1)Nasi lemak is a must try! Nasi lemak, which means rice cooked in cream and in this case coconut cream, is traditionally a breakfast dish. However, today it has also been added to the lunch and dinner menu. You can find it at the road side stall in a cone shaped packet, or even at restaurants.
Nasi lemak is usually eaten with spicy sambal gravy, fried anchovies (ikan bilis), fried groundnuts, topped with fried or boiled egg and slices of cucumber. The fragrant aroma of Pandan (screw pine) leaves makes it even more tempting. Add more side dishes like fried chicken, squid or prawn sambal for a complete meal.
2)Now, this one you have got to try! Banana leaf has always been synonymous with Indian food, and here heaps of rice are piled on a banana leaf loaded with different curries, dhal, vegetables, rasam (tamarind soup) and fried papadoms and Indian crispy. Game for Indian dessert? Then try the thick and sweet payasam to complete your lunch. The shop assistant moves around with stainless steel containers and you just need to flag him for additional helpings. Best of all, it is cheap... and you can really sample quite a variety of Indian dishes.
3) There are several variations of chicken rice but the most popular kind is that which originates from the Hainan province in China. A very popular dish, it is made up of fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock and served with either roasted or steamed chicken drizzled with a little soy sauce based gravy, sliced cucumber, a bowl of soup and a special chilli sauce. A delight for weight watchers!
4) The Roti Canai and Teh Tarik combo is a meal for any hour of the day, and it's usually available at Mamak stalls and restaurants, which can be found almost everywhere in the city. Roti canai is the local Indian bread. Watch the skilled roti canai expert stretch and toss the dough into the desired shape and thickness and then cook it on a flat iron skillet with a generous amount of oil. Good roti canai is best eaten right off the skillet (when cold it can be chewy and tough). It is crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside and normally served with dhal curry (chickpea gravy). There are various versions today, among which the roti canai bawang (onion) and roti canai sardine (sardine) being the most popular ones.
When at a Mamak stall, you are bound to hear, "Teh tarik satu" (One teh tarik) most of the times. It's that popular among the locals. Teh tarik literally means 'pulled tea'. This is a frothy milk tea which has been skilfully pulled from one mug to another to increase the aroma and hasten the cooling process. Malaysians tend to have sweet tooth and our 'teh tarik' can be very sweet. So do ask for the 'kurang manis' (less sugar) version.
5) Bite size pieces of meat marinated in a variety of spices. The marinated meat is then skewered through thin bamboo strips and barbecued over charcoal fire until golden brown. A wide range of meat can be used, like chicken, beef or mutton.
The sweetish and juicy 'satay' is normally served with sliced cucumbers, onions, ketupat (compressed rice cake) and a spicy sweet peanut sauce for dipping. Satay is recommended as an appetiser during an evening meal.
6) Flat rice noodles stir fried over a very hot stove with minced garlic, chilli paste, fresh prawns, bean sprouts, !@#* and eggs. It is then seasoned with dark soy sauce and salt. Char Kway Teow can be eaten anytime of the day. Simply delicious!
7)Kopitiam is the Hokkein word for 'coffee shop'. Take a trip to these coffee shops and try out the locally brewed coffee and the 'kaya' toasted bread.
What makes the coffee special? Local coffee beans are roasted with margarine and grounded to give them more robust taste. These grounded coffee beans are then brewed and served black, white or white with sugar. Kaya is the rich, delicious and popular Malaysian 'jam' made of coconut milk, sugar and egg. The kaya mixture is spread over the toasted bread, together with a thick helping of butter or margarine.
8) There are loads of great seafood restaurants where you can choose really fresh seafood (some are caught straight from the tank). Seafood is delicious, whatever style of cooking. You can try the chilli crabs (prepare to use your fingers here), butter prawns, asam fish head curry, steamed fish, grilled seafood. the list goes on.
9) Hawker food in Kuala Lumpur is varied, cheap and generally delicious. The casual (non-air-conditioned) hawker stalls and food streets dining and ambiance are experiences not to be missed. This can be in the form of food courts or streets lined with stalls which only operate from evening until late at night. Making a choice can be overwhelming. Just take the noodle dishes for example. There is the Wantan, Kway Teow, Hokkein mee, Cantonese mee, varieties of laksa and more. The atmosphere is vibrant and noisy. Some of the famous food streets are Jalan Alor, Petaling Streets, Jalan Imbi and Puduraya bus stations. In the Golden Triangle area the best outdoor hawker centre is the Bukit Bintang (BB) Park, where a mouth-watering array of stalls sell just about everything from tandoori to western grills. In Bangsar, the indoor Jalan Telawi Tiga food centre is also a popular alternative.
10) There are wide varieties of tasty and nutritious tropical fruits found in Malaysia - both locally grown and imported. They are sold in supermarkets, stalls and open-air night markets. Some can be found year round, like papaya and watermelon while others, like durian, rambutan and ciku, are seasonal.
There are many ways to eat the fruit. Some are best eaten fresh, while others, like banana and jackfruits can be made into tasty fritters. The juicy ones like watermelon, starfruits are both eaten as dessert as well as pressed for juices. Some of the fruits are also made into jam, preserves and pickle. Do make it a point to sample some of these fruits while you are in Kuala Lumpur.