Joanna James
Kuala Lumpur is undoubtedly one of the foodie capitals of the world. The streets are laden with pleasingly hued fruit, and hawker stalls emanate mouth watering aromas. If you’re on a tour of Malaysia, street food in Kuala Lumpur is a must try delight. Let’s talk about some of the best street food dishes in Kuala Lumpur.
This is unofficially the country’s national dish. So much so that even restaurants at serviced apartments like the Domitys Bangsar Kuala Lumpur serve it. The apartments are incidentally as Kuala Lumpur Senior Citizen Living as well. Back to Nasi Lemak – it is a rice dish (nasi) cooked in coconut cream and presented with hard-boiled eggs, peanuts, fried anchovies and a spicy shrimp paste. The fancier versions even come with fried chicken and sometimes chicken rendang.
Originally called sate, these kebab-like delights are just seasoned meat on a stick. The magic is in the way it is prepared. They rub the meat with turmeric powder and grill the tasty morsels over a fire to get that smoky flavour. Each hawker stall sells their stay with a different dipping sauce. Sometimes it is a peanut chutney with a tang, and at other times something entirely different. Try chicken, beef or lamb satay or al at once.
Originally a Chinese dish, char kuey teow has taken on Malaysian flavours on the streets of Kuala Lumpur. The flat rice noodles are stir-fried with eggs, cockles, shrimp and sprouts to make a scrumptious dish. Some chefs add Chinese sausages to the mix. You can get it with a spicy, chilli sauce to eat like a true Malaysian.
A quintessentially Malaysian dish, Rojak is a fresh, unusual salad. The ingredients include chunks of pineapple, cool cucumbers, green mango and of course jicama. They serve the salad with dough fritters laced in sticky black sauce. Add a handful of crushed peanuts and sweet shrimp paste, this healthy street food will leave you craving a lot more.
Pork noodles are a regular breakfast dish in the streets of Kuala Lumpur. Dried noodles are served with some minced pork and sausages in a black sauce along with a pork meatball soup p the side. You can also get a dipping dish of ‘chilli padi’ with your pork noodles. You can try this throughout the day, even though it is essentially a breakfast dish for many.
A Cantonese dish – popular in Kuala Lumpur, try wantan mee is noodles tossed in soy sauce. To this dish, you add your own toppings from prawns, pork to squid.
A favourite snack, chee cheong fun is a snack. These rice noodle rolls are prepared with shrimp, beef and veggies. Some might even call it an alternative to dim sum. You enjoy it with chilli sauce.
Malaysians cool off with cendol. It is a bowl of shaved ice sprinkled generously with pandan jelly, palm sugar, coconut cream and rice noodles. This is the classic combination. But there are other inspired versions available including red bean, sweet corn and ‘pulut’ (glutinous rice).
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
A travel writer who has a passion for fashion and a deep interest in admiring new and exotic attractions around the world.
