Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, is also described as the "cultural pot of diverse ethnicities" - Malays, Indians, Chinese and overseas expatriates constitute the demographic of the population of Kuala Lumpur, therefore a rich cultural context on Kuala Lumpur cuisines is obviously observed.
You can taste Hainan Chicken Rice which looks gorgeous with cheap price, by turning around to another valley, you can smell the aroma of banana leaf, turn to your right-hand side and smell carefully, the odour of Bak Kut Teh with heavy herbal ingredients will try to conquer your taste buds! This food battle can be observed in every district within Kuala Lumpur, and the battle is heated right now!
How cuisines in Kuala Lumpur reflect its diverse culture? Let's ride on the journey of the culinary of Kuala Lumpur now and let's dig into its restaurant, cuisine, street food here!
Brief History of Kuala Lumpur cuisines
Apart from capital, Kuala Lumpur (KL) is also entitled as Federal Territory under the Malaysian government. KL lives with 3 major ethnicities: Malay, Chinese and Indians, where Malays constitute 55% of the overall population (Malays also manage the majority of the political system, ranging from bureaus to parliaments);
Chinese constitute 23% of the overall population (Most of the Malaysian Chinese are from Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan Province, they migrated to Malaysia during 19th Century for better living quality, and worked as a merchant, transporter and entrepreneurs, therefore you can gear Cantonese in KL as well!)
While the Indian is 7% of the overall population, Tamils are the ethnicities of Indian, precisely speaking. They are Indians but they do not know the Hindi language, which is the mainstream Indian language in India, as Tamils speak totally different dialects)
At last, the expatriates from overseas, since 1980 periods the Malaysian economy were gradually modernized and internationalized, that attracts investments and more cooperations with the Euro-American Markets, which attract expatriates to live in KL, the financial hub of Malaysia, curating KL as a metropolitan with a hybrid of ethnicities and cultures, that lead to a boom of different culinary and cuisines.
Cuisines of Malay, Chinese and Indian are the best representation of KL cuisines cultures, building a great "soft power" and successfully attract tourists to travel in KL to taste cheap and tasty cuisines. Adding the factor of the 3 ethnicities are living harmoniously in a long history, Malaysia is also famous for local's warm hospitality around the world!
Let me share what is my recommendation of KL food, by working as an expatriate there for 6 months from June to December 2019! And I wish giving you all an all-rounded culinary experience here!
The Famous cuisines in KL
Nasi Lemak
Nasi Lemak is an iconic, the most famous and the most recommendable dish in Malaysia, not just KL! It will serve as breakfast or at any time in KL! They put coconut juice inside the rice grains and cook together in a pot or a cooker, alongside with herbs, spices, cucumbers, boiled eggs. Most of the Malaysians will eat with Chicken drumsticks or pieces with the rice and the ingredients
Sweet rice combined with roasted chicken is the best partners of Nasi Lemak, while cucumbers and eggs mediate the strong flavour and add freshness in the dish. That's the reason why the tourists or the locals can't resist the temptations of it!
There is a saying that: "You have not been to Malaysia yet if you have not tried Nasi Lemak" I quite agree with the above stance! Nasi Lemak will be serving daily, 24/7 in any restaurants in KL, so it is a must-try for you all!
Teh Tarik
Teh Tarik (Pull Tea), which is also called "Malaysian Milk Tea", while Teh means tea and Tarik is the Malay language of Pull, if Nami Lemak is the iconic dish of Malaysia, then Teh Tarik is the iconic drinks! Teh Tarik is similar to Silk Milke Tea in Hong Kong, the more bubble on the surface, the better the quality it is!
To prepare Teh Tarik, first, you need to prepare two cups, one cup need to blend red tea leaves and boiled water together, and then add honey and condensed milk. After mixing them and the colour turns into slightly brown, you need to pour it into another cup, and then back and forth for several times to ensure all the ingredients are well mixed and blended. The higher the distance from the cup with produce higher fall and velocity of milk tea, which guarantee a better quality of drinks.
In the Bazaar in KL or the street stalls which are opened by Malays, yu can see 2-meters tall Teh Tarik while preparing the drink! Teh Tarik is an essential drink in every morning while I'm working in Malaysia, but maybe due to the fact that the drink is added with honey, it is sweeter than the milk tea in Hong Kong. For the people who have diabetes or obesity, it is recommended not to drink it too often. However, it is still the most popular drink in Malaysia.
-The clips of preparing Teh Tarik, How teh Tarik made by the high velocity of tea splashing to other cups
Rojak
Rojak, what is it? And what is this weird vocabulary? Rojak is the Malay meaning of "Hybrid, Mix", in fact, this dish is truly associated with the meaning of them!
