MALAY CUISINE

Malay cuisine has a range of flavours spicy, sharp, sweet and sour created through use of spices and herbs like ginger, lemon grass, tamarind, lime and coconut milk. The flavours differ in each locality. For example, Kelantan's cuisine has a sweetish taste due to liberal use of coconut milk and sugar in cooking. Kedah's cuisine is spicier the influence of Indians who arrived here during the spice trade centuries ago. Negeri Sembilan's cuisine is robust due to the influence of its Sumatran settlers centuries ago.

Here are some of the most popular Malay dishes:

• Nasi Lemak - A rice dish cooked in coconut milk. It is served with ikan bilis (anchovies), sambal, boiled egg, fried peanuts and cucumber slices. This is also a popular breakfast dish.

• Nasi Goreng - fried rice with prawns, chicken, eggs, mixed vegetables.

• Mee Goreng - fried noodles with bean sprouts, eggs, prawns.

• Laksa - noodles in curry base (Johor style) or asam (tamarind) base (Penang).

• Satay - the most popular dish of Malaysia. Bite-sized pieces of beef, mutton or chicken are marinated in spices, then skewered through thin bamboo strips, and barbecued over charcoal fire. Satay is served with ketupat (rice cake) and a raw salad of cucumber, pineapple, and onions. Sweet, spicy peanut sauce accompanies the dish.

• Rendang - dry curried meat dish.

• Roti Canai - the all-time breakfast favorite of Malaysians. Made from wheat-flour dough, roti canai sometimes incorporates beaten egg and diced onions for a crispier pancake.

• Lontong - vegetables cooked in coconut milk and served with rice cakes and sambal.

• Nasi Dagang - originated in the east coast state of Terengganu and Kelantan. Fragrant unpolished glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk and served with tuna fish curry.

• Nasi Kerabu - herbal rice served with fried fish

• Nasi Padang - rice with curried meat, fish and vegetables.

• Ulam - raw herbs and plants taken with main meals, served with sambal belacan (prawn paste).

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CHINESE CUISINE

You have many choices to choose from Chinese restaurants whether Cantonese, Hokkien, Hainanese, Hakka or Szechuan cuisine. Some of the popular Chinese food are:

• Pau - steam rice flour dumplings with meat or red bean filling.

• Dim Sum - mid-morning snacks comprising steamed sweet or savoury items.

• Hokkien Mee - thick yellow noodles cooked in soy sauce, prawns and vegetables.

• Fried Kway Teow - flat white noodles fried with bean sprouts, prawns, mussels, eggs and chives.

• Kway Teow Soup - flat fresh rice noodles in soup base.

• Chicken Rice - rice with braised or roast chicken

• Claypot Rice - rice cooked in clay pot with chicken, Chinese sausages and salted fish.

• Wanton Mee - fine noodles with prawn dumplings and barbecued pork.

• Yong Tau Foo - soya cakes, ladies fingers, capsicum, brinjals and chillies stuffed with minced fish.

• Steamboat - an in-house dish. Diners sit round a table which has a soup tureen in the middle of the table. A fire below keeps it boiling hot. One then places prepared raw pieces of prawns, chicken, quails' eggs, sea cucumber and liver in the boiling soup.

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INDIAN CUISINE

Indian cuisine uses aromatic individual spice blends to enhance the flavour of dishes. Southern Indian cuisine is largely vegetarian using pulses as a source of protein. Food is served on a banana leaf. If you are a ecologically minded vegetarian, seek out a banana leaf restaurant for a novel dining experience. Northern Indian fare is mostly meat based and rich in cream and ghee. More wheat breads and less rice is eaten. Yoghurt almost always accompanies a meal, to 'cool down' the 'hotness' of the dishes in all Indian dining. Popular Indian dishes are:

• Thosai - light crispy rice pancakes served with chicken curry, potato dish, dhall or coconut chutney.

• Idli - steamed fluffy rice cake served with coconut chutney or dhall.

• Chapati - unleavened pancake made from whomeal flour. Served with dhall or chicken curry

• Mutton Kurma - mild meat curry flavoured in, cashew nuts and yoghurt.

• Raita - yoghurt with cucumber and mint leaves.

• Mutton Mughlai - north Indian curried mutton dish.

• Banana Leaf Lunch - rice, assortment of pulse-based dishes, vegetables and pappadom, meat or seafood dishes optional.

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INDIAN MUSLIM CUISINE

Indian Muslim is a blend of Malay and Indian cooking styles which is described as hearty and spicy. Popular Indian Muslim dishes are:

• Nasi Kandar - rice and an assortment of meat and fish curries.

• Fish Head Curry - the head of a large fish is used in the curry.

• Mee Mamak - yellow noodles stierr fried Indian muslim style

• Rojak - salad of pineapple, cucumber, bean sprouts, potatoes and soya cakes with thick peanut gravy.

• Cendol - a sweet cold dessert with ice, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.