From Malaysia With Food : Nasi Lemak

Nasi lemak is a dish that is commonly sold in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Southern Thailand. In fact, it has been called the unofficial national dish.


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 rich 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 (common in Malay cuisine) and occasionally herbs like lemon grass may be added for additional fragrance.


Traditionally, this comes as a platter with cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts, stir fried water convolvulus (kangkong), hard boiled egg, pickled vegetables (achar) and hot spicy sauce (sambal). Nasi lemak can also come with any other accompaniments such as chicken, cuttlefish, cockle, beef curry (beef stewed in coconut milk and spices) or paru (beeflungs). Traditionally most of these accompaniments are spicy in nature.


Nasi lemak is traditionally a breakfast dish, and it is sold early in the morning at roadside stalls in Malaysia, where it is often sold packed in newspaper, brown paper or banana leaf. However, there are restaurants which serve it on a plate as noon or evening meals, making it possible for the dish to be treated as a delicacy.

From Malaysia With Food : Satay

Satay or sate is a dish consisting of chunks or slices of dice-sized meat (chicken, mutton, and beef.) on bamboo skewers. These are grilled or barbecued over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings (depends on satay recipe variants).


Satay may have originated in Java or Sumatra, Indonesia, but it is also popular in many other Southeast Asian countries, such as: Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand, as well as in The Netherlands which was influenced through its former colonies.


Known as sate in Malay (and pronounced similar to the English), it can be found throughout every state in Malaysia. Besides restaurants that serve satays, one can find hawkers selling satay in food courts and Pasar malam. While the popular kinds of satay are usually beef and chicken satays, different regions of Malaysia have developed their own unique variations of satay.


Kajang satay is so well-known among the Malaysians. In Kajang, there’re about 8-12 satay stalls, but the Hj. Samuri one is still the best. Located near the Kajang stadium,This family oriented business has gained the loyalty of lots of satay fans from all over Malaysia and also foreign visitors. Their peanut satay sauce that comes with the satay is the most delicious part. The specialty is that you can mix it with some sambal. They give generous portion of the sauce. They provide a variety of satay like chicken, chicken liver, mutton, beef, beef tribe, fish as well as deer and rabbit.