KAK SITY : ASSAM PEDAS MALAYSIA
The mainstay of every MALAY MEAL is a generous helping of RICE accompanied by selection of LAUK or dishes including meat, poultry, fish, VEGETABLES including ULAM and SAMBAL
The Malaysian gastronomic heritage goes back since the commercial supremacy of the Malay Empire when MELAKA was established as one of the world’s great trading centre in the 15th century.
An Almagation of cultures: The inter-marriage of malay women with some traders from Indonesia, India, Middle East and China; thus developed a life style, customs, dressing, and foods uniquely their own
Variety: is the Spice in Traditional Malay Cooking Styles
Many spices and ingredients essential in Traditional Malay cooking styles were introduced by the Indians and Arabs such as cardamom or buah pelaga, pepper or lada hitam, and ginger or halia. The Nyonya (descendents of the sino-malay marriages also known as straits Chinese or Peranakan) basic essentials in cooking are chillies, lemon grass or serai , galangal or lengkuas, coconut milk or santan, lime as well as palm sugar or gula melaka and screwpine or daun pandan.
Not every spiced dish is a CURRY and curry is not just one dish. Each distinctly different according to the spices and herbs used in varying combinations. Spices, imaginatively used, enhance the flavor of the main ingredient, are the most important features of traditional malay foods. Hot or mild, pungent or bland, there is something to suit every palate. While cardamom or buah pelage and cloves or cengkih will do wonders for meat, fenugreek or halba will be all important when come to fish.
The basic pattern of malay cooking lies in the preparation of wet and dry spices used to flovour the dish. The wet spices include shallots or bawang, ginger or halia, garlic or bawang putih, chillies fresh or dried, turmeric are usually pounded in mortar and pestle or lesung batu.
” It is believed that the rhythm of the pounding of the “lesong batu” can tell whether the person is an experienced cook ornot. This was the measure used by match makers in the old days. “
The dry spices are coriander or ketumbar, Cummins or jintan putih, aniseed or jintan manis, cloves or cengkih, cinnamon or kulit kayu manis, cardamom or buah pelaga.