Malaysian Cuisine

Malaysian cuisine encompasses the cooking traditions of Malaysia and reflects the country's multicultural population, forming a melange of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Thai, Filipino and indigenous Bornean culinary practice shaped by centuries of migration, colonization and Malaysia's position on maritime trade routes. Its roots trace to the 1400s and the Malacca Sultanate, when fifteenth century maritime trade brought Arab spices to the region, later followed by Portuguese, Dutch and English colonists who introduced peanuts, pineapples and tomatoes, and by Indian and Chinese laborers who arrived during nineteenth century British colonial rule and further diversified the food culture. The cuisine shows extensive cross cultural adaptation, as when Chinese communities reworked Indian curries to local taste or Thai tom yam was recast with tamarind and dried chilies into a distinctly Malaysian form. Rice, known as nasi, is paramount among staples alongside noodles and breads such as roti canai, belacan shrimp paste, coconut, chili pepper, soy sauce and tamarind provide the cuisine's flavor foundation, and nasi lemak, rice steamed with coconut milk and pandan leaf, is widely regarded as the national dish.