MALAY CUISINE

Malay cuisine is rich and spicy arising form the use of hard spices and a wet spice mixture of rempah and coconut milk. Malay cuisine varies from region to region. Kelantanese cuisine, akin to Thai cooking for example, has sweetish taste due to liberal use of  coconut milk and sugar in cooking. 

On the other hand, the cuisine of Kedah is spicier due to the influence of Indians who arrived here centuries ago during the spice trade.

For the adventurous, there is an array of popular Malay dishes to tantalize their taste buds. A favorite with Malaysians is nasi lemak, rise cooked in coconut milk served with anchovies, squid, eggs, cucumber and sambal (chili paste). An East Coast favorite is nasi dagang, fragrant unpolished glutinous rice steamed with coconut milk and served with tuna fish curry. Nasi Kerabu, another rice-based dish native to Kelantan, is served with local herbs and salted fish. 

A Malay banquet would not be complete without the ever popular Satay, skewed chicken or beef marinated in spices, then grilled over charcoal fire. It is served with peanut gravy, rice cubes, cucumber and onions.