Glossary

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a
Acar	Acars are a medley of pickled vegetables, with the more elaborate ones made in combination with a spicy paste. Fresh made acar is nice, but tastes even better after a few days when the flavours have fully developed. Perfect as a snack!

Ais Krim	Ice cream

Asam Jawa	Tamarind. Dried tamarind fruits are frequently used to prepare Malaysian dishes. They are often available in the form of a pulp which must be soaked in water, stirred, squeezed and strained to yield a sour yet flavoursome liquid.

Ayam	Chicken. Malaysian cuisine offers a lot of poultry dishes, all of them rich and aromatic.

b
Bakar	Roast

Belacan	Shrimp paste. It is a quintessential ingredient in Nonya and Malaysian food. It is available in blocks or in powder form.

Bawang Besar	Onions. An ingredient essential in Malaysian cuisine.

Bawang Putih	Garlic. Another essential ingredient in Malaysian recipe.

Bistik	Beef steak

Bubur	A dessert made with sweet potatoes, jam, sago pearls and coconut milk in pandan leaves

c
Campur	Mix. Very popular is the “Nasi Campur”. This traditional dish is basically a mix of meat (chicken, lamb or beef) and vegetables with rice: thereby the definition “Mixed Rice”. Really a creative as well as a balanced meal!

Canai	To knead, as a kneading bread.

Cendol	A drink made of jelly-like strands of dough and coconut milk.

d
Daging	Beef, meat

Daging kambing	Mutton

Daun Kari Pla	Curry leaves. Curry is a basic ingredient in Malaysian cuisine, to cook meat as well as fish. Every cook has his blend of spices and whether it contains more or less of one or the other ingredient is a matter of individual taste and culinary skill. However, the basic curry recipe contains the followings: coriander, aniseed, cumin, black or white pepper, chillies powder, turmeric, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon sticks.

g
Garam	Salt

Goreng	Fried; to fry. In Malaysian cuisine there are different ways of frying foods. You can shallow pan-frying or deep-frying.

Gula	Sugar. Palm sugar (gula Melaka or gula Java) is usually used in Malaysian cuisine.

Gula Melaka	Palm Sugar. It is often used in preparing desserts as well as other dishes.

h
Halia	Ginger. Fresh root ginger is quite different from powdered ginger and it is a basic ingredient in our cuisine.

Hari	Day

i
Ikan	Fish. In Malaysian recipe fish is cooked in different ways. Grilled, fried, or stuffed it provides a healthy as well as a tasty meal.

Ikan Bilis	Tiny salted and dried anchovies or whitebait, sometimes sold as ‘silver fish’. Frequently used to prepare tasty spicy meals such as “Anchovy Sambal” or “Spinach and anchovy soup”.

J
Jintan Putih	Cumin. Small seeds resembling unhusked rice grains, cumin has a liquorice, lemon-ginger flavour and a distinct scent. In Nonya cuisine, it is ground in the spice mixture for curry or stew.

k
Kagan	Beans

Kagan Bendi	Ladies finger. Cooked alone or with other foods. Vegetables in Malaysian cuisine.

Kangkong	Water-convolvulus. This vegetable of South Asian is a popular.

Kari	Curry. It is a basic ingredient in Malaysian cuisine. Every cook has his blend of spices and whether it contains more or less of one or the other ingredient is a matter of individual taste and skill. However, the basic curry recipe contains the followings: coriander, aniseed, cumin, black or white pepper, chillies powder, turmeric, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon sticks.

Kerabu	Salad. The variety of kerabus in Malaysian cuisine is extensive. The invariable ingredient for Nonya kerabu is sambal belachan, a ground paste of fresh red chillies and toasted dried shrimp paste. Yummy.

Keropok	Fish/Prawn crackers, very popular in Malaysian cuisine: perfect both as a starter or as a tasty crunchy snack at our Malaysian Bar.

Ketumbar	Coriander. Coriander seeds have a distinct aroma with a hint of lemon. In Nonya cooking, they are usually dry-roasted to intensify the flavours and pounded finely to use in curries and meat stews.

Kicap	Soya sauce. Two varieties, each different in consistency and flavour are normally available: light soya sauce and thick black soya sauce.

Kuay Teow	Rice noodles, flat.

Kobis	Cabbage

Kunyit	Turmeric. Sometimes used as substitute of saffron, it is a deep orange-coloured ginger root fundamental in flavouring meat and curries.

Kuih	Kuih are colourful Asian sweet cakes eaten at any time of the day, not necessarily as desserts at the end of the meal. They are popularly served for breakfast and afternoon tea and as snacks. The Malaysian kuih, that has come to be associated with nonyas, are many and varied.

