What are the national dishes to try in Malaysia? What delicacies to look for in the street stalls and restaurants in the city? Such questions are undoubtedly asked by every tourist who plans his trip to this Asian country. Malaysia - a paradise for gourmets, the flavors of local dishes can not be forgotten. And the impressions of the country will be incomplete, if you do not taste the amazing culinary masterpieces carefully prepared by talented craftsmen and confectioners.
Features of Malaysian cuisine
There is an erroneous view that Malaysia, whose population is represented by a mixture of different cultures and peoples, does not have its own national cuisine. This is far from the case, since the traditional culinary skills of Malaysia are a peculiar intertwining of cuisines of different nationalities: Thai, Indonesian, Chinese, Indian, etc. In addition, worldwide fast food chains, including PizzaHut and Macdonald's, are widely used.
The main product in the country, as well as throughout Asia, is rice, used as an ingredient or garnish in almost all dishes. In rice, add all kinds of spices, spices and coconut milk, even desserts are made from it. In most names of dishes there is the word "nasi", which in Malay means rice. And all other products here are united under the name "lauk", which literally translates "addition to rice."
A special taste of the same food is given to a variety of spices, such as:
- chilli;
- ginger;
- lemongrass;
- curry mixture;
- kaffir;
- galangal;
- caraway;
- cloves;
- coriander;
- anise;
- cardamom.
In traditional Malaysian cuisine, pork is never used, since most of the population is Muslim. Replace it with lamb, beef, chicken or fish. However, in Chinese restaurants, you can still find the food from pork. Vegetarian dishes in Malaysia are found in almost every restaurant, but do not be surprised if you meet them in pieces of meat.
Cost of food in Malaysia
The country's restaurants are designed for any purse. Tourists can leave a few hundred dollars for dinner or eat very cheaply. For example, for traditional Malaysian cuisine in a decent cafe for two you can pay about $ 3. As the prices at restaurants at hotels are high enough, it is more favorable to eat in separate institutions. It is worth noting that in cheap-looking street cafes with tourists can "tear off" a decent amount for a modest dinner. Before ordering something, be sure to ask the cost of food.
To get acquainted with the real cuisine of Malaysia, you need at least once to look in the cafe, where local people eat, or buy something from the hawkers on the street. Such food is absolutely safe, it is prepared from fresh products right before the eyes of visitors. And most importantly: for $ 1-2 in such places you can eat up to the heap. However, not everyone can be ready for the spicy food in Malaysia, which the hawkers sell. Tourists with a weak stomach should take special care to choose dishes and go to establishments with European cuisine.
Popular national cuisine of Malaysia
The list of traditional dishes, which should definitely know when traveling around the country, includes:
- Nasi lemak - rice boiled in coconut milk, which is served with roasted peanuts, boiled eggs, cucumbers and anchovies;
- Nasi goreng - rice, fried with pieces of meat, eggs, shrimps and vegetables. The most common is Nosi Goringam with chicken;
- Wear dagang - rice, cooked on coconut milk with the addition of fish curry;
- Gado gado is a traditional vegetable salad dressed with peanut sauce, hot pepper and coconut milk;
- Redang - meat (most often beef), stewed in coconut milk. This dish is prepared for several hours;
- Satei ayam - shish kebab from chicken, mushrooms, seafood, poured with sweet and sour sauce;
- Ekor - very spicy soup from the tails of buffalo;
- Roti chanai - excellent dessert pancakes, they are cooked more often in the form of a flat cake filled with fruits, vegetables, meat or cheese;
- Melaka is a national sago dessert, cooked on coconut milk and sprinkled with syrup from palm oil;
- Murtabak - puffed pancakes stuffed with chicken meat, vegetables and fried in oil;
- Ice swing is a jelly from colorful sweet cubes with corn and peanuts, sprinkled with fine ice.
Exotic fruits of Malaysia
A huge variety of Asian fruits always delight tourists. Here you can find almost everything, but, of course, taking into account the season. In the fruit markets of Malaysia you can buy different varieties of durian, young coconuts, sugar apple, jackfruit, than a pedal, longsat and many other fruits. Prices for this exotic are not low, but still acceptable. For example, a kilogram of pineapple costs about $ 1, mango - $ 2, mangosteen - $ 2.80.
Usual fruits like pears or apples are not grown in Malaysia, but imported from other regions, so the prices for them are very high. Buying Asian fruit is better in local markets, located away from tourist centers - there prices are several times lower.
Than quench your thirst?
Favorite drinks of the indigenous inhabitants of Malaysia are tea and coffee, in which sugar, condensed milk and even spices are traditionally added. Malaysians have a whole ritual of brewing tea, but this is not connected with the Japanese ceremony. Preparation and bottling of tea here can be accompanied by bright shows, acrobatic numbers and competitions. In a cafe a glass of tea (coffee) costs about $ 0.28. In Malaysia, tourists like fresh fruit juice from tropical fruits. Coconut juice and milk are also popular. This delicacy is sold right on the street, where coconuts are opened in front of tourists and a straw is handed. There is such a drink $ 0.7.
Alcohol
Alcoholic drinks in Malaysia Muslim population does not welcome and does not use. Although some can drink a little bit of local beer, they never get drunk. Buy spirits in the country can not be everywhere, because here they are almost not produced. Often, alcohol imported, and the cost of it is simply transcendental. The situation with beer and wine is much simpler, although prices are not quite democratic. In the cafe or restaurant of the bank of beer is not less than $ 2.35. For a bottle of wine will have to give no less than $ 5.88. The cheapest alcohol is sold on the islands of Langkawi and Labuan . Here you can find various strong drinks at very low prices: beer costs from $ 0.47, and a liter of Baileys liquor - $ 12.93.