Malay cuisine

Terminologies

Food preparation

Cooking methods

List of Malay foods

Dishes

• Acar, pickled vegetables or fruits with dried chilli, peanuts, and spices. Its originating from Indonesia.
• Ambuyat, a dish derived from the interior trunk of the sago palm. It is a starchy bland substance, similar to tapioca starch. This dish is national dish of Brunei.
• Amplang, cracker made from Spanish mackerel, tapioca starch and other seasonings, and then deep fried.
• Asam pedas, a sour stew of fish, tamarind, chili, tomatoes, okra and Vietnamese coriander.
• Ayam golek or ayam percik, grilled chicken with spicy sauce.
• Ayam goreng, a generic term for deep fried chicken, typically marinated in a base of seasonings prior to cooking.
• Ayam goreng kunyit, deep fried chicken, marinated in a base of turmeric and other seasonings.
• Ayam masak merah, a casserole of chicken pieces in dried chillies sambal. It tends to be a home-cooked dish, so many variations on the recipe exist.
• Ayam pansuh, a dish prepared by cooking chicken meat in a bamboo stalk, filled with water, seasonings and covered with tapioca leaves from the cassava plant.
• Begedil, spherical fritters made from mashed potato and occasionally ground meat.
• Bihun belacan, rice vermicelli dressed in a gravy made from ground chillies, belacan, tamarind, and dried shrimp. It is garnished with cured cuttlefish, julienned cucumber, bean sprouts and century egg wedges.
• Bihun goreng, stir-fried rice vermicelli.
• Bihun kuah, soupy rice vermicelli.
• Bihun satay, rice vermicelli spreads with chili-based peanut sauce.
• Bobotie, Cape Malay dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-based topping.
• Bubur cha cha, breakfast dish prepared using pearled sago, sweet potatoes, yams, bananas, coconut milk, pandan leaves, sugar and salt.
• Bubur lambuk, a savoury rice porridge consumed during the fasting month of Ramadhan, made with a mixture of lemongrass, spices, vegetables, and chicken or beef. It is usually cooked communally at a local mosque, which is then distributed to the congregation as a meal to break the fast every evening.
• Bubur pedas, a traditional porridge dish made from finely ground sauteed rice and grated coconut, a specialty of West Kalimantan.
• Char kway teow, stir-fried rice noodles with bean sprouts, prawns, eggs, chives and other spices.
• Cincalok, fermented small shrimps or krill. It is usually served as a condiment together with chilies, shallots and lime juice.
• Frikkadel, Cape Malay dish comprising usually baked, but sometimes deep-fried, meatballs prepared with onion, bread, eggs, vinegar and spices.
• Gulai, a type of soupy curry-like dishes that could be made from various ingredients; meats, fish or vegetables. This dish originating from Minangkabau.
• * Gulai ayam, chicken gulai.
• * Gulai kambing, goat or mutton gulai.
• * Gulai ketam, crab gulai, a speciality of Deli Malays of Medan, North Sumatra.
• Ikan bakar, grilled/barbecued fish with either chilli, kunyit or other spice based sauce.
• Ikan mas panggang, barbecued common carp dish, a specialty of Jambi.
• Ikan pari bakar, barbecued stingray dish.
• Ikan patin, large catfish cooked in various ways such as gulai and asam pedas, a speciality of Riau, Sumatra and Pahang.
• Kangkung belacan, water spinach wok-fried in shrimp paste ' and hot chilli peppers. Various other items are cooked this way, including petai and yardlong beans.
• Kari, the Malay adaptation of curry dishes. Just like gulai, it could be made from various ingredients; meats or vegetables. A popular one is kari ayam.
• * Kari ayam, chicken curry.
• * Kari kambing, goat curry.
• * Kari kepala ikan, fish head curry.
• Kemplang, traditional savoury fish cracker commonly found in southern parts of Sumatra, made of wahoo or any type of Spanish mackerel.
• Kerabu, a type of salad-like dish which can be made with any combination of cooked or uncooked fruits and vegetables, as well as the occasional meat or seafood ingredient. There are many kerabu recipes, the populer one is kerabu taugeh.
• Keropok lekor, a speciality of the state of Terengganu and other states on the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, is a savoury cake made from a combination of batter and shredded fish. Sliced and fried just before serving, it is eaten with hot sauce.
• Kerutuk daging, a type of coconut milk-based curry. Traditionally it is best eaten with white rice, sambal belacan and ulam.
• Ketupat, a type of glutinous rice dumpling that has been wrapped in a woven palm leaf pouch and boiled. As the rice cooks, the grains expand to fill the pouch and the rice becomes compressed. This method of cooking gives the ketupat its characteristic form and texture. Usually eaten with rendang or served as an accompaniment to satay or gado-gado. Ketupat is also traditionally served by Malays at open houses on festive occasions such as Eid al-Fitr.
• Kwetiau goreng, stir fried flat rice noodle dish from Indonesia and popular in other Malay countries.
