MALAYSIA
Spices & Cuisine
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Malaysian Flavours
Malaysia is home to one of the tastiest and most intensely flavoured cuisines on earth. Grounded significantly in Southeast Asia’s rich spice culture, Malaysian cuisine has drawn great inspiration from neighbouring Singapore and Thailand whilst adopting flavours and cooking styles over the centuries from Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Portuguese cuisines. A melting pot of these renowned culinary cultures, Malaysian cuisine is the perfect combination of fresh, crunchy textures and rich, punchy flavours with a vast array of herbs and spices used in local dishes to bring your taste buds to life. With hints of cinnamon and clove combined with zingy hits of chilli, lime, and lemongrass, our authentic Malaysian spice blend evokes the true taste of Malaysian Cuisine.
History & Influences
With a complex and intricate history, Malaysian cuisine today has drawn influence from many cultures and regions, as its traders and artisans passed through on their well-traveled trade route. Arab traders and Indian Muslims are said to have introduced noodles to the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia as early as the 13th century. The Chinese established trading centres along the west coast of the Malay Peninsula to create a meeting point for the Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, and British traders. Traders introduced their culinary traditions and ingredients. Arab traders brought spices from the Middle East, and European and British travellers introduced produce like peanuts, pineapple, avocado, tomato, squash, and pumpkin. During their time on the Malay Peninsula, the Chinese developed a distinctive cuisine known as ‘Nonya’, resulting from blending Chinese recipes and wok cooking techniques with spices and ingredients used by the local Malay community. The dishes are tangy, aromatic, spicy, and herbaceous, and the signature dish is none other than Malaysia’s famous spiced noodle soup – Laksa.
What is Malaysian cuisine?
Full of bold, well-balanced flavour combinations offset by fresh, zingy pops, Malaysian cuisine combines locally sourced Malaysian herbs and spices with cooking styles and techniques adopted over its rich history to create a robust and unique explosion of flavours. As with most Asian cultures, mealtime consists of hearty main dishes served alongside mounds of fluffy rice, fresh sides and punchy condiments all served together in a communal setting. A hallmark of Malaysian cuisine and perhaps its most iconic and celebrated dish is the rendang. An intense, dry-style curry loaded with slow-cooked beef, punchy herbs and spices and warm toasted coconut, an authentic Malaysian spice blend is vital and the foundation to good Rendang. Dried chillies add a raisin-like flavour as well as an intense heat whilst kaffir lime leaves add a tang, galangal and turmeric an earthy hum, and cloves and cumin a warm sweetness along with many other flavourful additions.
Recipes
Iconic Malaysian Dishes
Southeast Asia has cuisines rich in spice, and various influences over centuries mean Malaysian food is a refreshing combination of colour, texture, and flavour with complex Laksas, rich Rendang curry, and their national rice dish of Nasi Lemak, all served alongside flaky, golden roti and spicy peanut sauce. With their prominent use of coconut, Malaysian desserts are smooth and creamy with the sweet scent of pandan leaves and most are served with coffee or tea.
Southeast Asia has cuisines rich in spice, and various influences over centuries mean Malaysian food is a refreshing combination of colour, texture, and flavour with complex Laksas, rich Rendang curry, and their national rice dish of Nasi Lemak, all served alongside flaky, golden roti and spicy peanut sauce. With their prominent use of coconut, Malaysian desserts are smooth and creamy with the sweet scent of pandan leaves and most are served with coffee or tea.
Malaysian spices?
Malaysia is also known for its growing and production of spices, namely cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, and cloves. These spices are known as ‘rempah empat beradik’, meaning the four siblings as they are found throughout most Malay dishes. These are sold separately or as a handy blend often under names like ‘seafood curry spices’ or ‘meat curry spices’. Paired with other aromatics like kaffir lime, galangal, and lemongrass.
Malay rendang
A rich, dry-style curry of slow-braised spoon-tender protein cooked low and slow in an explosively flavourful sauce of classic aromatic Malaysian spices, warm hints of chilli, and nutty sweetness of coconut.
Flavours of the world
Comprising 6 regions, 12 countries (and counting) and 48+ delicious accompanying recipes, Flavours of the World opens the doors to the world’s spice route and allows everyone to explore the countries and cuisines that have shaped our culinary world today. Sugar-free, filler-free, and preservative-free, our blends make cooking wholesome, authentic meals from around the globe simple and affordable; offering step-by-step instructions and a catalogue of free online recipes to suit all diets.
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