Feasting in Malaysia

On a recent trip to Malaysia I had the pleasure of meeting up with old friends and indulging in a kaleidoscope of food, it was a taste sensation and so different from the Malaysian food I had experienced so far.

Every night we would go out for dinner and it was always somewhere different, Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, Nyonya. My hosts would always give me a background into the foods we had ordered, a little bit of the history and what dishes were and where they come from.

Nyonya food mainly in Penang and Malacca, a fusion of Chinese and Malay food, dishes that the Chinese cooked when they arrived in Malaysia but adapted with local ingredients. The Nyonya food is different in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Malacca, influenced by each area. The delicate flavours of the fried rice with its herbs and the Spicy Kapitan curry and Loh Bak, all a taste sensation.

Indian food with a Malay influence. Served on a banana leaf with quite different flavours from what I had previously experienced it was a taste explosion. Muslims that migrated from India to Malaysia bringing with them their religion and a huge variety of dishes. Serving the food on the banana leaf and having the fragrance from the leaf infuse the rice. The names of the dishes were familiar but the flavours were different depending on what spices were available in an area and adapting the dishes as required, a gastronomic delight.

Chinese food and so many varieties of this in itself – the Cantonese and Hokkien two cuisines that readily come to mind. My hosts often had extra chilli’s with these meals. Egg noodles and rice noodles or the clay pot meals, these dishes were as different as the others and many of them more mild but still a tasty meal in itself.

I leave this country, a much richer person with a greater understanding of the history of Malaysia, the diversity, mix, and how it has come to be the country that we know today.