• Laksa, a spicy noodle soup dish that consists of thick wheat noodles or rice vermicelli with chicken, prawn or fish, served in spicy soup based on either rich and spicy curry coconut milk or on sour asam with various types.
• * Laksa asam, sour, fish and tamarind-based soup of laksa.
• * Laksa kari, coconut-based curry soup of laksa.
• Lemang, glutinous rice and coconut milk cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick lined with banana leaves.
• Lepat, a sticky rice dumpling mixed with peanuts cooked with coconut milk and packed inside a young coconut leaf or palm leaf.
• Masak lemak, a style of cooking which employs liberal amounts of turmeric-seasoned coconut milk.
• Mi bandung, a famous noodle dish cooked with dried shrimp and blended chili. Often serve with half boiled egg.
• Mi celor, a noodle soup dish served in a coconut milk and shrimp-based broth, specialty of Palembang, South Sumatra.
• Mi goreng, spicy stir-fried noodle dish, originating from Indonesia.
• * Maggi goreng, a variant of mi goreng using Maggi instant noodles.
• Mi kari, curry noodles made up of thin yellow noodles and?or string thin rice vermicelli with spicy curry soup, sambal, coconut milk, spices and a choice of toppings.
• Mi kolo, light and tossed noodles in a transparent sauce.
• Mi rebus, a famous noodle dish which consists of mee served with a tangy, spicy and sweet potato-based sauce. It is sometimes also called mee jawa, perhaps as a nod to its Javanese origins.
• Mi siam, noodle dish of fried thin rice vermicelli with spicy gravy.
• Mi wantan, thin egg noodles with wonton dumplings.
• Murtabak, a stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread eaten with curry gravy which is commonly found in Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia.
• Nasi ambeng, fragrant rice dish that consists of steamed white rice, chicken curry or chicken stewed in soy sauce, beef or chicken rendang, sambal goreng, urap, perkedel and serundeng.
• Nasi briyani, Malay-style of flavoured rice dish cooked or served with mutton, chicken, vegetable or fish curry.
• Nasi berlauk, plain rice served with different variety of dishes.
• Nasi dagang, the nasi lemak of east coast Peninsula Malaysia, found mostly in the states of Terengganu and Kelantan as well as Riau province in Indonesia.
• Nasi goreng, fried rice dish with various types.
• * Nasi goreng kampung, a typical variant, traditionally flavoured with pounded fried fish, though recently fried anchovies are used in place of it.
• * Nasi goreng kari, a fried rice cooked with curry.
• * Nasi goreng masak pedas, spicy fried rice served with chicken or beef.
• * Nasi goreng pattaya, covering or wrapping chicken fried rice in a thin fried egg or omelette.
• * Nasi goreng teri medan, an anchovy fried rice. This dish is a Malay Deli speciality of North Sumatra.
• * Nasi paprik, originated from southern Thailand, rice with lauk, typically chicken.
• Nasi himpit, compressed rice cake in the form of a cylinder wrapped inside a banana leaf.
• Nasi kari, curry rice dish with Indonesian-origin.
• Nasi kerabu, a type of rice which is blue in colour, originating from Kelantan.
• Nasi kebuli, rice cooked in goat meat broth, goat milk, and clarified butter, originating from Jakarta. This dish similar to kabsa.
• Nasi kuning, fragrant rice dish cooked with coconut milk and turmeric.
• * Kuning, rice dish cooked with turmeric, lemongrass, salt, bay leaves, and other spices to taste.
• Nasi lemak, rice steamed with coconut milk.
• Nasi minyak, rice flavoured with whole dried spices and ghee, usually served with rendang. As the name implies, it is on the buttery and rich side. A variation of nasi minyak dyed in multiple shades of colour is called nasi hujan panas.
• Nasi tumpang, a rice packed in a cone-shaped banana leaf. A pack of nasi tumpang consists of an omelette, meat floss, chicken or shrimp curry and sweet gravy. The dish originating from Kelantan.
• Nasi ulam, steamed rice dish mixed with various herbs, especially the leaves of Centella asiatica or often replaced with kemangi, vegetables, spices and accompanied with various side dishes.
• Otak-otak, a spicy fish cake grilled in a banana leaf wrapping.
• Pekasam, the Malay term for fermented food. In Malay cookery, pekasam usually refers to freshwater fish fermented with salt, palm sugar, toasted rice grains and pieces of asam gelugur. Making pekasam is a tradition in South Kalimantan as well as in northern states of Peninsular Malaysia. Chenderoh Lake in the state of Perak is a hub for freshwater fishing as well as the production of pekasam.
• Pasembur, a salad of shredded cucumber, boiled potatoes, fried bean curd, turnip, bean sprouts, prawn fritters, spicy fried crab, and fried octopus.
• Pempek, a savoury fishcake delicacy, made of fish and tapioca, from Palembang, South Sumatra.
• Perut ikan, a spicy stew comprising mainly vegetables, herbs and getting its distinctive taste mainly from fish bellies preserved in brine and Piper sarmentosum.
• Pulut, glutinous rice is a type of short-grained Asian rice that is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely used during the Raya festive seasons as traditional food.
