Malaysian cuisine, is the cuisine for the small peninsula country located in South-East Asia, surrounded by various different countries, whose influences are shown through Malaysia’s cuisine. It’s cuisine reflects Malaysia’s diversity, because of its position in the center of the Asian world. Although many of the ethnic groups in Malaysia have their own dishes and prepare their dishes differently, many of the dishes in Malaysian Cuisine are derived from multiple ethnic influence.
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| Briyani |
Ethnic Groups/Famous Dishes:
The main ethnic groups in Malaysia who influence its cuisine greatly, are the Indians, Chinese,Indonesians and the indigenous people of the peninsula, followed by its other neighbors. Like in other countries, rice tends to be Malaysia’s staple food followed by noodles then bread. The rice that is eaten in most of the dishes is usually grown in Malaysia, and the fragrant rice usually comes from Thailand. Another rice that is constantly used is Indian basmati rice, which is in a long grained shaped with a unique fragrance and flavor, typically used in the dish called Briyani.
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| Roti Canai |
A famous rice dish named Nasi lemak that is also known as the national dish of Malaysia, which is normally eaten for breakfast because of its popularity. This dish is a good example of how diverse Malaysian cuisine can be, because this dish itself can be different in different regions of the country, depending on which ethnic group dominates that area. Noodles is the other staple food of the country, which is also fairly popular in the other Asian countries. Most of the dishes that are made with noodles are similar all over the continent because of the distinct similarities this part of the world has. Bread is the third staple food, which can be made into various unique dishes, such as Roti Canai, which is very common to be eaten for breakfast.
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| StarFruit |
Meat:
Because of its dominant and official religion, which is Islam, the poultry in this country is handled according to the Halal standards. When it comes to meat, Malaysian cuisine can be tricky because of the limits each ethnic group has as to what they eat. Beef is common in diet of Malaysia, but isn’t eaten by strict Hindus, and some form of Buddhism. Pork is also common and largely consumed by the non-muslim community but is forbidden to be consumed by those who practice Islam. Even though Malaysia is a Islamic country, pork is not prohibited to be produced and consumed by other ethnic groups. Chicken, Mutton, and Seafood are the only forms of poultry which is eaten by all the ethnic groups.
Fruits:
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| Rambutan |
Because of Malaysia’s climate, fruits are grown all year round and is in constant demand. Some of the fruits that are famous around this area are Rambutan, Mangosteen, Longan, and Durian which has a smell largely hated by westerners.
Deserts:
Desserts in Malaysia usually tends to be made out of coconut milk and other sweet stuff. And most of the desserts contains a huge variety of tropical fruits, the most famous being the Durian.
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| Desert |
Even to this day Malaysia’s cuisine is still being changed, with influence coming from the West. Being a multicultural country, the main aspect of why Malaysian Cuisine is unique is that over the years each ethnic group has adapted to each others dishes to suit the taste of their own culture. Such as how non-Indian Malaysians have adapted the Indian Curry and diluted and made less spicy to suit their taste.
