Chinese Malaysian

Cuisine

Chinese Malaysian cuisine had developed a strong penchant for spices and chillies where any local Chinese kopi tiam or restaurant will offer pickled green or red chillies sambal for noodles and rice-based meals. They borrowed curry leaves from the Indians and have since adapted English Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce along with Indian and Malay spices to the cooking pot. Among the notable Chinese dishes in the country including the bak kut teh (pork rib soup with Chinese herbs), char kway teow (stir fried rice noodle), dim sum (ready-to-serve dishes), hae mee (spicy prawn noodle soup served in savoury broth), Hainanese chicken rice, kai si hor fun (flat rice noodle soup with chicken slices, shrimps and bean sprouts), kolo mee (Sarawakian egg noodle served in dark sauce, tomato sauce or chilli sauce), lor mee (thick yellow noodle served in dark sauce and thick broth), ngiu chap mee (special Sabah mixed beef noodle), pan mee (handmade noodle soup served with pork balls, minced pork, dried anchovies, black fungus and vegetable), sang nyuk mee (special Sabah dry pork noodle or pork noodle soup), wonton mee (dry noodle or noodle soup served with BBQ pork, minced pork and pork or shrimp dumplings) and yong tau foo (tofu and mixed vegetables filled with ground pork mixture or fish paste). Many Chinese Malaysians also can cook Malay-style chicken or fish with most versions of laksa are prepared by them. Some examples of basic Chinese Malaysians drinks that are commercially produced in the country include the black tea, chrysanthemum tea, grass jelly, green tea, jasmine tea, soy milk and white coffee while popular snacks including the cakoi (long deep-fried dough), egg tart, hum ji peng (circle shaped fried dough with or without fillings), UFO tart, ngo hiang (various spiced, minced meat rolls prepared in deep fried style and served with vegetables), pau (steamed buns), popiah (fried or plain spring rolls filled with mixed vegetables), and tau sar piah (pastry biscuits filled with a sweet or savoury filling). The legacy from the first wave migration created the Peranakan (or Baba-Nyonya) ethnicity through a blend between Chinese and Malay which subsequently produced the Peranakan cuisine where they served Indian-style curries with eating etiquette different from mainstream ethnic Chinese society by following the Malay usage of fingers than chopsticks. The Baba-Nyonya also specialized in making a variety of local snacks called kuih which require plenty of patience and skills.