The Great Dishes of Malaysia

Malaysia doesn't have a cuisine — Malaysia has four cuisines that enrich each other and create something unique together. Here are the dishes you need to know and try:

Malay Cuisine

• Nasi Lemak: The national dish — coconut milk rice with sambal (spicy chili paste), peanuts, anchovies, boiled egg, and cucumber slices. Eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Wrapped in banana leaf from 2 MYR at the market, in the deluxe version with rendang chicken from 8 MYR. You'll eat it every day and never tire of it.
• Rendang: Meat (usually beef or chicken) slowly braised in coconut milk with an intense paste of galangal, lemongrass, turmeric, and chili — cooked until the sauce thickens and the meat is buttery tender. CNN's "#1 of the world's best dishes".
• Satay: Grilled meat skewers (chicken, beef, lamb) with peanut sauce, onions, and ketupat (rice cake). The scent of satay over charcoal is the soundtrack of Malaysian nights.
• Nasi Goreng: Fried rice — simple, but elevated to an art form in Malaysia. With shrimp paste, sambal, egg, vegetables, and your choice of meat.

Chinese-Malaysian Cuisine

• Char Kway Teow: Fried flat rice noodles — Penang's signature dish. The wok hei (smoky aroma) makes the difference between good and unforgettable.
• Bak Kut Teh: "Meat bone tea" — a hearty pork rib soup with Chinese herbs and spices. The KL version is dark and herbal, the Penang version clearer and peppery.
• Wanton Mee: Thin egg noodles with BBQ pork and wantons — dry or as a soup.
• Dim Sum: Steamed and fried bites for Sunday brunch — an institution in KL and Penang.

Indian-Malaysian Cuisine

• Roti Canai: Fluffy, crispy flatbread tossed in the air and fried on the hot plate before your eyes — served with dhal and fish curry. The universal Malaysian breakfast.
• Nasi Kandar: A mountain of rice drenched in various curries of your choice — a feast for all the senses.
• Banana Leaf Rice: Rice and curries served on a banana leaf — eating with your hands (right hand!) is a must.

Beverages

• Teh Tarik: "Pulled tea" — black tea with condensed milk, poured back and forth between two cups until it foams. The national drink. 2 MYR (~0.40 €).
• Kopi: Malaysian coffee — dark roasted with margarine and sugar, served with condensed milk. Stronger than any espresso.
• Cendol: Green rice noodle worms in coconut milk with palm sugar and ice — dessert and drink in one.