A very good morning to Puan Charanjit. Today I will be speaking about food.

Malaysia is famous for it’s variety of food. Malaysia has so many cultures living in together in
harmony that the united dishes from each culture makes Malaysia a country famous for it’s
variety of dishes.

The national dish is Nasi Lemak. Nasi lemak literally means fatty rice when translated. The
name is derived from the cooking process whereby the rice is soaked in coconut cream and then
steamed. Sometimes knotted screwpine leaves also known as pandan is added to the mixture to
give it more fragrance. Spices such as ginger and herbs such as lemon grass may be added for
additional fragrance.

Nasi lemak is usually served wrapped in a banana leaf with cucumber slices, dried anchovies,
roasted peanuts, a hard boiled egg and a spicy hot sauce at its core. Nasi lemak also comes with a
variety of accompaniments such as chicken, cuttlefish, cockles, stir fried water convolvulus,
pickled vegetables or beef rendang.

Roti canai is a type of flatbread often sold in mamak stalls. Roti canai is circular and flat. There
are two ways to make roti canai that is either to twirl it until the dough becomes a very thin sheet
and then folded into a circular shape or to spread out the dough as thinly as possible before being
folded. Then the folded dough is grilled with oil. The first method is more popular and faster
than the second. The ideal roti is flat, fluffy on the inside but crispy and flaky on the outside

Char kway teow is a popular noodle dish. The dish is typically prepared at hawker stalls. The
best you can find is in Penang. It is made from flat rice noodles which are stir fried over very
high heat with light and dark soy sauce, chili, a small quantity of belachan, whole prawns,
deshelled cockles, bean sprouts and chopped Chinese chives. The Penang style of char kway
teow is the most famous.

Nasi Kandar is a popular northern Malaysian dish, which originates from Penang. It is a meal of
steamed rice which can be plain or mildly flavored, and served with a variety of curries and side
dishes. The rice for a nasi kandar dish is often placed in a wooden container about three feet
high, giving it a distinctive aroma. The rice is accompanied by side dishes such as fried chicken,
curried spleen, cubed beef, fish roe, fried prawns or fried squid. The vegetable dishes would
usually be aubergine, okra or bitter gourd. A mixture of curry sauces is poured on the rice. This
is called flooding and imparts a diverse taste to the rice.

Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, which is a merger of Chinese
and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia. Curry
Laksa is a coconut-based curry soup. The main ingredients for most versions of curry laksa
include tofu puffs, fish sticks, shrimp and cockles. Some vendors may sell chicken laksa. Laksa
is commonly served with a spoonful of sambal chili paste and garnished with Vietnamese
coriander, or laksa leaf.

Thank you Puan Charanjit.