Malay Food & Etiquette

Malay Food Variety is the spice in Malay food. The traditional culinary style has been greatly influenced by the long-ago traders from neighboring countries. Malay food is often described as spicy and flavorful as it utilizes a melting pot of spices and herbs. Rice is the staple diet in any Malay meal. Most meals are eaten by using your fingers, and eating utensils are kept to a minimum. All dishes are served at the same time, accompanied by a refreshing drink. Fish is popular in Malay cooking. Beef, chicken and mutton are very popular choices but never pork as it is against their religious beliefs to eat pork.

Popular Malay Dishes Nasi Dagang The dish is made by cooking rice and glutinous rice together, to which coconut cream is added once it is cooked. Nasi Dagang is eaten with its own specially made side dishes of tuna fish curry and a light vegetable pickle. Keropok Lekor / Keping A popular and the most visible fried snack in Terengganu, the keropok is made of fish meat, ground to a paste, and mixed with sago. Coming in two main different forms, the long chewy ones are called 'lekor', while the thin, crispy ones are called 'keping'. Keropok is best eaten hot with its special chili dip.

Satay Satay is another popular Malay dish Satay Satay is another popular Malay dish. Pieces of marinated chicken or beef are skewered and cooked over a charcoal fire where they are periodically brushed over with oil. The skewered meat is then served hot, accompanied by a special peanut sauce.  Rendang A meat dish that is prepared with coconut milk, chilies, onions and other condiments. Eaten with rice, the tasty tender meat is a delectable dish, a must at most Malay functions.

Pulut Lepa Made of glutinous rice and fish, this snack food is prepared over a barbecue. Boiled fish meat is mixed with sliced onions, and dried chilies and coconut. The mixture is cooked until it is dry. This is then used as a filling for the glutinous rice rolls. Wrappings of banana leaf cover the food before it is cooked over the fire. Ayam Goreng This is a popular chicken dish. Simply meaning fried chicken, this dish is prepared by first marinating the chicken with various spices like turmeric and curry powder. It is then deep fried in hot oil and served.

Malay Dining Etiquette Traditionally, Malay food is eaten with the fingers of the right hand, the left being reserved for personal ablutions. Before any meal Malays will wash, then cleanse their fingers once again in a finger bowl at table. Rice is then taken delicately in the right hand and compressed into a small ball and pushed into the mouth with the thumb. Ideally, curries should not stain the fingers above the first knuckle, while rice should not cling to the fingers. Malays do not use chopsticks, but eat noodle dishes with a fork or a spoon. In a kampung setting, meals are generally eaten from a low table, the diners sitting cross-legged on the floor. Meals should always begin with a simple bismillah--"in the name of God"--the Muslim grace.

Preparation A solid wooden chopping block and sharpened, heavy cleaver are basic essentials. To these must be added various grinders--the lesung batu or pestle and mortar, batu giling or stone roller, and the batu boh or mill--used for preparing spices and pastes. Roots and herbs are diced on a sengkalan or wooden curry board, while a coconut scraper or kukur niyur is indispensable in making both curries and sweets. Pastries are also made for desserts, and for this a torak or rolling pin and papan penorak or pastry board are considered essential.

Cooking Nowadays, cooking pots have become commonplace. The traditional cooking implements of a Malay kitchen are still everywhere to be seen, however. These include the essential wok, known throughout Malaysia by its Malay name, kuali. These are chiefly used for stir-frying, but with the addition of a perforated steel plate can also be used for steaming. The bamboo steamer or kukusan is also widely employed. Curries are simmered for hours in clay pots called belanga, the cook stirring from time to time with a senduk or ladle, once made from a coconut shell, now generally of stainless steel. A further indispensable instrument is the spatula, or sudip, used in stir-frying.

Utensils Traditionally, firewood and charcoal were the only fuels available for cooking. In towns, while electric rice cookers are considered indispensable. Today the average middle class, urban Malay household may boast a whole range of modern appliances. Yet the traditional utensils of Malay cuisine will still be found in tens of thousands of kitchens from the remotest kampung in Kota Bahru to the heart of downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Halal and Haram The Malays of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore are overwhelmingly Muslim, and adhere closely to Islamic dietary laws. Muslims should eat only halal or permitted foodstuffs. Certain foodstuffs are considered haram or forbidden and must be avoided. Prominent amongst these are pork, amphibians in general, and shellfish. These dietary laws may be easy enough to observe in an exclusively Muslim society, but present problems in Malaysia where many Chinese are devoted consumers of pork, shellfish and amphibians--frog, for example, can be found on menus as ayam padi or "padi chicken". Then there's the vexing question of alcoholic drink, forbidden by Islam but widely available. Even if you are not a Muslim, it's both polite and sensible to be aware of the dietary sensibilities of your Malay hosts.

Thank you! Done By: Ang Ke Qin (2) Lee Wan Xin (13) Neo Zi Yi (17) Yeow Yu Ling (29) Credits: http://www.marimari.com/content/malaysia/food/malay/malay.html www.yahoo.com http://www.cpamedia.com/food/malay_kitchen/