Malaysia Recs
+ 2 recipes (Chicken with Coconut Sprinkle & Spinach Rice)
Anyone that loves food needs to go to Malaysia - the melting pot of different cultures makes for the most delicious flavours, and also some of the most welcoming people.
I’ve only been twice - the first time was Christmas 2023 and then again earlier this year. It’s a place my parents love, I love, and luckily, Xien (from Mama Yu Chilli Oil) comes from… so I truly have the absolute best recs.
I’ve visited 3 different areas - Kuala Lumpur, Georgetown in Penang and Kuching, Sarawak on the Malaysian side of Borneo. All three regions have incredible food, some dishes I still actively talk and think about to this day.
My pins have been accumulating over 3 years, so there are many - I’ll share the absolute best and most memorable places, and if you’re ever in need of a pinned map, click below.
KUCHING, SARAWAK
Normally, I can’t rank my favourite places in order, but for Malaysia, the best meal I had and have been talking about consistently for 3 years is the salted egg crab from stall 25 at Topspot Food Court. Rosie Mackean posted about it when she went, and I can’t fault it. Slightly sweet, deeply savoury, perfectly fragrant… crab was cooked to perfection and with a bowl of rice and some midin (jungle fern) belacan - HEAVEN.
Kuching actually had some of the best food - on the way back from visiting the Orangutangs, we stopped over at Sin Lian Shin for a bowl of kolo mee, wontons and teh tarik made with gula apong, and it was truly sensational. Sarawak laksa was also my favourite out of all the regional varieties - we found a little cart in Chong Choon Cafe which was the most perfect start to the day (make sure you arrive early, they sell out quickly.)
GEORGETOWN, PENANG
A lot of people will know Georgetown since its very popular for tourism - back in 2023, around Christmas time, it wasn’t very busy, and I ate incredibly well. My favourite restaurant was Tek Sen - loved it so much my whole family as happy to wait ages in line 2x to dine in - my favourite dishes was the otak-otak, deep fried tofu with dried anchovy topping, assam tumis with sting ray. Don’t skip out on any of the stir-fried greens, they pack so much more flavour/texture than most greens you get in Europe. Other recs: Moh Teng Pheow Nyonya Koay - they have a large variety of kuih, both savoury and sweet (all delicious, my favourites: onde-onde, serimuka, pulut ayam, Kuih Bingka Ubi Kayu) they also make food as well that you can have there. Lastly, we stumbled upon a very busy and popular dim sum place that served their cheung fun with sambal- Tai tong has the famous dim sum carts that you don’t find in london </3. I ended up getting a bunch of dumplings, had no idea what most of them were but the experience was 10/10. Clasic siu mai was plump, cheung fun with prawn was some of the best ive had, slippery, freshly made and juicy af. You also can’t leave without getting the crispy, lacey wu gok.
KUALA LUMPUR
A very busy city and the capital of Malaysia- there are way too many places to eat here, which if you’re like me, you’ll most probably get decision fatigue. I don’t think you can go to KL and not make a pitstop at Village Park for nasi lemak - my fav, the nasi lemak ayam rendang (chicken rendang) with kedondong (ambarella) juice. From there you need to go to Sistars Kitchen for dessert and get a gorgeous Cendol to cool down.
If you want to taste a load of different Malay dishes, that are a little harder to find, Lubuk Bangku D Cabin Cafe is where you need to go - It’s perfect for different dietary preferences, but I would recommend going a little early as its a very popular place (for good reason). We managed to get our hands on the very last portions of assam pedas, some stir-fried wing beans, a greens curry as well as a beef curry (the beef was almost like jerky/biltong) - the flavours were melting on my tongue.
The perfect breakfast in Bukit Bintang is from Tony’s Noodles Cafe - you won’t find any signs, just a cart and a couple of tables to guide you. Tony is there with his mum dishing insanely delicious noodles, wontons and whatever dish of the day they have. You really can’t go wrong with any menu/off-menu items, my favourite char siu i’ve ever had came from here - he’s found someone that makes special char siu just for him. It’s juicy, still a little fatty and incredibly tender (i’ve never had char siu so well made before), the broth that the wontons come in is incredibly fragrant and made with a fish base. And if you’re there when he has crispy pork belly - get it! Both of them are super welcoming, and are happy to chat, so you’ll have a great time.