Kunyit Kering	Saffron. Incredibly expensive stamens of the crocus plant, saffron comes in dark-red strands with a strong perfume. It is far superior to turmeric which is often used as a substitute.

l
Labu Merah	Pumpkin

Lada	Chillies. Ground from whole dried pods and the hottest of all peppery spices. They can be red (Lada merah) or green (Lada hijau). Both of them are very much part of Malaysian cuisine.

Lada Kering	Dried chillies. If dried chillies are specified in a recipe, they are normally soaked in warm water to soften prior to grinding.

Laksa	Rice noodles in a coconut curry soup. A street stalls food that is now a national dish. Variations of this are Singapore Laksa or Penang Laksa. A must when you visit Malaysia.

Lemak	Lemak, more than any other word in Nonya cuisine, is the catch all word that sums up taste, flavour and bouquet.

Lengkuas	Galangal. It is a hard woody straw coloured ginger. It lends its special aroma to curry, laksa and sambal.

Lobak Merah	Carrot

m
Masak	Cook, ripe

Mee	Noodles, yellow. Plenty of recipes are based on this type of noodles. Some examples: Nonya Lam Mee (Nonya Birthday Noodles), Mee Siam (Spacy Tangy Noodles).

Meehoon	Fine rice noodles.

n
Nasi	Rice. For sure. There are also plenty of dishes based on rice. Some examples: Nasi Ulam (Herbed rice), Nonya Fried Rice, Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice), Nasi Kunyit (Turmeric Rice).

Nenas	Pineapple

Nonya	The word 'Nonya' is a word for 'the woman of the house'; from the intermarriages of the 'Baba and Nonya', whereby Chinese male immigrants took on Malay wives. These wives tried to provide good home-cooked meals for their husbands, mix and match their local cuisines with that of their husbands; the creation of the 'Nonya cuisine' which is a 'home-style' cuisine. Basically it is the result of blending Chinese ingredients and wok cooking techniques with spices used by the Malay community. The food is tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal.

o
Otak Udang	Prawn paste

Otak-Otak	Malay fish specialty

p
Panggang	To roast; roasted

Pedas	Spicy Hot

Penang	It is a state in Malaysia, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. Well known for its cuisine.

Petai	Sataw Beans. Like bread beans but big beans.

Pisang	Banana. Banana leaves is one of the most indispensable leaves in Asian cooking. They are used to wrap all manner of meats and seafood for grilling.

Popiah	Rolls. There are many versions of this recipe. You can taste Vegetarian rolls as well as Spring rolls made with a mixture of meats, prawns and vegetables.

Pulut	Glutinous rice. There are some variants of this kind of rice. Pulut is white glutinous rice, Pulut hitam is black glutinous rice and Tepung Pulut is flour glutinous rice.

r
Rendang	Food slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices.

Roti	Bread. Roti canai (pronounced "chanai" not "kanai") is a very popular flatbread in Malaysia.

s
Sambal	Paste or sauce made by blending chili peppers. It can be made with fresh or dried chillies, or a combination of both. It can be served with salad or to cook vegetables and seafood.

Satay	Satay (pronounced as “Sate”) consists in chunks or slices of grilled meat served with various spicy seasonings, rice and peanuts sauce. It is one of the most typical dishes in Malaysian cuisine, also popular in many other Southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand. The recipe has many variations, depending on the meats and spices used.

Sayap	Wing. Fried or steamed chicken wings are very popular.

Sayur	Vegetable. Nonya cuisine that is famous for recipe with vegetables. They usually mix two worlds: the colour, texture and taste of the vegetables are preserved by employing Chinese quick stir-fry techniques while the use of the Malay sambal balachan provides spicy and pungent flavours.

Sayur Salad	Lettuce

Soohoon	Transparent vermicelli

Sos	Sauce

Sotong	Squid. Malaysian cuisine has many ways to cook squids. Some examples: Thai Stuffed Squid, Sweet Squids, Fried Small Squid in Pepper and Soy Sauce, Squid in Chilli oil.

Sup	Soup

t
Tahu	Tahu is a general Malay term for all types of Bean curd or Tofu (Firm Tofu, Soft Tofu and very soft tofu called Silken Tofu) a basic ingredient in Malaysian traditional cuisine.

Talam	Tray

Terung	Brinjal. They are cooked in various ways. Common cooking practices include baking, barbecuing, frying or pickling the fruits. They can also be pureed and flavored.

Timun	Cucumber

u
Ubi Kayu	Tapioca, an ingredient produced from pith of Metroxylon and other palms.

Ubi Kentang	Potatoes

Udang	Prawns. Normally raw or “green” prawns are used.

Ulam	Raw vegetable to be eaten with rice

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