Cuisines in Malaysia (Part II)

When we're talking about the races in Malaysia, what comes in our mind are usually the Malays, Chinese and Indians as they populate Malaysia most.

But bear in mind that there are other ethnic groups too like the Peranakan, Eurasian and Ethnic Borneo too

These ethnic group has their own significant dishes that reflects their culture.

Kiam Chai Boey the famous Peranakan dishes or named Stew Salted Vegetables

The Peranakan, Baba Nyonya and Straits Chinese are the terms used for the descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants to the Nusantara region and assimilated to the Nusantara custom.

They produce a unique mix of Chinese and Malay cooking style which originated from the inter-marriage between Chinese and Malay a long time ago.

The trademark of their cuisine are the use of spices and tangy roots with some classic Chinese ingredients.

Some of their well known dishes are Otak-otak , Perut Ikan , and Kiam Chai Boey.

Prawn Bastador that goes very well with nasi lemak

The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed European and Asian ancestry.

Believe it or not, there's over a twenty-nine thousand Eurasians that lives in Malaysia and the vast majority are those whom from the Portugese descendant.

Although their numbers are quite small, their significant dishe also gives unique taste to the Malaysian cuisine.

In Malaysia, their dishes has evolved from the Portugese taste to the Dutch and the British and has mixed of local ingredients like sambal belaca, chillies and acar. 

Among the famous Eurasian dishes are Devil Curry Chicken, Tuna Mornay and Prawn Bostador.

Manok Pansuh , the chicken that was cooked in bamboo.

Not to forget, there is also the ethnic Borneo group in Malaysia .

There are currently 32 officialy recognized etnic group in Malaysia and some of the well known are the Kadazan-Dusun,Dayak and Iban.

What makes their food unique are they are able to turn wild plants, herbs and fruit into culinary delights with abundance of seafood and fresh water fish.

Their famous dishes are the Jaruk which is wild boar or fish cooked in bamboo shoots, Hinava the fermented seafood and Manok Panosh which is the mix of chicken, lemongrass and mushroom and tapioca leaves in bamboo shoots.