For the perfect snack/light lunch find your way to Restoran Moorgina - a Southern Indian place that makes the most perfect flakey, freshly laminated roti - the sambals you get with are seasoned to perfection, and theres a great array of dishes you can choose from to eat with. Leave space so you can finish with a roti kaya (coconut jam filled roti). Also a great place to go to if you’re with any vegetarians.
After that, make your way to Restoran Kan Brothers Ruby Dessert House to savour some sweet nutty porridge - black sesame, walnut, almond, peanut… It’s like a warm dessert soup (that’s good for you). My fav was the black sesame almond, if you like almondy flavours, you’ll love it, if not you can also get the walnut version with black sesame or any other combos you’d like.
If you’ve made it this far down, thank you for reading! If you use my pinned map or visit any of these places, please let me know how it went and I hope you loved them as much as I did. If I was able to influence you to put Malaysia on your wishlist of places to visit, I’ve done my job properly. This won’t be the last time I visit, I can’t wait to go again.
Slow-cooked Chicken with Coconut Sprinkle
Inspired by the chicken rendang from Village Park, I’ve taken inspo from the flavours to make this recipe - it uses the super simple dump and roast method where you add all the ingredients into the base of a dish, and top with the chicken. It makes for super juicy chicken, that braises and slurps up all the delicious flavours in the sauce, whilst the skin stays golden and crispy.
Notes:
If you can’t find lime leaves, omit and season the sauce with some lime zest.
If you can’t find tamarind concentrate, use tamarind puree or pulp. If you can’t find any tamarind products, season the sauce with lime juice.
Serves: 4-6
Prep/cook time: 65-75 minutes
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
350ml Coconut Milk
100ml Chicken Stock
3 Garlic Cloves, gently bashed
1 Lemongrass Stalk
4 Lime Leaves
½ tsp Ground Turmeric
5g Cinnamon Stick
3 Whole Cloves
1 Tbsp Black Peppercorn
1 Tsp White Peppercorn
15g Ginger, gently crushed
3 Pandan leaves, optional
4 Chicken Legs
Fish sauce, to taste
Tamarind Concentrate, to taste
For the Sprinkle:
30g Desiccated Coconut
20g Crispy Fried Onions
2 Red Birds Eye Chilli, optional, thinly sliced
1 Lime Leaf, finely minced
Method:
Preheat the oven to fan 220°C.
Add all the ingredients for the chicken, except for the chicken, fish sauce and tamarind into the base of a tray or oven-proof pan. Taste and season with salt.
Pat the chicken legs dry, season with salt and pepper. Place on top of the aromats and slide into the oven. Roast for 25 minutes, then turn the heat down to 170°C, cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and starting to fall off the bone. If at any point, the sauce is drying out too quickly, add a splash of water. Leave to rest once cooked for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place a frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the desiccated coconut and cook until golden and toasted, 3-6 minutes. Tip into a bowl to cool down and stir the fried onions, chilli and lime leaf through. Season with salt.
Once the chicken is cooked, transfer the legs to a tray and leave to rest. If you’d like a thicker sauce, place the pan onto medium-high heat and reduce until your desired consistency. Remove from the heat, taste and season with fish sauce and tamarind (see notes for substitutions).
Spoon the sauce over the chicken and scatter over the coconut sprinkle.
If you’d like to make the rice, here’s the recipe:
Spinach & Coconut Rice
Ingredients:
250g Jasmine Rice
50ml Coconut Milk
180ml Water
80g Spinach
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
5g Ginger, crushed
Method:
Wash the rice 3-4 times until the water isn’t as cloudy. Add it into a pot (that has a tight-fitting lid)
Add the coconut milk, water and spinach into a blender. Blend until completely smooth.
Add the ginger and garlic into the rice, pour the coconut milk mixture over the top and season with salt. Place over high heat, bring the mix to a boil, then cover with a lid. Turn the heat down to low and leave to cook, covered, for 12 minutes.
After 12 minutes, turn the heat off, and leave to steam for another 10 minutes (don’t uncover). Once done steaming, use a fork to fluff the rice.
If you make any of the recipes, or eat at one of my recommended places, let me know and send me pics!
My lord that cendol 😍
Amazing! Absolutely love how you wrote about Malaysia. It’s my birthplace — and I write about returning often after leaving at two. Nice to connect!! And the food is just the best, isn’t it?! 🫶🏼