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266 recipes

Sup kambingMutton soup

Mamak restaurants in Penang and Kuala Lumpur keep a pot of sup kambing going from breakfast to supper, ladled over chunks of mutton on the bone and eaten with slices of soft white bread or roti. The broth is clear but powerful: black pepper, star anise and cinnamon, a little tomato and potato, and a crown of fried shallots, celery leaves and lime. It is what Malaysians crave when they have a cold. Chef's tip: grinding the spices to powder clouds the broth and makes it gritty; tie them whole in a muslin bag, the way stalls do with their 'sup bunjut'.

140 min

Malaysian Soups

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Sirap limauRose syrup lime drink

Order a sirap limau at any kopitiam or warung from Johor to Kedah and a tall glass of shocking pink arrives, sweet with rose syrup and sharpened with fresh lime; it is the drink that goes with nasi lemak at lunch and fried snacks after school. The rose syrup, 'sirap', is easy to make at home and keeps for weeks. Chef's tip: squeezing the limes hours ahead makes the drink taste flat and bitter; squeeze them just before you pour.

15 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Kuih talamPandan coconut layer cake

Trays of kuih talam sit on almost every kuih stall from Johor Bahru to Alor Setar, cut into neat green-and-white squares that office workers pick up with their morning kopi. The bottom layer is a springy pandan jelly of rice flour and tapioca; the top is a soft, slightly salty coconut layer that melts against it. It needs a 20 cm square tin and a wok or steamer with a lid, and it slices best the next morning. Chef's tip: wrap the steamer lid in a cloth; condensation dripping onto the white layer leaves pockmarks and a watery top.

70 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Kuih keriaSweet potato doughnuts

Afternoon kuih sellers in Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh pile kuih keria on trays still warm, each ring wearing a thin white shell of crystallised sugar that crackles when you bite. The dough is mostly mashed sweet potato with just enough flour to hold it, so the inside is soft and almost creamy. Orange-fleshed sweet potato gives a sunny colour; the yellow or purple ones are used too. Chef's tip: adding the sugar to syrup that isn't boiled long enough leaves the doughnuts sticky; it must reach the point where a drop turns cloudy and grainy on a cold plate.

60 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Tepung pelitaPandan pudding with coconut cream

Tepung pelita, 'lamp' kuih, gets its name from the little square banana-leaf boxes it is set in, which look like old oil lamps, and every Ramadan bazaar from Melaka to Penang has trays of them chilling on ice. Each cup holds a soft green pandan layer under a thick, salty-sweet white coconut layer; you eat it with a spoon or straight from the leaf. Small ramekins or silicone cups work if you have no banana leaves. Chef's tip: pour the white layer only once the green one has set a skin, or the two colours bleed into each other.

55 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Kuih cara manisMini pandan pancakes

Kuih cara manis are cooked in a cast-iron pan of shallow flower-shaped cups, the same pan used for the savoury kuih cara berlauk, and Malay families make both for breakfast or teatime, especially on weekend mornings in Pahang and Negeri Sembilan. A thin pandan coconut batter sets into soft little flowers, and a pinch of sugar dropped into each centre melts into a glossy pool. They take minutes and are best eaten warm. An aebleskiver or takoyaki pan works if you have no kuih cara mould. Chef's tip: adding the sugar too soon makes it sink and burn; wait until the batter edges have set but the middle is still wet.

30 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Roti jalaLacy net crêpes

During Ramadan, bazaar stalls in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam sell roti jala in folded stacks beside pots of chicken curry, and Malay families make it at home for Hari Raya open houses. A thin egg and coconut-milk batter tinted with turmeric is trickled from a five-spouted cup in loops, so each crêpe becomes a soft, yellow net that soaks up curry gravy. A squeeze bottle with a fine nozzle does the job if you have no roti jala cup. Serve with any curry; it is lovely with a potato or chickpea kari for a vegetarian meal. Chef's tip: a lumpy batter clogs the spouts, so always strain it and let it rest before you start.

45 min

Malaysian Breads & Parathas

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Nasi goreng pattayaFried rice in omelette

Despite the Thai beach in its name, nasi goreng pattaya is a Malaysian mamak and warung favourite, ordered at midnight in Kuala Lumpur or for a Sunday lunch in Johor: chilli-red chicken fried rice parcelled in a thin, golden omelette, then zigzagged with ketchup and chilli sauce. Children love cutting into it to find the rice. The rice can be made with mixed vegetables instead of chicken. Chef's tip: freshly cooked rice turns to mush in the wok; use rice cooked the day before and kept in the fridge.