• Rendang, a spicy meat stew originating from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia, and adopted by Malay throughout archipelago. Rendang is traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions.
• Rojak, traditional fruit and vegetable salad dish with various types, it clearly shows Javanese influences.
• * Rojak bandung, a rojak dish consists of boiled ‘’kangkong’’, cucumber, cuttlefish, and dressed with a black shrimp paste sauce with added garlic and chilli paste.
• Roti, the term encompasses all forms of bread in Malay and Indonesian language. In Cape Malay cuisine, roti is a round flatbread usually made from wheat flour.
• Roti canai, a thin unleavened bread with a flaky crust, fried on a skillet with oil and served with condiments or curry.
• * Roti prata, Singaporean Malay fried flatbread that is cooked over a flat grilling pan.
• Roti jala, a special bread with a five-hole perforation used to make the bread looks like a fish net. It is usually eaten as an accompaniment to a curried dish, or served as a sweet with serawa. Serawa is made from a mixture of boiled coconut milk, brown sugar and pandan leaves.
• Roti john, a spiced meat omelette sandwich, popularly eaten for breakfast or as a snack.
• Roti kaya bakar, a traditional breakfast dish. Kaya is a sweet coconut and egg jam which is spread over toasted bread.
• Roti tissue, a variant of roti canai made as thin as a piece of 40–50 cm round-shaped tissue in density. It is then carefully folded by the cook into a tall, conical shape and left to stand upright. Roti tissue may be served with curry gravy, dal and chutneys, or finished off with sweet substances such as caramelised sugar and eaten as a dessert.
• Sambal belacan, sambal a common condiment in Indonesian cuisine as well as Malaysian cuisine. It is made with chilies, shallots, garlic, stewed tomatoes, tamarind paste, coconut sugar, salt and belacan.
• Sambal sotong, squid are cooked in a sambal-based sauce, made with chilies, shallots, garlic, stewed tomatoes, tamarind paste and belacan.
• Samosa or samoosa, Malay-style of samosa—a fried or baked pastry with a savoury filling, such as spiced potatoes, onions, peas, cheese, beef or other meats. This dish found in Malay Indonesian and Cape Malay cuisine.
• Sata, a traditional dish from Terengganu, consisting of spiced fish meat wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on a grill.
• Satay, the dish were originally from Java and Sumatra in Indonesia, and distributed widely across the Malay Archipelago. It is widely popular and common within Indonesian cuisine with rich variations and recipes. Malay chicken satay closely resembles Madura satay with rich peanut sauce. In Malaysia, the most popular variant are kajang satay.
• Satay celup, a dish where an assortment of raw and semi-cooked seafood, meat and vegetables on skewers are dunked into a hot boiling pot of satay gravy.
• Sayur lodeh, a stew of vegetables cooked in a lightly spiced coconut milk gravy. It Indonesian cuisine influences and mostly popular in Southern Region of Malaysia.
• Serunding, spiced meat floss originating from Javanese cuisine. Serunding may also refer to any dish where the primary meat or vegetable ingredient is shredded and pulled into thin strands. In Indonesia, this term strictly refers to a dry-toasted grated coconut mix instead.
• Siput gonggong, seafood made of Laevistrombus canarium, specialty of Riau Islands and Bangka Belitung.
• Sosatie, a traditional Cape Malay dish of meat cooked on skewers. The term derives from sate and saus.
• Soto, the most popular is soto ayam, chicken soup with rice vermicelli and ketupat, it clearly shows Indonesian cuisine influences.
• Soto mi, spicy noodle soup dish with soto-gravy.
• Sup ikan, fish soup specialty of Riau Islands that made of usually red snapper and dried shrimp, seasoned with shallot, garlic, pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, add with tomato, scallion and fried shallots.
• Sup kambing, a hearty mutton soup slow simmered with aromatic herbs and spices, and garnished with fried shallots and fresh cilantro.
• Sup rusa, a soup dish made up of deer meat, carrots, cabbage, celery and spices.
• Sup tulang, a soup dish made up of mutton or beef leg bones stewed in a spice. The bones are broken to allow the marrow to be eaten.
• Taugeh ayam, steamed chicken with bean sprouts and light soya sauce flavoured with oil.
• Tempoyak, a popular Malay delicacy. It is durian extract which is preserved and kept in an urn. Commonly eaten with chillies and other dishes.
• Tomato bredie, mutton stew cooked with a very long time, and its seasonings include cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves as well as chili.
• Tumis kangkung, stir-fried water spinach.
• Ulam', a traditional salad of undressed herbs, greens and vegetables which may be cooked or uncooked. An ulam spread may include items such as banana blossoms, cucumber, winged beans, pegaga'' leaves, petai, and yardlong beans. Ulam is typically eaten with a pungent dipping sauce like sambal belacan.

