40 Best Malaysian Food And Malaysian Dishes To Try

40 Best Malaysian Food And Malaysian Dishes To Try

When we talk about our favorite food and cuisine from all the countries we’ve ever been, we never forget about the dishes of Southeast Asia. Some of our favorites come from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia! In this blog post, we are going to talk about the best Malaysian Food and our favorite Malaysian Dishes. Read here best Malaysian breakfast

Malaysian food with influences from Malaysia, China and India. Most of the Malaysian dishes are shared with rice. Some of the dishes are similar to Indonesian cuisine. Hope it’s helpful this list for your next trip. Read here best Malaysia tourist sim card!

Best Malaysian Food: Our favorite Malaysian Dishes

1. Roti Canai

Photography: eryabysuria | Flickr

Flat bread served with different sauces. The best ones that I tried was in Little India in Kuala Lumpur. This meal is great if you are going in a low budget on your Malaysian Trip.

2. Apam balik (Malaysian Pancake)

Photography: Khairuddin Samsudin | Flickr

Also called the turnover Pancake. It is a traditional Malaysian crispy pancake with roasted peanuts and sugar inside. You can find this in street food stalls as well as restaurants for a very cheap price.

3. Banana Leaf

It’s usually served for lunch, like Indian style. You will find it for affordable prices, as low as $2-3 USD. It’s served with curry and vegetables.

4. Nasi Dagang

Photography: Fadzly Mubin| Flickr

Similar to Nasi Lemak but for lunch. It’s steamed rice in coconut milk with fish curry. It can be served with boil or fried egg and vegetable pickles.

5. Roti jala

Photography: Ann & Ming | Flickr

Roti Jala is also called the “Net Bread” or “Net Crepe” because of the holes in this very thin snack. It’s a famous Malaysian snack served with curry and paired with tea.

6. Ketupat

Photography: Sham Hardy| Flickr

It is a type of dumpling made of rice that’s wrapped in a diamond-shaped woven palm leaf pouch. It is usually served with curry, rendang, and sambal goreng, etc.

7. Kaya (Coconut Jam)

Photography: Cooking SoftwareOz| Flickr

This is not just popular in Malaysia but also in other Southeast Asian countries. It’s served with bread and it’s a popular spread that tastes very sweet and has a unique coconut flavor.

8. Wonton Mee

Photography: moniquz | Flickr

Wonton Mee is a noodle dish popular in Malaysia and neighbor countries.  It’s commonly served in a hot broth, with leafy vegetables, and wonton dumplings. Some Wonton Mee even have ingredients such as meat, spring onions, black fungus, and a lot more.

9. Iban Bakar

Photography: Farid Iqbal Ibrahim | Flickr

This is grilled fish served with sambal sauce. It’s usually served on a banana leaf, which is a popular way of eating in Malaysia.

10. Nasi Kerabu

This dish surprised us since it was our first time we tried blue rice. The blue coloring comes from the petals of the flower used as an ingredient for this popular and must-try Malay dish. It’s usually served with dried fish or fried chicken, crackers, pickles and other salad.

11. Kuih

Photography: Melosh | Flickr

It’s sold in Malaysian bakeries as dessert and it’s so sweet. You can also find in street markets for a very cheap price.

12. Durian

You can find this fruit in Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and other neighbor countries in the Southeast. It’s the fruit of the Durio tree. To eat it, cut the fruit, get the durian flesh and don’t eat the seed. It’s smelly but very tasty. It is kinda messy eating this fruit.

13. Chicken curry

Photography: Ian Lee | Flickr

This is one of the most famous Malay dish that you should try. It’s a tasty dish with lots of spices and herbs, meat, and some vegetables. Be aware that some curry may be spicy.

14. Satay

You can find this dish in Malaysia and Indonesia. Satay consists of sliced chicken, or goat, beef, pork grilled at barbecue. My favorite satay is served with peanut sauce.

15. Kolo Mee

You can find this street food in Southeast Asia such as Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Noodles are cooked and served with fried mixed garlic, white vinegar minced pork and onions.

16. Bakso

You can find Bakso in Indonesia and Malaysia. The meatballs are made from beef and it’s usually served in a bowl of beef broth with noodles. egg, tofu and vegetables.

17. Soto

You can find soto in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia street markets. It’s one of the most famous Malay dishes. It’s a soup composed of broth, meat and vegetables.

18. Nasi Lemak

You can find this dish in Malaysia that’s usually served for breakfast. You can find it wrapped in a banana leaf whenever vendors sell them. It’s rice cooked with coconut milk. They add sambal (spicy sauce), anchovies and boiled or fried egg.

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Best Malaysian Food and Malaysian Dishes

19. Kai See Hor Fun

This is a delicious chicken soup made with rice noodles. It’s made up of the tasty prawn broth with chicken slices cooked with fresh prawns and onions.

20. Popiah

Photography: Cheryl Chan | Flickr

Just like the wet spring rolls, it is made of ground meat (usually pork), beansprouts, carrots, and other vegetables, wrapped in a thin wrapper, then fried.

21. Hainanese chicken rice

Photography: tang_kt | Flickr

This dish is known to be a Chinese cuisine but Malays also have their version of it. But it’s usually made with chicken and seasoned rice, served with chili sauce and garnished with vegetables and herbs.

