My wife and I have been in Malaysia for several months now and we have tried a lot of delicious Malaysian food here.
In this video I'm going to show you several different varieties of Malaysian food.
I'm going to give each one either a thumbs up or a thumbs down depending on whether or not I liked it.
Now these are just my opinions, everybody has different taste buds, what's my favorite might not be your favorite,
and you are free to agree or disagree with me. But let's get started!
Starting with ayam kapitan this is a nyonya dish which is a blend of both Chinese and Malaysian influences.
The chicken is topped with a chili curry sauce also with coconut milk, lemongrass and turmeric.
This dish is just a tad bit high on the spicy side for me, but at the same time not so spicy as to not enjoy it.
And so I give ayam kapitan a thumbs up.
Next up is ayam panyet.
This is another chicken dish actually more Indonesian from what I understand, but also common here in Malaysia.
I had this twice, both in Penang and in Kota Bahru.
The chicken gets pounded down so that it's flatter and softer, and then it gets fried.
Now I'm glad the sauce came on the side both times that I ordered it because it was too spicy for me, so I could just use a little bit of it.
But I really like the way the chicken is prepared, and so ayam penyet gets a thumbs up for me.
Next we're going to have some cendol, and this is actually a dessert.
It's made with shaved ice and also some green kind of like a jelly noodle, I think and also coconut milk some sugar.
And also beans, which to us as Americans seems weird, but the beans are sweet not like the earthy flavored beans,
and it was really good, so I give this delicious dessert a thumbs up .
Next is char koay teow, which is basically a stir fried noodle dish.
And I actually made this dish myself at a cooking school in Penang.
It normally has shrimp or prawns in it, although I made mine with chicken.
It gets mixed with lemongrass, egg, bean sprouts, shallots, soy sauce and several other ingredients.
And I'm normally not a big fan of stir fry type dishes, but this was really good, delicious actually, and this is another thumbs up for me.
Next is clay pot which is a way of cooking that is common in many areas of the world, but it's also a way of cooking that I was totally unfamiliar with before coming to Malaysia.
The rice gets cooked in the pot and then the ingredients get added, and for us these ingredients included chicken soy sauce egg and mushrooms.
I think the clay pot gave the food a slightly more earthy smoky flavor, but it seemed like it was a very subtle difference.
But we really enjoyed this dish and it gets a thumbs up.
Next on the list is kakong phool.
I first heard about this from Greg and Jumi's food blogs here on Youtube,
and my wife took a video of me trying it out, so let's take a look at that clip.
All right we are here and we're going to try kacang phool.
This is actually a dish that's more common in the Middle East.
It's also pretty popular down in the south part of Malaysia.
There's a couple places where you can find it here in Penang.
I'll put a map up so that you can see where we are right now.
But I think it's made mostly out of beans.
You can get it with beef or chicken and this is chicken.
So I'm going to give it a try here.
It's really good, really good spices and really good flavoring.
Yes I really like this, it's really good.
What I really liked was the bread that came with the kacang phool, really thick buttery bread.
You can also get it with garlic or cheese on the bread.
And it reminded me of back home sometimes for lunch I would have a grilled cheese sandwich with American chili.
You can actually order sandwiches here with the kacang phool put inside the sandwich.
This is another thumbs up here.
Next is nasi kandar, which is a dish that not only originated in Penang but it might be one of Penang's most famous dishes although it does have kind of an Indian flavor to it.
It consists of rice together with a mix of several different curries and is also served with chicken and vegetables, and nasi kandar is delicious.
I've had it several times at several different restaurants.
This not only gets a thumbs up, but it's probably my favorite Malaysian food that I've had so far.
Next is nasi lemak and many call nasi lemak the national dish of Malaysia.
Here's a video clip of my first reaction when I tried it for the first time.
All right we've been in Malaysia for several months now we have not yet tried nasi lemak.
I've been putting it off because I don't like fish and I think it usually has fish in it, but now we're going to finally try it because we saw it in the grocery store it was very cheap.
It was only 2 ringgit 50 cents, so let's give it a try and see how it is.
It's pretty good, oh it is a little spicy but not too bad.
It doesn't taste like fish to me, so maybe this version doesn't have fish, or if it does it's very mild.
But yeah I kind of like it, I'd say I probably like nasi kandar better but this is good too.
So that was my first impression, but the more I ate it the more the anchovy flavor started to build,
and I don't know, my taste buds never really liked the taste of fish.
So sorry nasi lemak, but I just have to give this a thumbs down for me, not for everyone, just for me.
ll Aright next is the Ramly burger, and these burgers can be bought at food stands all around the country.
They are named after the company that makes the patties, and you can actually buy these patties in the grocery stores.
I've seen both chicken and beef, and I don't know what is in these burger patties that make them so good.
They truly have a delicious flavor, both when I make them myself, and also when I buy them from a vendor.
And so Ramly burgers get a definite thumbs up for me.
Next is rojak, and when I first heard about this I really thought I would like it.
Rojak is a type of fruit salad, but it's mixed with a sauce that looks like chocolate but it's really nothing like chocolate.
It's a little bit sweet but also spicy, and to me at least it also tasted a little bit like fish flavor.
And sorry I just didn't like it, no offense to those of you who do, but i have to give this a thumbs down.
Let's move on to roti canai.
This is a type of bread that for Americans I would describe it as a cross between a tortilla and a pita.
But it's a little bit more chewy or kind of elastic in texture.
People usually dip the roti in a wonderful curry sauce.
I tried to make my own roti in the cooking class that I took and it didn't go well.
It kept falling apart and I couldn't flip it the right way.
But what I did learn from the class is that it's better to leave the roti to the experts who really know how to make this the right way,
and really know how to do this well.
If it's made properly it is absolutely delicious,
I would eat roti canai every day, and it gets a big thumbs up for me.
And finally we have satay and there isn't really too much to say about satay because it's really just meat on a stick.
But I love the way the meat is seasoned, I love the way the meat is cooked,
and I love the way the meat tastes,
and so satay gets a big thumbs up.
All right so there you have it guys,
those are the Malaysian dishes that I've tried so far.
There are still many dishes that I haven't tried yet, so if you have suggestions of Malaysian food that you think I should try that you didn't see in this video please leave a comment below.
I'd also like to know which of the food that you saw in this video you like or dislike, so please leave a comment about that too.
In the meantime please give us a thumbs up if you like this video, please subscribe to our channel and also take a look at some of the other videos that you see here, I think you'll enjoy them.