Rojak is a famous dessert in Malaysia, which put melon, watermelon or avocado with shrimp paste, sugar, chilli, sweet soy sauce, sesame and walnut, to produce a flavour of sweet and sour, and a little bit of salty. It will be your favourite dish if you love fruit but at the same time, you want your taste sensory to have a new challenge.
Rojak, put every unrelated ingredient altogether, to produce a weird but really tasty dessert, which implies that every ethnicity living in KL, with different skin colours and cultures, are living harmoniously and peaceful, maybe rojak is the best dish that represents the spirit of Malaysia!
Chinese Noodle dishes (Pan Mee, Pork Mee, Curry Mee, Fish Mee)
Mee is the Malay of "Noodle". The Chinese cuisine in Malaysia is also very famous around the world, slightly different from Mainland Chinese cuisine, the chinses cuisine in Malaysia is more similar to Southern Chinese cuisine, as the previous section mentioned that, there are many people from Southern Chinese province migrate to Malaysia as merchant or entrepreneurs, which also brings noodle dishes to Malaysia.
In my opinion, Chinese noodles are the dish which I like the most, especially you will feel hungry when you are watching chefs are preparing your noodle dish in front of you at the Chinese food stalls!
Pan Mee, Pork Mee
Pan Mee (Flat noodle)is a very typical Malaysian noodle in Chinese style, while the noodle is flattened and cut by the noodle machines, therefore the noodle will be chewy and strong in texture. Pan Mee is served with minced pork, black fungus strip, shallots and dried fish pieces, and mixed with Pork Broth. It tastes really good and not greasy at all.
Pan Mee is also a famous breakfast in Malaysia, while pork broth and the aforementioned ingredients can also be served with flat rice noodle (Hor Fun), with more vegetables and minced pork. Due to the Muslim restriction on pork, Malay people, who are born with a Muslim background, are prohibited to eat pork in their life, therefore the influence of Pork Mee can only be spread in the circle of the Chinese community in Malaysia.
Curry Mee
Curry Mee is the dish which the broth is mixed with herbs, herbal leaves and curry, to produce a spicy flavour. Curry Mee is also a dish that presents a hybrid of Guangdong and Indian cuisine, it also serves with chicken strips, shrimps together, while the curry broth will mediate greasiness but retain the spicy flavour, sometimes Curry broth will also serve with steamed rice roll
Fish Mee
Fish Mee is a dish which its broth is boiled with the fish head as to present a milky white colour of its broth colour, by adding tomato and celeries, shallots, you can enjoy a strong flavour of seafood, and enjoy the softness of the noodles, which is also the dish that I always ordered during the lunch break of my work.
Fried rice and flat noodle (Nasi Goreng/ Mee Goreng)
The frying dish gained wide popularity among the Chinese community in Malaysia, I need to say Fried flat noodle (Mee Goreng, or Char Kuay Teow)
Fried Flat Noodle use black soy sauce and fried with dried shrimp, egg, and smoked meat, to produce a clour of brown and black, and the flavour is fantastic! While the fried rice use a similar method, by adding more soy sauce and fish sauce
Bak Ku Teh
Bal Ku Teh is also famous cuisine in Malaysia, which is also popular among the citizen living in Klang City, which is located on the western of KL, in a proximate distance with the Malacca Straits. It is cooked by herbs, pork bones, spices and pork broth by using a long period of time to cook and boil, which makes the essence of pork bone can mix with the broth, and served with oil sticks or rice.
Malaysian Bak Ku Teh is darker in clour, and the flavour of herbal is quite strong, someone may say it is Chinese cuisine, while others argue it is originated from Singapore, the debate lasts for a century till now. Whatever, Bak Ku Teh is still being welcomed among the Chinese community in Malaysia.
Roti Canai
Roti Canai (Indian pancake) is an iconic dish among the Indian community in Malaysia, it is similar to the Indian one, which is also made by egg, and you can add ingredients like cheese into the pancake as you like. Usually, Roti Canai will serve with Indian yellow, red and green curry with Mint sauce and put into a big silver plate.
The other variation of Roti Canai is Roti issue, while it is also made of egg, but it is very crispy and large in size, which likes tissue in texture and its appearance likes a cone, and you can eat like potato chips by tearing from the Roti issue!
Banana Leaf (蕉葉飯)
Banana Leaf is a typical dish that you can only find in the Malaysian Indian community, which is a dish that the Indian rice - Biryani, curry, hot sauce, appetizers with beans, gravy filled in a little silver container and all put on a large banana leaf
In a very traditional Indian restaurant, the waiters will first put a large leave in front of you, and then put the appetizer, sauce and rice spoon by spoon from them, and give you some shrimp chips for you also!
The whole dish of banana leaf is just like a collection of different ingredients and you can mix with any of them and create a new hybrid of foods and flavours, the innovative methods of enjoying the banana leaf make itself the best representation of cuisine within the Indian community in Malaysia!
