Malaysia truly became a melting point of cultures with the arrival of the Chinese during the early days of the Malacca Sultanate and the tin rush which brought junk loads of immigrants from different provinces of China with their own distinct languages and traditions, food and eating habits. There were the Hokkiens, Hakkas, Teochews, Foo Chows and the Hainanese, whose cuisines blended in well with the already existing potpourri.
Malaysian Chinese food today has been revolutionised beyond recognition, due to the variety of races in this country. The most popular Chinese food is Cantonese. A Chinese culinary experience can be anything from a roadside stall for a simple bowl of noodles to a 10-course banquet at a sophisticated restaurant. Rice noodles come in various shapes – thin, thick, flat and colours of white or egg yellow. These can be enjoyed soaked in a fine coconut-milk sauce, soya sauce, or drowned in a combination of prawn or chicken stock. Noodles can also be fried in a variety of ways and with a variety of ingredients. Char (which means fried) kuay teow, is a popular meal of flat noodles with loads of garlic, bits of prawns, clams, fish cake, bean sprouts and chives and the entire meal is folded in a beaten egg.
Almost every Chinese coffee shop has a number of stalls serving chicken rice-either steamed or roasted chicken or pork served with rice cooked in stock; noodle stall-with a variety of noodles dry, or with soup or fried; chap fan-rice with a choice of different dishes; yong tau foo-fish cakes stuffed in okra or other vegetables.
Chinese banquet dining can be a culinary adventure. A hot and cold dish of hors d’oeuvre is normally served at the beginning. This is then followed by a soup, mainly shark’s fin, or a combination of hot and sour Szechuan soup. The exotic selection can continue with a wide choice of Peking duck, suckling pig, abalone and fish which is normally steamed. Dessert is normally fresh fruits or simple Chinese dumplings. Chinese chefs pride themselves upon dishing up seafood. Most fish is steamed and so are prawns. Crabs are cooked baked, steamed or fried with chillies.
The secret of Chinese cooking lies in the preparation. Almost everything is cooked in a wok and stir-fried dishes are cooked over a high flame. Certain Chinese delicacies which are said to have aphrodisiac or rejuvenating qualities are always popular. Some swear that stir-fired frog’s legs in ginger, a bak kut the dish or even snake’s blood is a pick-me-up. Others attest that any dish containing a dash of ginseng will definitely help. Many others will swear that bird’s nest soup is an aphrodisiac, but whether true or not, the practice of collecting bird’s nest for generations now has depleted the swallow population in many of Sarawak’s caves.
With Cantonese food the more people you can muster for the meal the better, because dishes are traditionally shared so everyone will manage to sample the greatest variety. A corollary of this is that Cantonese food should be balance: traditionally, all foods are said to be either Yin (cooling) – like vegetables, most fruits and clear soup; or Yang (heaty) – like starchy foods and meat. A cooling food should be balance with a heaty food and too much of one it would not be good for you.
Far less familiar than the food from Canton are the cuisines from the north and the west of China – Szechuan, Shanghai and Peking. Szechuan food is the fiery food of China, where pepper and chili really get into the act. Where as to food from Canton are delicate and understated, in Szechuan food the flavors are strong and dramatic – garlic and chilies play their part in dishes like diced chicken and hot and sour soup.
On a gastronomic tour of Malaysian Chinese cuisine, a steamboat dinner or a Sunday brunch of dim sum should be on the itinerary.
There are more than 30 varieties of dim sum at a good restaurant. These little snacks come in wooden tiffins which are placed in a large steamer. Some dim sum delicacies are fried or baked. All you have to do is to select those that look appetizing and these will be served with a sauce. Some of the popular dim sum portions are baked egg custard, carrot cake, shrimps, chicken legs and prawn dumplings.
A steamboat dinner is another unique culinary adventure. A variety of raw meats, fish and vegetables are put around a large stock pot on a gas burner. The trick is to put in whatever you fancy into the stock and wait for it to cook through or just slightly blanched. Special Chinese delicacies are also prepared during festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival or the Moon Cake Festival. The moon cakes have fillings of red bean or lotus seeds and perhaps an egg yolk if desired. Rice dumplings are also served during festivals such as the Lantern Festival.
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