Malaysian cuisine

[4] During the 19th century in the period of British colonial rule, many Indian and Chinese laborers were brought to Malaysia, contributing to the diversity of tastes in Malaysian cuisine.

Malaysians have also adapted famous dishes from neighbouring countries, or those with strong cultural and religious ties, and in the absence of an established community from said countries have made it completely their own, a notable example being tom yam, one of Thailand's most well-known dishes After migrating south of the border, Thai tom yam adopts the visual characteristics of a Malaysian Assam gravy, with a flavor profile that is sweet, sour, and spicy.

The jungles of Borneo are teeming with wild plants, fungi, and fruits, and its sweeping coastlines and many large rivers provide an abundance of seafood and freshwater fish fit for the dinner table.

Because much of the region was once under the Brunei Sultanate's thalassocracy, the Bruneian Malay people have left a lasting culinary influence, particularly on the cookery of the coastal Muslim communities of East Malaysia.

Stir-fried noodle dishes (Malay: mee goreng) are ubiquitous throughout Malaysia's cities, towns and villages, with numerous localised variants prepared by various ethnic communities according to their culinary traditions and preferences.

[23] Many types of seafood are consumed in Malaysia, including shrimp or prawn, crab, squid, cuttlefish, clams, cockles, snails, sea cucumber and octopus.

A few regions in Malaysia, like Cameron Highlands and the foothills adjacent to Mount Kinabalu provide the appropriate mean temperatures and soil conditions for the cultivation of temperate produce like tea.

Malaysian-grown greens, tubers and vegetables commonly found nationwide include but are not limited to amaranth (bayam), bean sprouts (taugeh), brinjals (terung), bitter gourd (peria), bok choi (sawi), cabbage (kobis), choy sum, cucumber (timun), Chinese celery (daun sup), coriander (daun ketumbar), ginger (halia), green beans, water spinach (kangkung), ladies' fingers (bendi), leeks, lettuce, lotus root, maize (jagung), napa cabbage (kobis cina), sweet potatoes (ubi keledek), spring onions (daun bawang), katuk (cekur manis or sayur manis), pumpkin (labu), shiitake mushrooms (cendawan), stink beans (petai), tapioca (ubi kayu), taro or yam (ubi keladi), tomatoes, yambean or turnip, turmeric (kunyit), and yardlong beans (kacang panjang), carrot (lobak merah), and scallions (daun bawang).

In some areas in Malaysia local produce is grown on a small scale, and many rural communities like the Peninsular Orang Asli and certain tribal peoples of Sarawak forage wild edible ferns or vegetables to supplement their diet.

A popular way to cook leafy vegetables like kangkung and sweet potato leaves is stir frying with a pungent sauce made from belacan (shrimp paste) and hot chilli peppers.

Restaurants that display signs with the words sayur sayuran, vegetarian or the Chinese characters 素 or 斎 will offer a decent variety of food for diners who abstain from meat.

These restaurants are run by proprietors who abstain from consumption of animal products and strong-tasting vegetables and spices as way of life for religious reasons, and are essentially vegan.

Some others practice vegetarianism on auspicious festivals such as Thai Ponggal, Hindu New Year, Deepavali, Full Moon Prayers, and on certain days of the week as a symbol of respect when they visit holy temples.

Abstaining from meat before fulfilling a vow is a common practice to bring the body to a neutral and focused state, physically and mentally, during Thaipusam and other holy prayer events.

Belacan is also crumbled into a ground spice paste called rempah, which usually includes garlic, ginger, onions or shallots, and fresh or dried chilli peppers.

A popular way of serving fried tofu on its own is a salad with bean sprouts, shredded cucumber and spring onions, covered in a thick sweet and spicy dressing and dusted with roasted ground peanuts.

Other essential seasoning and garnishes include tamarind (Malay: asam jawa), specifically the paste-like pulp extracted from the fruit pod which contributes a tart flavour to many dishes.

At some traditionally-run eateries where pre-cooked food is served, diners are meant to help themselves by starting with a plate of plain rice and choose from a buffet spread of assorted dishes.

In Malay-run warung (a small family-owned casual eatery or café) or restaurants (kedai makan), this style of dining is known as nasi campur which means "mixed rice".

A kopitiam or kopi tiam is a traditional coffee shop patronised for meals and beverages, predominantly operated by Chinese proprietors and especially members of the Hainanese community.

A common sight in Malaysia and neighbouring Singapore, menus often feature offerings like nasi lemak, boiled eggs, roti bakar, noodle dishes, bread and kuih.

The proprietors of these establishments are members of Malaysia's Tamil Muslim community, who have developed a distinct culinary style and wield an enormous influence on Malaysian food culture disproportionate to their numbers.

[citation needed] As these early immigrants settled in different regions throughout what was then British Malaya and Borneo, they carried with them traditions of foods and recipes that were particularly identified with their origins in China, which gradually became infused with the characteristics of their new home locale in Malaysia while remaining distinctively Chinese.

Some of these foods and recipes became closely associated with a specific city, town or village, eventually developing iconic status and culminating in a proliferation of nationwide popularity in the present day.

Plain white or parboiled rice would be served with an assortment of vegetable preparations, lentil gravy, pickles, condiments, and papadum crackers on a banana leaf, which acts as a disposable plate.

From simple appetizers of seasoned unripe mango to a variety of pickled foods collectively known as noonsom, tangy and pungent flavours derived from souring agents or fermentation techniques is a key characteristic of traditional Kadazandusun cooking.

[citation needed] The flavour is reminiscent of spinach but more complex, "as though it had been fortified with broccoli and infused with asparagus",[47] and is typically stir-fried with eggs or seasonings like sambal belacan.

Whether grilled, cured, deep-fried, steamed, stir-fried, braised, served raw, or made into soups, Sabah's seafood is famed for its freshness, quality, and good value for money.

A vast variety of fish, cephalopods, marine crustaceans, shellfish, sea cucumbers and jellyfish have become mainstays on lunch and dinner menus at kopitiam, restaurants, and humble food shacks all over Kota Kinabalu and other coastal towns like Sandakan, Tawau, Lahad Datu and Semporna.

Traditional Malay and Nyonya desserts tend to share a common feature however: generous amounts of coconut milk are used, and the finished product usually flavoured with gula melaka (palm sugar) and pandan leaves.