User talk:MalaysianCuisine

Culture of Malaysia
Malaysian culture or Malaya culture is a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and various indigenous tribes dating back to more than fifteen hundred years ago from a Kedah kingdom in Lembah Bujang with traders from China and India. Other cultures in the past that influenced heavily on the culture of Malaya include the Persian, Arab and European.



Nasi Lemak:

With roots in Malay culture, its name is a Malay word that literally means 'rice in cream'. The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in coconut cream and then the mixture steamed. Sometimes knotted screwpine (pandan) leaves are thrown into the rice while steaming to give it more fragrance. Spices such as ginger and occasionally herbs like lemon grass may be added for additional fragrance.



Popular Malaysian dishes:

Popular Malaysian dishes include satay, nasi lemak, rendang, roti canai and laksa.

Satay:

Satay is a dish consisting of diced or sliced chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, tofu, or other meats; the more authentic version uses skewers from the midrib of the coconut leaf, although bamboo skewers are often used. They are grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings. Satay may have originated in Java, Indonesia. It is also popular in many other Southeast Asian countries, such as: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the southern Philippines and in the Netherlands, as Indonesia is a former Dutch colony.

Roti-Canai:

Roti canai is circular and flat. There are two ways to make roti canai that is either to twirl it until the dough becomes a very thin sheet and then folded into a circular shape or to spread out the dough as thinly as possible before being folded.

Then the folded dough is grilled with oil. The first method is more popular and faster than the second.

Rendang:

Rendang is a dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia, and is now commonly served across the country.

Rendang is made from beef (or occasionally chicken, mutton, water buffalo, duck, or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava) slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, allowing the meat to absorb the spicy condiments.

Laska:

The origin of the name "laksa" is unclear. One theory traces it back to Hindi/Persian lakhshah, referring to a type of vermicelli.

It has also been suggested that "laksa" may derive from the Chinese word "la sha" (辣沙; pronounced "latsa" in Cantonese), meaning "spicy sand" due to the ground dried prawns which gives a sandy or gritty texture to the sauce.

The last theory is that the name comes from the similar sounding word "dirty" in Hokkien due to its appearance.