Malaysia easy to order local food

Eating in Malaysia is a very exciting experience and the local dishes are just delicious, colourful and incredibly tasty! Ordering food in Malaysia is a very enriching experience, since Malay cuisine reflects the culinary traditions of the three major ethnic groups of the country: Chinese, Malay and Indian. In this post we tell you about a couple of easy concepts to perfectly know the local food you order, even when the waiting staff doesn’t speak English and the only available menu is in Malay. 

Undoubtedly, one of the very first very positive factors is that kitchens are always open, they don’t have a set time for lunch or dinner, which gives to jet-lagged tourists a lot of flexibility in terms of adjusting their internal clocks to the local time, without compromising their meals. In addition, due to the fact that in Malaysia they use the Roman alphabet like us, we also found it much easier than in Thailand, to memorize and pronounce words.

If we decide not to rely on Western restaurants, first of all we need to learn some basic information about Malaysia, to understand how its historical heritage has been widely influenced by Thai, Chinese, Hindu and Arab cultures.

Before the country was converted to Islam in the 15th century, there was a strong bond to India and this is why some Hindu rituals are still preserved. While in the northern regions they share similar dishes with neighbouring Thailand, the influence of the Chinese domination is still very clear all over the rest of the territory, with a wide offer of Chinese dishes and the large use of soy sauce, noodles and pork.

In comparison to Thai people, Malay do not eat a lot of fresh fruit, which turns into a relatively poor local offer for fruit lovers (unfortunately, we noticed that most of the fruits are GMO imported from China).

Dishes are not served in a particular order, they just come all together and most of the locals eat with the right hand, while the left one is considered unclean  (don’t worry:  all establishments are equipped with basins and soap, located right in the dining area).

Although the art. 11 of the Malaysian Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, Islam is  the official religion of the federation, which means that beside a great offer of delicious halal food everywhere, alcohol is not served in most of the restaurants and the religious police is in charge of checking  the respect of  Sharia law, which has its place alongside regular law and only applies to Muslims.

So, if you choose to eat in a Muslim restaurant, do not even ask the permission to drink your own beer bought somewhere else, because you could involve the establishment in legal troubles.

Beer can be easily found at Chinese restaurants, while wine and liquors are widely available at Western hotels, restaurants and bars. If your option is a local Muslim restaurant, they will accept that you wear Western cloths because you are a tourist and you are not required to comply with Sharia law. However, the following dress code would be strongly appreciated:

The most common dishes include rice, noodles, fish, chicken and beef, while pork is common in Chinese dishes, but banned in the Muslim ones. We think that ordering food in Malaysia is just a matter of learning a couple of simple concepts and by memorizing just a few words, we found it very easy to choose what to eat, even in local restaurants with no English menu for tourists.

Useful words

NASI = Rice

MEE = noodles
AYAM = chicken
DAGING =  beef
IKAN = fish 
SAYUR = vegetables
UP = soup
TELUR = egg

The word ” goreng” means fried, therefore 
NASI GORENG = Fried Rice  
MEE GORENG  = Fried Noodles.
The most common goreng dishes are:
NASI  or Mee  GORENG SAYUR = fried rice or fried noodes with vegetables.

NASI or MEE GORENG AYAM means fried rice or fried noodles with chicken. Nasi goreng is the typical fast food meal in Malaysia and in Indonesia, although with Chinese origins. In addition, in Indonesia they consume it with sweet soy sauce and it comes with a sort of cracker on top (krupung), while in Malaysia they substitute the cracker with crispy fried shallots.

NASI or MEE GORENG KAMPUNG means fried rice or fried noodles with vegetables, tofu and anchovies. Nasi/Mee Goreng Kampung means “fried rice/noodles from the village” and it is the typical dish from Malay fishing villages. There is also a version with prawns.

If you are a vegetarian/vegan and wish to order a NASI GORENG SAYUR, make sure you order it with no egg (tiada Telur), because Nasi Goreng is meant to be with fried egg, no matter if you mention the word “vegan”. Nasi Goreng and Mee Goreng are very cheap options to eat. One dish costs around 1 euro in local restaurants. If you wish to have a soup, you can ask for the following:

SUP SAYUR = vegetables soup
SUP AYAM = chicken soup 
SUP DAGING = beef soup, while SOTO is a word referring to a meat broth
TOM YAM SOUP  it’s also found in many restaurants and it’s a Thai style spicy soup, with vegetables, seafood or chicken.

PATTAYA  is a fried rice dish mixed fresh vegetables and wrapped in a very thin omelette. The name comes from the city of Pattaya in Thailand, but it’s typical from Singapore. It is served with cucumbers, red and little spice sauce, slices of fresh tomatoes and prawn crackers.

LAKSA  is a combination of the Malay and the Chinese cuisines and it is a spicy soup with coconut milk. A less popular version is with tamarind or gelugur (garcinia). The origin of the word Laksa comes from Hindi lakhsha, which means one hundred thousand, referring to the vermicelli noodles inside the bowl.

NASI LEMAK is considered the Malay national dish and it consists of coconut rice, sambal spicy sauce, anchovies, chicken, peanuts, cucumber and egg, served on a banana leaf. It is originally eaten for breakfast, but thanks to its popularity, it is now served all day long.

ROTI CANAI is a bread similar to a plain crepe, while NAAN is a bread similar to a plain Italian piadina.  They are very common for breakfast, and they are both normally served in a metal tray with a bean sauce and a spicy sauces.

ROTI CANAI is a bread similar to a plain crepe, while NAAN is a bread similar to a plain Italian piadina.  They are very common for breakfast, and they are both normally served in a metal tray with a bean sauce and a spicy sauces.

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