This is sotong and Kangkung: The sotong that they normally used, isn't the white soft one, but rather, the slightly hard ones which they cut in pieces, served with kangkung and drizzled with chilli paste/home made chilli sauce, a little drizzle of "cheong" black, sweet sauce and covered with grounded peanuts! It is really yummy because the sotong (squid) is a little chewy and while the kangkung is soft and the combination of spicy and sweet sauces is really delicious with the crunchy texture of the peanuts...
This is char kuey teow (Fried Kuey Teow) and don't get me wrong but it's not the name of the dish, rather, Kuey Teow is the name of the noodle and it's normally fried with eggs, shrimps, lala and bean sprouts. Those Chinese ones that I absolutely love comes with "lap cheong" (Chinese sausages) and they will normally ask you if you want spicy, non spicy or little spicy. It's so delicious even though it isn't exactly great for your health!
This is one of my favourite and I crave for this most times. It's called Bak Kut Teh and it's normally served with pork. (Your choice!) Tripes, lean meat, fatty meat, bones, intestines, etc.... It's very herbal and fragrant, and you can normally find it served in claypots with mushrooms, tofu and it tastes absolutely delicious with chinese crullers (yu tiao/yau cha kwai)
This is satay and it's pieces of chicken/beef/lamb/rabbit/etc skewered to a stick and grilled to perfection. You eat this by dipping it into a home made peanut paste which is absolutely delicious! The BBQ/grilled skewered meat is normally served with a side of cucumbers and raw onions. You can have your choice of how many sticks and as many sticks as you want.
This is Yong Tau Foo, literally translated means tofu that has meat in it, normally fish paste and this time, it goes beyond tofu, they stuff fish meat into bitter gourd, chilli and brinjals. Generally, they stuff fish paste into an assortment of veggies...
This is the chee cheong fun... This is again, a misnomer because chee cheong fun literally translated means pork intestine noodles. But it's actually curd sheets and it's vegetarian!!! We didn't order the curd sheets but we did order the bland, same colored assortment that goes with it. it is mainly served with fish balls, pig skin and and other curd based products. It's healthy and delicious!
This is BBQ Chicken Wings and not many places have this and not all of them are yummy. The best one is still in Kepong by the Steamboat places. This ones are just average and if done correctly, I like mine, really flavourful, tender and juicy and you MUST dip it in the chilli sauce, not the ones from the bottle but most of the time, its home made with a hint of lime!
I'm writing this because my cousin recently came to Malaysia for a visit after many, many years and he wanted an authentic Malaysian hawker food buffet. Took him to the corner hawker centre next to Tesco Puchong and ordered everything that we wanted him to try.
He absolutely loved my Bak Kut Teh, Yong Tau Foo, Kuey Teow and he loved all the food!!! But he didn't really know what he was eating or what they were called. So, I assume most foreigners would want to know about Malaysian food, hence, this little piece!
There's so much more about Malaysian food that I cannot fit in this post but do look out for my subsequent posts. If you're planning a visit to Malaysia, you need to forget about eating in hotels or malls. Go to the streets, that's where you normally find really good, delicious, authentic Malaysian food.
I'm so blessed to be in Malaysia, where our melting pot of cultures brought many different types of food and we grew up with Teochew porridge, Nasi Briyani Ayam Madu, Tosai, Nasi Lemak, Sambal Petai and so many delicious cuisine from the Malay, Indians and Chinese.
Recently, more expats are bringing in their food and you can find very delicious Arab, Pakistani, African, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish food and I love food, but nothing beats my Malaysian food.
Anyways, more about that in my next posts!
Till the next time!
