My Best Bites – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

One of the most compelling aspects about Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia – and this applies to greater South East Asia – is that you’re never confined to a set time for a meal. Sure, dim sum is best eaten at breakfast and brunch and many vendors will close up shop after lunch or as soon as they’ve run out of stock – but that only means what you’re about to order has been made freshly, and usually before your eyes. 

At all hours, there’s a busy cook with lightning-quick hands, deftly moving about noodles, rice, eggs, soup or curry in a wok, saucepan or deep pot, on a nondescript side street with the inviting aromas of lemongrass, shrimp paste, coconut and chilli wafting all around you.

Malaysian food comprises the cuisine of the various populations who have made the country home: Chinese, Indian (south Indian and mamak), Peranakan or Nyonya (a mix of Chinese and Malay) and Malay. It’s often hard for foreigners to separate the categories when visiting the hawkers who sell side-by-side or under one roof without clear signage as the groups have influenced each other – expect Indian vendors to use egg-noodles in their stir-fried dishes, or bowls of coconut and prawn broth to contain “curry”, and some Muslim vendors to serve their food close to hawkers selling pork. Hawker stands aren’t confined to sterile centres as they are in Singapore, but you generally find them in single streets or closed avenues like Jalan Alor in KL’s city centre where every night, restaurants and vendors engage in healthy competition.

A good starting point is to visit a market such as Chow Kit where you can examine seasonal fruit and vegetables like the mangosteen, jackfruit, durian, snake fruit and “stinky” beans. If durian is in season (the best ones are from Malaysia) try it here for a fraction of Singapore prices. Or, have it in cendol – the local sweetened shaved ice with coconut milk, corn and sweet noodles.

Rice is a staple here, as it is across SE Asia. As far as national dishes go, nasi lemak is a must. This is rice steamed with coconut milk and served with tiny crisp ikan bilis – dried anchovies, peanuts, fiery sambal, cucumber, an egg – hardboiled or fried, and sometimes curry. Expect to find it at the breakfast buffet at posh hotels. The banana-leaf meals at Indian restaurants are generally inexpensive and consist of a generous mound of rice with dhal and curries of your choice. Nasi padang – rice with fiery curries from Sumatra is also a good choice.

In KL, like any large capital city around the globe, you’ll easily find the specialities from around the country, including Melaka and Penang (the unofficial food capital). Don’t miss the asam laksa from Penang; it’s a tart with spicy fish-based coconut broth with flat noodles. Or curry mee, which is egg and vermicelli noodles with prawns and pork (it depends) in a spicy coconut broth. Large, flat rice-flour dosas and even small, brittle dosa made with coconut milk, and roti canai – largely square-shaped paratha-style bread served with curry sauce – are great breakfast choices as you work your way up to a bowl of curry noodles to start the day.

The enticing aroma of satay grilling can be found wherever there’s a hawker street. Small pieces of marinated meat are served with a sweet, coarse peanut dipping sauce. The Melaka speciality is satay celup, using the satay sauce as a fondue steamboat to cook meat, seafood and vegetables and you can find this in KL too.

Whatever you do, keep room for the array of kueh – intricate Malay sweets and cakes made with coconut, rice flour, pandan and palm sugar.

Keen to visit KL for its exciting night markets, hawker culture and delicious mix of Malay, Chinese, Peranakan and Indian cuisine? Click here to book discounted tickets right now.

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