30 min

Malaysian Rice & Grains

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Ayam goreng berempahSpiced fried chicken

Ayam goreng berempah is what Malaysians pile beside nasi lemak at breakfast stalls in Kampung Baru and buy by the piece at Ramadan bazaars: chicken marinated in turmeric, lemongrass, galangal and ginger, fried until the skin is deep mahogany, then showered with the crunchy fried spice paste and curry leaves from the wok. Chef's tip: frying on too high a heat burns the spice coating before the meat near the bone is cooked; keep the oil at a steady 165 °C and check the thickest piece with a thermometer.

55 min

Malaysian Chicken

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Air jagungSweet corn drink

Night markets in Selangor and Perak sell air jagung in tall cups, a pale-yellow, lightly sweet drink made from fresh corn cooked with pandan and blended smooth; some stalls stir in evaporated milk, but the plain version is vegan and very refreshing. It tastes like the milk from the bottom of a bowl of sweetcorn, with a grassy pandan note. Chef's tip: skipping the sieve is a common short cut that leaves the drink gritty with husk; strain it well, pressing on the pulp.

25 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Kuih bakarBaked pandan coconut cake

Kelantan and Terengganu bake kuih bakar in heavy brass flower moulds over charcoal, and in Kota Bharu's markets you buy it by the wedge, green inside with a browned, sesame-flecked top. It sits between a custard and a cake: eggs, thick coconut milk and pandan juice set with a little flour into a dense, moist crumb. It is a favourite for breaking the fast during Ramadan. This version uses a 20 cm round tin in a home oven and plain wheat flour, as the east coast does. Chef's tip: pulling it out too early is the classic slip; the centre should feel firm and a skewer come out clean, or it sinks into a wet middle.

75 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Roti tisuPaper-thin crisp flatbread

Late at night in Kuala Lumpur's 24-hour mamak restaurants, someone at the next table will order roti tisu and a towering golden cone arrives, as tall as a teh tarik glass, brushed with butter and sugar. The dough is the same as roti canai, but stretched on the oiled counter until you can read a newspaper through it, then griddled into a single crisp sheet. Kids break it from the top down; adults dip it in dhal. It takes practice, so expect the first one or two to tear. Chef's tip: the dough must rest at least 6 hours, better overnight, in plenty of oil; rushed dough snaps back and tears instead of stretching thin.

45 min

Malaysian Snacks & Starters

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Kuih kociSticky rice and coconut parcels

Kuih koci are the little banana-leaf pyramids stacked on Malay kuih stalls at teatime and on trays at kenduri feasts in Kedah, Perak and Melaka. You unwrap the leaf to find a soft, chewy dough of glutinous rice flour around a dark, sticky filling of fresh coconut cooked with gula Melaka. Some cooks colour half the dough blue with butterfly pea or green with pandan; this one keeps it plain white. Chef's tip: a filling that is too wet seeps through the dough and makes it collapse, so cook the coconut until it is dry enough to roll into balls.

75 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Kuih lopesSticky rice triangles with coconut

Kuih lopes turn up at Malay breakfast stalls and Ramadan bazaars, especially in Perak and Selangor: dense triangles of soft-cooked glutinous rice rolled in white grated coconut, then flooded with thick gula Melaka syrup at the moment of serving. Cooking the rice wrapped tightly in pandan leaves or foil for a long time is what fuses the grains into one chewy slab. The contrast of salty coconut, smoky syrup and plain rice is the point. Chef's tip: don't skimp on the boiling time; under-cooked lopes stay grainy and fall apart when cut.

90 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Air katiraBasil seed and gum drink

Air katira comes out at Kelantan's Ramadan bazaars in Kota Bharu, sold in bags of milky drink full of soft, jelly-like katira gum and speckled basil seeds, often with slivers of date. Katira is tragacanth gum, soaked overnight until it swells into translucent, wobbly crystals; it is believed to cool the body after a day of fasting. Find it at Indian or Middle Eastern grocers as 'gond katira'. Chef's tip: not soaking the katira long enough is the usual mistake; hard centres crunch unpleasantly, so give it at least 8 hours in plenty of water.

25 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Air mata kucingLongan and winter melon drink

Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown has a stall that has sold little else for decades, and on a hot afternoon the queue for its iced air mata kucing, 'cat's eye water', stretches down the lane. The 'cat's eyes' are dried longan, simmered with monk fruit, candied winter melon and rock sugar into a sweet, smoky, caramel-like brew that Chinese Malaysians drink to cool the body. Look for the dried ingredients in Chinese grocers. Chef's tip: boiling hard for too long makes it bitter from the monk fruit shell; keep it at a gentle simmer.

