Favorites from Malaysian Night Markets

Pulut Panggang

Pasar malam or night market which is a popular Malaysian activity throughout the country stretching from the very North of the peninsular to the very South of the East Malaysian state of Sabah. Night markets are popular night time activities for Malaysians of all walks of life. In the night markets there are all kinds of vendors selling popular Malaysian cuisines, from Malay to Chinese cakes, delicacies, and cuisines. I prefer the small unique food items from the night markets.

Peanut Butter Pancake

Of all the cooked items that is found in these night markets, the most commonly found in the night markets are pulut panggang or banana leaf wrapped glutonous rice, apam or pancake, and fried chicken breast. other these commonly found cooked items, there are also the food carts that sells sugar cane drink, coconut water and soy bean drinks. Of cause there are also all kinds of unique food items found in the night markets.

Fried Chicken Breast

One of the main reason these night markets is a popular night activity is due to the closed proximity these night markets are located to residential areas. And these night markets are also weekly activities within each location. So, all the night market vendors will get to retail their products and wares every night at different locations on different nights. The opportunity to operate their business to a wider market is tremendously appealing for these night market vendors.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese Chicken Rice

This is the more popular chicken rice among all different types of chicken rice. Hainanese chicken rice is made famous by the Hainanese clan who have immigrated to Malaysia to provide labor in the tin mines during the glory days of the mining industry in Malaysia. And among the heritage that was introduced by the Hainanese clan in Malaysia were in the form of this fine delicious chicken rice cuisine.

Chinese Malaysian Chicken Rice

So, this Hainanese chicken rice cuisine that started in Malaysia has become so popular that it has become a cuisine synomymous to Malaysian cuisines. Today, the Hainanese chicken rice is listed in the menus of Malaysian restaurants all over the world. In Vancouver, the Hainanese chicken rice are found in all the Malaysian restaurants. On top of that there are two locations that particularly serve the Hainanese Chicken rice.

Chicken Rice

The Hainanese chicken rice is served with two different types of chicken cuisine. First choice is roasted chicken and the second boiled chicken. Other than preparing the chicken using a special chicken recipe, the chicken rice itself is also cooked with fried garlic, chicken broth, chicken fat, and ginger. Than, the chicken meat can be combined with Char Siew and Roasted Pork. I like my chicken rice with just roasted chicken. The chilli sauce that comes with this chicken rice cuisine is a mix of chilli, vinegar, sesame seed oil, and chicken broth.

Hand Knead Noodle

Hand Knead Thick Noodle

Hand knead noodle, the favorite among the older generation evolved as a home made noodle to become a noodle cuisine with more than twenty different recipe combinations that operators of these particular coffee shop cuisine could now able to operate their own full noodle range restaurant serving different combinations of hand knead noodles. Most of these hand knead noodle restaurants are located in Puchong and Subang area in the Klang Valley.

Hand Knead Round Noodle

But these individual hand knead noodle stalls still exist in many of the wet markets in Malaysia. In every morning market in Malaysia, there will be a hand knead noodle stall. This popular hand knead noodle is as common as nasi lemak. Other than the actual hand knead noodle, the broth completes the noodle cuisine. And ingredients in the broth are usually chicken stock, mushrooms, mined meat, oyster flavoured sauce, sesame seed oil and soy sauce.

Common Coffee Shop Cuisines in Malaysia

Char Keow Teow

Usually the different Chinese coffee shops in Malaysia serves many different cuisines. But there are some popular cuisines that is found in nearly every coffee shop. Cuisines like Char Keow Teow, Wuntun Noodle, Curry Laksa Noodle, Nasi Lemak, and Hainanese Chicken Rice just to name a few. When I was back in Malaysia for a few days during the later part of April this year, I dined in many of these coffee shops and these popular cuisines were still the same.

Wuntun Noodle with Char Siew

These popular cuisines although available in most coffee shops but the taste, flavour and authenticity may vary from one coffee shop to the other. Nowadays, most of these food carts in the coffee shops are managed by foreigners. The cooks are no longer locals but hired hands. And worst is when the owners of these food carts are foreigners too. The local cooks and food cart owners are in an extinct profession. Slowly we are seeing a lot more foreigners operating these food carts in the coffee shops.