  ''Kue'' and ''kuih''

• Agar-agar, the Malay word for a species of red algae. A natural vegetarian gelatin counterpart, agar-agar is used to make puddings and flavoured jellies like almond tofu, as well as fruit aspics.
• Akok, a traditional sweet dessert in Kelantan, Malaysia. Made mainly from eggs, coconut milk, flour and brown sugar, akok have a distinctive sweet caramel taste. It is often served during afternoon snack together with coffee. Akok is prepared in a special cooking utensil called "dapur tembaga" made with solid brass of which it will be placed surrounded with charcoal.
• Apam balik, terang bulan or martabak manis, it is a bread like puff with sugar, corn, and coarse nut in the middle.
• Bahulu, a traditional sponge cake with round shape.
• Batik, a type of chocolate cake similar like the hedgehog slice made using Marie biscuit.
• Bika ambon, a sponge cake made from ingredients such as tapioca flour, eggs, sugar, yeast and coconut milk. This cake is specialty of North Sumatra.
• Bingka ubi, a baked kuih of grated tapioca mixed with a little tapioca flour, coconut milk and white or brown sugar. The kuih is yellow if white caster sugar is used and brown if raw sugar or palm sugar is used. After baking a delicious dark brown crust tops the cake.
• Cara berlauk, cake which made up of flour, egg, coconut milk and turmeric. The mixture is mixed thoroughly before being cooked in a special mould until it hardens. Before it hardens, a filling made up either spiced beef or chicken is added. This kuih is very popular in the month of Ramadhan.
• Cincin, a deep fried dough pastry-based snack.
• Clorot, a traditional cake with Javanese-influenced that made from a mixture of gula apong and rice flour, then rolled with palm leaves into cones and steam cooked.
• Dadar gulung or ketayap, a pankace mix filled with coconut filling. Traditionally,the juice of pandan leaves is added to the pancake batter to get the green colour. Today green colouring is added and the flavour of the pandan leaves is obtained by artificial essence or by using pandan leaves to flavour the filling.
• Dodol, a sweet, sticky, and thick toffee-like confection, made with heavily reduced coconut milk, jaggery, and rice flour.
• Epok epok or karipap, a small pie consisting of specialised curry with chicken and potatoes in a deep-fried pastry shell. The curry is especially thick and rich to prevent itself from running.
• Jemput-jemput, a traditional fritter made from flour and then fried.
• Kalu dodol, a solid toffee- and jelly-like confection made by lengthy reduction of coconut milk, thickened with rice flour and sweetened with jaggery. This dish is specialty of Sri Lankan Malay cuisine.
• Kochi, a pyramid of glutinuous rice flour filled with a sweet peanut paste.
• Koe'sister, a traditional Cape Malay pastry often described as a spicy dumpling with a cake-like texture, finished off with a sprinkling of coconut.
• Kaswi, rice cakes made with palm sugar. The ingredients are mixed into a batter and poured into small cups. When served, the cup is removed and the rice cake is topped with grated coconut flesh.
• Keria, sweet potato doughnuts. They resemble just like the regular ones except that they are made with sweet potato. Each doughnut is rolled in caster sugar. This is usually eaten in Malaysia during breakfast or in the morning tea hours of the day, along with other cakes such as apam or the more savoury pratha.
• Ku, a small round or oval-shaped with soft, sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet filling in the centre.
• Lapis sagu or sembilan lapis, a steamed multicoloured and multilayered firm kuih made from tapioca flour, coconut milk, and flavoured with pandan. The layers are separately steamed.
• Lapis sarawak, a layered cake served in Sarawak on special occasions. Its origin in a form of layer cake with various spices found in Indonesia called lapis legit.
• Makmur, a traditional cake made from butter, ghee and flour. Served during special occasion of Eid al-Fitr and identified with its white colour and usually in a round shape
• Melktert, Cape Malay dessert consisting of a sweet pastry crust containing a custard filling made from milk, flour, sugar and eggs.
• Pai ti, a thin and crispy pastry tart shell filled with a spicy, sweet mixture of thinly sliced vegetables and prawns.
• Pinjaram, a saucer-shaped deep fried fritter with crisp edges and a dense, chewy texture towards the centre.
• Pisang goreng, battered fried bananas.
• Pulut inti, glutinous rice topped with caramelised grated coconut flesh and wrapped in a cut banana leaf to resemble a square pyramid.
• Pulut tartal, glutinous rice served with white coconut milk sauce.
• Pulut tekan, just a plain glutinous rice cake. It is served with kaya coconut jam. The glutinous rice cakes are coloured with bunga telang. Half-cooked glutinous rice is divided into two portions. Both are them added with coconut milk but one of them is added with the bunga telang juice. This gives the rice cake a very bright blueish-indigo colour which is appealing to children. The half-cooked glutinous rice is then scooped in alternating fashion into the original tray to give it a marble effect of blue and white. The rice is then cooked some more and when it is cooked and cooled, it is cut into tall rectangles.
• Seri muka, a two-layered dessert with steamed glutinous rice forming the bottom half and a green custard layer made with pandan juice. Coconut milk is a key ingredient in making this kuih. It is used as a substitute for water when cooking the glutinous rice and making the custard layer.
• Talam, a kuih consisting of two layers. The top white layer is made from rice flour and coconut milk, while the bottom green layer is made from green pea flour and extract of pandan leaf.
• Wajik, a compressed Malay confection made of glutinous rice cooked with coconut milk and palm sugar.