22. Mee Goreng

Photography: Anthony Leow | Flickr

Mee Goreng or Mi Goreng, is a spicy fried noodles dish with vegetables and chicken. As a Chinese influence, you can find this food in Malaysia very often. It’s actually one of my favorite food in Malaysia.

23. Nasi Goreng

Photography: Yulhana ‘NoRulez’ Yusoff | Flickr

This is Malaysia’s version of fried rice. There are many ways you can have Nasi Goreng. There can be versions with meat like chicken, pork, and beef, and of course, vegetables which cannot be removed from the ingredients. The one with vegetables is my favorite.

24. Char Kuey Teow

Photography: Malaysia Kitchen NYC | Flickr

Char kuey teow, or “stir-fried ricecake strips“, is made from flat rice noodles stir-fried with whole prawns, deshelled bean sprouts, chives, egg slices, and even fish cake.

25. Ikan bakar

Photography: vkeong | Flickr

Ikan Bakar is a famous dish in Malaysia and Indonesia. It literally means charcoal-grilled fish or other forms of seafood.

26. Oyster omelette

Photography: Ben | Flickr

Oyster omelette is a dish that’s also all around Malaysia so you must try it. It’s a simple omelette dish but bursting with flavors! It doesn’t cost that much too and you can buy some for an affordable price.

27. Pasembur

Photography: muhamad aidil kalid | Flickr

This is a Malaysian salad made of potatoes, cucumber, beancurd, bean sprouts, turnips, prawn fritters, spicy fried crab, fried octopus or other seafood. It’s usually served with a sweet and spicy nut sauce.

28. Sang Har Noodles

Photography: j2kfm | Flickr

This one is Chinese style and one of Rachel’s favorite Malaysian food. It’s a dish with noodles with the heads of the prawns served with delicious broth.

29. Laksa

Photography: nonrev | Flickr

When visiting Malaysia, you shouldn’t miss to taste Laksa. It is a spicy noodle soup which has thick wheat noodles, chicken, prawn or fish, served in spicy soup made of either spicy curry coconut milk or sour asam.

30. Bak kut teh

Photography: wormy lau | Flickr

It is a pork rib soup. It’s popular especially South Malaysia and also in Singapore. The ribs are simmered in broth with herbs and spices as garlic and cloves for hours.

31. Hokkien mee

Photography: Tam Chiak | Flickr

This is Chinese style noodles with soy sauce and pork as main ingredient . Also it’s added fish, squid and cabbage, and usually served for dinner.

32. Chili Crab and Black Pepper Crab

Photography: iwong | Flickr

Giant mud crabs are usually the main ingredient for this dish. It’s not just only famous in Malaysia but also in neighbor countries Indonesia and Singapore. It’s made with a lot of spices that you will enjoy!

33. Beef Rendang

Photography: Hari Priyadi | Flickr

It’s a spicy meat dish that could be chicken, duck and beef. Beef Rendang is popular at Ramadan time and you will be able to try it for sure if you are visiting Malaysia at that time. If you’re looking to recreate this dish at home, try out this slow cooker beef rendang recipe to save time and hassle.

34. Charsiew Rice

Photography: Kenneth Kiffer | Flickr

It’s Pork Barbecue and a Chinese style dish served with rice. You can find this dish in Pasar Malang (night market). It’s so tasty so you should try it!

35. Freshwater Prawns

Photography: Tummy Rumble | Flickr

Malaysia is abundant with seafood and their freshwater prawns are a must-try. There are dishes like curry and soups that you should try which have freshwater prawns in them.

36. Nasi Kandar

This dish is popular for lunch or dinner. It’s steamed rice with fried chicken, beef, lamb and fish with fried prawns or squid. There are also vegetables like eggplant added to the dish – full meal and local.

37. Mee Rebus

Photography: Yulhana ‘NoRulez’ Yusoff | Flickr

Another noodle dish that you should try in Malaysia is Mee Rebus. It is made with yellow noodles served with a thick spicy potato-based gravy. To make it more tasty, there’s also a hard-boiled egg, spring onions, bean sprouts, fried shallots, tofu, and lime juice in Mee Rebus.

38. Sambal Udang

Photography: Helen (Grab Your Fork) | Flickr

Sambal Udang, or prawn sambal, is a spicy Malay dish that you will also love. It’s made with sambal sauce and Malaysian Shrimp Paste, that make Sambal Udang’s flavor really rich and strong.

39. Asam Pedas

Photography: droolworthy | Flickr

Asam Pedas is a popular dish in Malaysia as well as in Indonesia. It is a sour and spicy fish stew dish, usually served with rice.

40. Ayam Goreng

Photography: Ziyan Syahida | Flickr

Ayam Goreng is the Fried Chicken of Malaysia. There are many ways to cook this but the most common is by adding a special breading and deep frying it in hot oil. Malays love it and the price of this popular dish starts at 1 or 2 USD in the streets but is more expensive if you’ll buy it from restaurants.

There you have it! Our favorite Malaysian dishes that you should try on your next Malaysian visit. Which one is your favorite dish? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Travels!