumes all sorts of shapes, colours, textures and flavours as you abandon yourself to Malaysia’s culinary magic.

Food handling - For all its new found modernism, Malaysia remains steeped in tradition. It is still common to see sleek businessmen in suits and ties, roll up their sleeves and have their fingers work up into high gear at the local eateries. For many, food tastes better that way.

Nibbling around in Malaysia is also a form of time travel

Discover the myriad uses of chilli, exotic tropical ingredients and food that charts the country’s history with echoes of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Middle East and Western cooking. Today, you can feast on the modern forms of this diverse cooking in a thousand chic restaurants. All food fans fall in love with the way we cook our seafood and the brilliantly coloured curries.

Bite in slow

The thing to remember is Malaysians like to spice up their food.

So, do bite in slowly for anything new you stuff into your mouth. Some ingredients, like “cili padi”, can burst with such rapidity, it’ll jot you off your seat. Also don’t be cowed by appearance. Malaysians don’t usually give food presentation much thought. Food don’t usually come in bite sizes too. There are Malaysian dishes that require one to dig in with fingers and it’s OK to see your manners off while you’re at it.

Food hot spots

For the frugal diner, alfresco stalls dotting the streets with cheap and zesty meals will have your senses take flight. Moderately priced, immensely popular road side stalls, popularly called “mamak store”, serve meals that poses the same contrast you see on the streets.

Middle income workforce drop by these street eateries that usually mushroom along with offices and factories. If you decide to give them a try, remember to go for sittings that are no where near busy traffic. Being mowed down by passing vehicles isn’t a good dining experience. Despite the rainbow of local options, unless you know someone who knows someone, you won’t find good local eateries anywhere near tourist hot spots. Make friends with the locals. They’ll gladly point you to nearest food haven that’s easy on the wallet. Big cities like Penang, KL and Kuching are teeming with commendable western-styled eating joints that make it worth to forget the calory count once a while. Fastfood, burgers, french fried, pizza, fish and chips, nachos, croissant, foie gras, paella, … you name it.

Eating out is undoubtedly popular but that doesn’t mean homemakers are slacking. Most Malaysian ladies are brought up to be pretty good cooks but the trappings of modern life are slowly veering them away from the kitchen. Don’t be too surprised to find commercial kitchens brimming with chefs who are men.

Malaysian comfort food

All visitors have the same problem - So many things to eat, so little time. Anyway, if you travel for food and don’t have time for everything, then narrow down your picks to these ….

Roti Canai - Your travels in Malaysia is never complete without a bite of roti canai. Made from flour, sugar, salt and sweetened condensed milk, the dough is flung in the air in circular motion to form a thin paste - hence, the name roti canai, meaning flatten bread. It is then pan-fried with vegetable oil until the crust is crisp. Roti canai is usually eaten with curries or lentil sauce.

Chendol - The country’s number 1 comfort snack. All Malaysians can taste their childhood in this sweet cooler. Made of ice shavings, red beans, coconut cream, gula melaka (coconut caramel sugar) and wriggly pandan-flavoured bits, chendol is perfect for hots days.

Satay - If there’s anything that you should look out at street eateries, it should be satay, a traditional mini meat-skewer that is eaten with sweet peanut dip. Satay is reputed to be out of this world by visitors to Malaysia and any true blue Malaysian cookbook is never complete without satay and peanut sauce recipe.

Pasembur - We know it looks like an untidy heap of mishmash on a plate too small. But don’t let it cow you. For the grand finale comes in the form of pasembur’s killer sauce, turning the dish into a gastronomy masterpiece. Trust us, you’ll remember this culinary experience for a long long time.

Kopi and Roti Bakar - This is Malaysian’s version of brew and breakfast. Take heart, the punch doesn’t come for the cuppa but from the sensation of biting into a toast (roti bakar) that’s dosed with traditional coconut jam, fondly called kaya. The jam is made by stirring coconut cream, sugar, eggs and pandan leaves for hours over slow fire. Every Malaysian grows up with kaya.

Nasi Campur - Like the melange of races in Malaysia, nasi campur or mixed rice has also evolved into a myriad of flavours that reflects its multi-racial fans. With eateries to suit very pocket, no one really has the chance to go hungry - even at odd hours.

Yes, you should really get use to rice or noodle if you plan to stretch your budget to stay longer. They are cheap and come in array of choices beyond imagination. Bland rice or noodle is usually spiced up with curries, soup, soya sauce and assortment of vegetables, meat and seafood. Customers are encourage to help themselves with the buffet spread and pay whatever that’s taken on the plate. Most smallholder eateries don’t mind customers paying after the meal but do check out the prices before digging in.

Ulam - No Malay meal would be complete without this. Rural eateries and good Malay restaurants are always well stock with salad platter derived from local plants, herbs and trees. These are usually shoots and tender parts of plants eaten for their unique flavor or medicinal properties. Locals believe long term consumption of ulam helps retain a youthful look.

Penang Laksa - Down to earth priced, RM2.50 is all that’s needed to have one’s taste buds take flight. It’s a galloping local favourite that sweeps you along with wiggly rice noodles, mint leaves, bits of torch ginger, chillies, onions, syrupy prawn sauce, and of course, lethal fishy broth that will have one flail about for the right word to describe its unique zing.

Mee Rebus - Makes your mouth water, doesn’t it? Fried batter, bean sprouts, bean curd, turnip, noodle, egg and sauce all muddled up in a plate - the mishmash looks like a recipe gone wrong. But sink your teeth into the jumble and you’d agree mee rebus is a mess of everything done right.