KL dining type and recommendation
Mamak stall
Mamak is commonly referring to as the "Indian Muslim" in Malaysia because the workers and the owners of these restaurants are all Tamil Indian whose religious belief is Islam. Therefore at 1-2/3 pm, every Friday, Mamak stalls will be temporarily closed due to the worship time of Muslim. In addition, you will not find any pork-related food which they only serve beef, chicken and lambs. Mamak stores are restless, open 24/7, as same as the TV there, which will be broadcasted 24/7, therefore apart from pubs and bars in Malaysian Mamak stores will be crowded when there are football matches seasonally.
Inside the store, you can taste the most traditional dish of Malaysia Muslim, Teh Tarik, Fried rice or noodle, Roti canai and even Muslim fried chicken and all be found in Mamak Stalls. There is also "Nasi Campur", that means "Rice with various ingredients " that there will be a silver trolley inside the stall which has all sort of ingredients such as curry chicken, curry lamb, fried chicken, vegetables, grilled fish etc. you can eat with rice or Indian biryani, it's up to your choice
Something that needs to pay attention is, although the food served there is really cheap and authentic, in case you are hygiene caution, it is not your ideal dining place. Since Mamak stalls open 24/7, the food may not be replaced frequently, the dish may remain in the same place from the day and night. Also, Mamak stalls usually situated in a densely populated and nasty area, the flies may be surrounding the food, therefore it is also a serious hygienic issue in Malaysia.
The food serves there is mostly Malay and Indian food in cheap price, the odour will be heavy and greasy, it is not that healthy and therefore it is an alternative McDonald that serves "junk food", however, Mamak stalls are still the treasure hunting spots of cheap and authentic Malaysian cuisines!
There is a rule that you need to pay attention to is, if you want to enjoy Nasi Campur, you need to go to the silver desk to order your ingredients first, just like campus canteen, and then back to the seat, and the waiters will help you to order the drink. But if you want to wat frying dishes or Roti Canai, you can first find the seat and order your drinks in one-go!
Chinese Street Food Stalls (Da Pai Dang)
The Chinese Street food stalls are also very similar to Hong Kong, but larger in size, the Malaysian one even occupied two or more stores, you can enjoy the cuisine that I have previously mentioned (Curry Mee, Nasi Goreng...), that I won't mention again here! The biggest attraction of the Chinese food stalls is the stall owners will prepare foods in front of you, which are the double enjoyment visually and taste!
But there is a rule that you need to be cautious (I have made an embarrassing mistake during the time in Malaysia, which I can still remember), you need to order what you want by going to the stall first and take the order, then please don't order the beverage by going to the beverage stall by yourself. You need to find your seat first and the waiter will automatically approach you and take your order (The waiters in the stall will remember to take your order, irrespective of how crowded is the floor area in the food stalls, and how invisible you are sitting, therefore I quite admire their memory and efficiency!)
Most of the waiters in the food stalls can speak English, Chinese and Malay, so please don't worry about the problem of communication, by paying money, you need to pay for the food in front of the stalls, and the second time you need to pay to the waiters for the beverage.
Murni - Chain restaurants that can stuff you up but very cheap!
If you are searching restaurants that serve diverse cultural foods, with air-con, with decoration, and you are targeting on the comfy setting, Murni will be a restaurant that you will definitely fall in love! Murni opens in almost every district in KL, serving wide culinary offerings ranging from Chinese, Malay, Indian food to Italian and American cuisines, every dish you name it, Murni can provide to you!
The selling point of Murni is their portion is gigantic, also Murni serves the diverse special beverage, while at the same time there will be a weird combination secret recipe drink, the portion is similar to the dish, which is gigantic in size!
My favourite dish is fried chicken fillet with Indomee or fried noodle, serve with a fried egg and a basket of fries, which you need 2/3 peoples helping you to finish it. But for me, I can conquer the whole dish! It is so tasty that I miss the flavour of Murni's dishes even though I'm in Hong Kong right now!
It is price-friendly that the whole set is just RM18 (~HKD$34), which is an excellent option for trying new foods in Malaysia, that you guys should not miss it!
Puchong Luk Luk
Puchong is situated in the Southwestern of KL city Area, it is also a good place to have supper in the midnight, in every 10:30 pm, the parking lot in Puchong will turn into a cluster of many trolleys and carts that set up a business of Luk Luk, boiling seafood and meat skewers that dip with sauces, if you want to go the suburban area of KL, come to this outdoor canteen to try skewers!
Address: Lok Lok Street, 19a, Jalan Kenari 9, Bandar Puchong Jaya, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia
I will write more cuisine blogs in the future! Please stay tuned on JeffreyCo about my itineraries in other Malaysian cities, and other countries!
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