page_title: Malaysian cuisine
section_title: Malay cuisine
hierarchical_section_title: Malaysian cuisine / Cuisines of Malaysia / Malay cuisine
caption_attribution_description: English: Bandung, sirap bandung, or air bandung is rose cordial syrup flavoured milk, popular in Malaysia and Singapore.
context_page_description: Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its population. The vast majority of Malaysia's population can roughly be divided among three major ethnic groups: Malays, Chinese and Indians. The remainder consists of the indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, the Peranakan and Eurasian creole communities, as well as a significant number of foreign workers and expatriates.
  As a result of historical migrations, colonisation by foreign powers, and its geographical position within its wider home region, Malaysia's culinary style in the present day is primarily a melange of traditions from its Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian and ethnic Bornean citizens, with heavy to light influences from Thai, Portuguese, Dutch, Arabian cuisines and British cuisines, to name a few. This resulted in a symphony of flavours, making Malaysian cuisine highly complex and diverse. The condiments and spices used in cooking varies as the land is blessed with these natural resources that brings bursting flavours in the outcome of meal preparation.
context_section_description: For a traditional Malay meal, rice is considered the centerpiece of a meal, with everything else considered as an accompaniment, relish or side for the rice. Malay cuisine bears many similarities to Indonesian cuisine, in particular some of the regional traditions from Sumatra. It has also been influenced by Chinese, Indian, Thai and many other cultures throughout history, producing a distinct cuisine of their own. Some regional Malay dishes, such as arisa and kacang pool, are examples of influence from Arab cuisine due to longstanding historical and religious ties. Many Malay dishes revolve around a rempah, which is usually sauteed in oil (tumis) to draw out flavours to form the base of a dish. A dipping relish called sambal is an essential accompaniment for most Malay dishes.
  Air bandung - a cold milk drink flavoured with rose cordial syrup, giving it a pink colour. Despite the name, there is no connection to the city of Bandung in Indonesia. Bandung within this context refers to anything that comes in pairs or is mixed from many ingredients.
  Asam pedas - a sour and spicy stew of meat, with the core ingredients being tamarind and chili. Depending on region, tomatoes, lady's fingers, shredded torch ginger bud and Vietnamese coriander (Malay: daun kesum) may also be added. Usually cooked with fish like mackerel or stingray, although some recipes use chicken and even oxtail.
  Ayam goreng -  a generic term for deep fried chicken, typically marinated in a base of turmeric and other seasonings prior to cooking.
  Ayam masak merah - this dish literally means red-cooked chicken in English. Pieces of chicken are first fried to a golden brown then slowly braised in a spicy tomato sauce. Peas are sometimes added to the dish, and it is garnished with shredded kaffir lime leaves as well as coriander. It is often paired with nasi tomato - rice cooked with tomato sauce or paste, milk, dried spices, and a sauteed rempah base of garlic, onions, ginger.
  Ayam percik - also known as ayam golek in some states, ayam percik is grilled marinated chicken basted with a spiced coconut milk gravy.
  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. In the state of Terengganu, bubur lambuk is prepared with wild herbs, budu, sweet potatoes, and seafood.
  Gulai - the Malay term for a curried stew. The main ingredients for gulai may be poultry, beef, mutton, various kinds of offals, fish and seafood, and also vegetables such as cassava leaves and green/unripe jackfruit. The gravy is usually yellowish-brown in color due to the sauteed and browned rempah which forms its base, and the addition of ground turmeric. The gravy's consistency may vary in thickness depending on the cook.
  Ikan bakar - barbecued or char grilled fish, usually smeared with a sambal-based sauce. It may also be accompanied with air asam, a dip made from shrimp paste, onion, chillis and tamarind juice.
  Ikan goreng - a generic term for shallow or deep fried fish, which is almost always marinated prior to cooking. There are countless recipes and variants for what is arguably the most popular and typical method of cooking fish in Malaysia.
  Kebebe- the food which made of 13 ingredients that has a bitter, salty, sweet, sour and spicy mixed taste. Its allegedly able to get rid of nausea after taking too much food.
  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, which often have little common in preparation: kerabu taugeh is made with blanched bean sprouts and quintessentially Malay ingredients like kerisik, while preparations like kerabu mangga (shredded green mango salad) resemble a Thai-style yam salad in taste profile.
  Keropok lekor - a speciality of the state of Terengganu and other states o
caption: Air bandung.
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