Chee Cheong Fun

This trade is not only slowly losing its glamour and expertise but the taste, flavour, standard and authenticity of these cuisines have also been compromised. There are fewer and fewer really good traditional coffee shop cuisines that was as good, tasty and flavourful as what could be found in coffee shops in Malaysia several decades ago. I guess there are still some really authentic cuisines around but one really have to know where to dine.

Clay Pot Chicken Rice

Clay Pot Chicken Rice

I remembered there is a back lane clay pot chicken rice stall in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur where I used to frequent when I was living and working in Kuala Lumpur. At that time, that clay pot chicken rice stall served really good clay pot chicken rice and may even be one of the best in town. Although, the stall was located in one of the many back lanes in Chinatown, it was still a popular destination by the city folks that worked in the area.

Chicken Rice with Dark Soy Sauce

Clay pot chicken rice is a favorite Chinese Malaysian cuisine that is found served predominantly in the Klang Valley. When I was growing up in Penang, I never did come across this chicken rice cuisine except in one coffee shop in Pulau Tikus when the coffee shop introduced the most popular cuisines from Klang Valley and one of the cuisines was this chicken rice cuisine. So, it was rare to find really authentic clay pot chicken rice stall outside Klang Valley.

Clay Pot Chicken

And a few years later, I stumbled upon another stall serving really good and flavourful clay pot chicken rice as the Chinatown clay pot chicken rice stall in the food court of Ipoh's Jusco. Then after, every time I drive through Ipoh, I would stop by to enjoy the clay pot chicken rice served in the food court of Jusco. I learned that the best clay pot chicken rice cuisine depend on the type of dark soy sauce and combination of the right ingredients.

Authentic Baba Nyonya Asam Pedas

Asam Pedas Fish

There is no Asam Pedas cuisine that is more flavourful or taste better than my mom's. I grew up enjoying my grandmother's and mother's Baba Nyonya cuisines. These Baba Nyonya cuisines maybe found in some of the restaurants in Vancouver serving Malaysian cuisines but not all the Malaysian cuisines listed on their menus are any where close to authenticity let alone acquiring the true taste and flavour of a favorite Malaysian cuisine.

Asam Pedas 

And, it so happen that my favorite Baba Nyonya cuisine is my mom's Asam Pedas. Whenever I return to visit my mom in Malaysia, she would not miss cooking up this favorite spicy fish cuisine. Still the best and my favorite cuisine. Mom's recipe is simple and easy to follow. In mom's recipe for Asam Pedas, the main ingredients include 4 fresh chillies, 5 bulb of fresh shallots, 1 stalk of lemon grass, laksa leaves, a bulb of ginger flower, a dozen of okra, a cup of thick turmeric juice, and choice of fish.

Basil Egg Omelette

On that day, mom also cooked basil egg omelette which she wanted me to try. This egg omelette came about from mom's experience in Vietnam where basil is a popular vegetable used in their cuisines. And mom also grew some of this basil in her herbal/vegetable garden for her own consumption. The basil egg omelette actually has medicinal properties that promotes health. Basil has medicinal properties of antioxidant and anti-bacteria.

Some of the most popular Malaysian Breakfast

Nasi Lemak in Banana Leaf Wrap

Number one on the list of the most popular Malaysian breakfast would be the Nasi Lemak.  Mostly eaten in the morning but nowadays, nasi lemak has become so popular that it is even consumed late into the night. Malaysians crave for this fragrant coconut milk rice cuisine. Nasi lemak is so popular that it is sold everywhere and in nearly every coffee shop, even on the side walk of a strip mall, and by the roadside venders.

Roti Chennai with Sambal

Next on the list of the most popular breakfast is the Roti Chennai. Introduced to Malaysia by the Southern Indian immigrants, this crispy pan fried bread (pancake) is best eaten with sambal or curry as a dip. And this is also one of my favorite cuisine. Simple yet flavourful and tasty with sardine sambal that I prefer when eating this roti. In Vancouver, there are only the frozen pancakes that are available in the Asian grocery stores but back in Malaysia, roti Chennai are found everywhere.

Curry Puffs

The curry puff is also another popular Malay cake that is popular during breakfast. The curry puff is filled with potato curry and sometimes there are boiled eggs in the puffs too. During my recent trip back to Malaysia, I had the chance to eat as much of these Malaysian favorites as possible. Still missing out on some but I was happy to have at least eaten all these three simple but popular Malay and Indian cuisines.