  Drinks

• Air janda pulang, a traditional drink of Negeri Sembilan. It is suitable to drink with lunch and during hot days.
• Ais kacang, a dessert drink made of only shaved ice and red beans.
• Ais krim potong, an ice cream popsicle made from coconut milk or milk, flavoured with localised ingredients like red beans, rose syrup, durian, pandan, creamed corn and jackfruit.
• Boeber, Cape Malay sweet, milk drink, made with vermicelli, sago, sugar, and flavoured with cardamom, stick cinnamon and rose water
• Cendol, an iced sweet dessert that contains droplets of green rice flour jelly, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.
• Dadiah, a dairy-based dessert made from milk, sugar and salt which has been acidified with whey and steamed to form a custard like texture, it clearly shows Minangkabau cuisine influences.
• Faluda, a cold drink made by mixing rose syrup, vermicelli, and sweet basil seeds with milk, often served with ice cream.
• Kopi tarik, a coffee drink made of dark roasted with margarine and sugar, which is sweetened with condensed milk and pulled to froth it up.
• Laksamana mengamuk, a traditional drink from Riau that made from mango mixed with coconut milk and sugar.
• Milo dinosaur, a beverage that composed of a cup of iced Milo with undissolved Milo powder added on top of it.
• Sirap bandung, a drink made up of evaporated milk or condensed milk flavoured with rose syrup, giving it a pink colour. The drink is an adaptation of rose milk served in India.
• Teh krisan, a Chrysanthemum tea.
• Teh tarik, a popular hot milk tea beverage most commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is made from a strong brew of black tea blended with condensed milk.