Food

MALAYSIAN FAMOUS FOOD

Satay

Malaysians will proudly declare that they have the best satay, and that others have just been more successful at marketing it. You'll see satay all over the place in Malaysia, towering piles of skewers in hawker stalls that are tossed on the grill once you order. Penang food writer Helen Ong distinguishes Malaysian satay by its peanut-based "sweet and slightly piquant sauce" and the "meats marinated with local spices."

Popiah

Rolls of shredded turnip, jicama, and other crisp veggies, along with perhaps peanuts or egg or tofu, all wrapped in a thin, pliant wheat crepe.

Hainanese chicken rice

Like many of Malaysia's signature dishes, it originated somewhere else (Hainan, natch) but adapted to suit local taste. It's chicken boiled in stock and served cool alongside rice (which has also been cooked in chicken stock) and dipping sauce. "It is quite different than it is in Hainan Island--we have added chili to the ginger and garlic condiment it goes with,"

Beef rendang

A slow-cooked dry curry deeply spiced with ginger and turmeric, kaffir lime and chilis. (You'll find chicken, vegetable, and seafood rendang as well.) In Malaysian fashion, it fuses sweet, sour, and savory elements, the curry picking up a creamy richness from two forms of coconut and an elusive tang from asam keping, slices of a sour sun-dried fruit. 

Char kuey teow

Probably the best thing in Malaysia was a late-night snack of char kuey teow—frankly, I can't imagine anything tasting better than rice noodles stir-fried in seconds over a smoking, sparking charcoal fire, taken to go and inhaled from a little paper parcel while walking down the street in Penang. The noodles join soy, chili, prawns, often cockles, the shrimp paste belacan, bean sprouts, and egg.  Penang will tell you that its char kuey teow is the best.

Pasembur

Can be thought of as "Pile Of Fried Stuff." Pass a pasembur stand and you'll see any number of hard-to-identify golden brown crispy things (like a Denny's menu!); order a pasembur, and you'll see them get hacked up, piled on a plate along with vegetables and such, and doused in a thick, sweet peanut-based sauce. Just what's in one differs, but you might expect fried prawns, octopus, or squid; bean sprouts, shredded cucumber, and tofu; boiled potatoes or hard-boiled eggs. This guy is from Gurney Drive in Penang. (Elsewhere in the country, this dish might go byRojak Mamak.)

Mee rebus

Another cooked noodle dish, it's "very popular as a mid-afternoon snack,"  The yellow mee noodles are doused in a sauce of sweet potato and tomato, cooked (as are so many dishes) with a fried chili-based rempah. It's topped with fried egg, calamansi lime, fried tofu, fried shallots, and bean sprouts.