45 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Lompat tikamLayered pandan and coconut sweet

Kota Bharu and Kuala Terengganu Ramadan stalls ladle lompat tikam into plastic bags or cups for the walk home before buka puasa: a pool of dark gula Melaka syrup, chewy strips of green pandan dough, soft glutinous rice and a lid of salted coconut cream. The name means roughly 'jump and stab', and nobody agrees why. It is three small jobs that come together in a glass, so make the parts ahead. Chef's tip: a thin, runny coconut layer is the common disappointment; cook it until it is thick and spoonable so it sits on top instead of sinking into the syrup.

120 min

Malaysian Desserts

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Teh O ais limauIced black tea with lime

In kopitiam shorthand, 'teh' is tea with milk, 'O' means no milk, 'ais' is iced and 'limau' adds lime, so this is the order Malaysians shout across the counter on a sticky afternoon in Penang or Kuala Lumpur. Strong, sweetened black tea is cooled over ice and squeezed with lime until it tastes like a sharper, less perfumed iced lemon tea. It goes with fried noodles and roti. Chef's tip: pouring hot tea straight onto a glass of ice dilutes it into weak tea; brew it double strength, or chill it first.

10 min

Malaysian Drinks

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Cucur udangPrawn fritters

Cucur udang come straight from the wok at roadside stalls across Malaysia in the late afternoon, sold in paper bags with a tub of sweet chilli sauce, and they are one of the busiest items at Ramadan bazaars. Each fritter is a craggy, crunchy cluster of batter, bean sprouts and chives with a whole prawn pressed on top. A mix of plain and rice flour keeps them crisp for longer. Chef's tip: overcrowding the wok drops the oil temperature and gives greasy, pale fritters; fry no more than four or five at a time.

40 min

Malaysian Snacks & Starters

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Kuih bahuluMini egg sponge cakes

In the week before Hari Raya, kitchens across the Malay peninsula smell of warm egg sponge as bahulu come out of their brass flower and goldfish moulds by the dozen, stored in airtight jars for visiting guests. The outside is thin and crisp, the inside light and dry, a little like a madeleine without butter. Eggs, sugar and flour are all it takes, plus patience with the whisk. Chef's tip: under-whisking is the usual mistake; beat the eggs and sugar until they fall in a thick ribbon that sits on the surface for 3 seconds, or the bahulu bake flat and dense.

60 min

Malaysian Baking

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Nasi goreng kampungVillage fried rice

Kampung means village, and this is the fried rice of Malay countryside kitchens and roadside warung: hot with pounded bird's-eye chillies, savoury from toasted belacan shrimp paste and crisp ikan bilis (dried anchovies), and green with water spinach. It is cooked fast and eaten for lunch with a runny fried egg on top. Chef's tip: adding the anchovies with the rice makes them soggy; fry them crisp first, take half out and scatter them on at the end.

25 min

Malaysian Rice & Grains

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Serunding dagingSpiced beef coconut floss

On the first morning of Hari Raya, Malay families across the peninsula set out serunding daging beside lemang (rice cooked in bamboo) and ketupat, and jars of it are sent to relatives who couldn't come home. Beef is simmered tender, shredded into fine threads and slowly dry-fried with a lemongrass and chilli paste and grated coconut until it is fluffy, dark and almost crisp. It keeps for weeks and is wonderful sprinkled over plain rice. Chef's tip: turning up the heat to speed things up scorches the coconut and makes it bitter; it needs low heat and constant stirring for the full hour.

180 min

Malaysian Meat

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Bubur lambukSpiced beef rice porridge

Every afternoon in Ramadan, volunteers at Masjid Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur stir bubur lambuk in cauldrons the size of bathtubs and hand out thousands of packets to whoever queues before iftar. The porridge is fragrant with star anise, cinnamon and cloves, made rich with minced beef and a splash of coconut milk, and finished with fried shallots and herbs. At home it makes a gentle, warming one-pot meal. A vegetable and sweet-potato version works well for vegetarians. Chef's tip: walking away from the pot is the usual mistake; porridge catches on the bottom, so stir often and keep the heat low once it thickens.

90 min

Malaysian Rice & Grains

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Ayam percikGrilled chicken in coconut sauce

Along the roads into Kota Bharu, and at every Kelantan Ramadan bazaar, chicken legs flattened between bamboo sticks sizzle over long charcoal troughs while the cook splashes them again and again with a red-gold coconut sauce. 'Percik' means splashed, and that basting builds a sticky, slightly charred, sweet-spicy crust over juicy meat. At home a hot grill, barbecue or griddle pan does it. Chef's tip: basting from the start burns the coconut sauce black before the chicken is cooked; grill until almost done, then baste in the last 10 minutes.

75 min

Malaysian Chicken

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