Nomadic Space 流浪空間

(Please scroll down for English translation)

本文的用意並不是美食指南，不會推薦任何指定餐廳，如果你讀完反而覺得更糊塗的話那就對了，因為馬來西亞的美食就是這麼多元而一言難盡。馬來西亞的美食反映出其多元文化組成。三大族群分別為：馬來人、華人、印度人，但食物的派系卻更多，還有娘惹料理、媽媽檔和葡式料理。

馬來料理用很多的椰漿和東南亞當地香料入菜，例如香蘭葉。因為馬來人信奉伊斯蘭教，馬來料理一律都是清真食品。以椰漿飯為代表，白飯用椰漿和香蘭葉煮的蓬鬆香甜，配上炸的脆脆的花生小魚乾、參峇辣椒醬、蛋和小黃瓜，就是最棒的早餐。椰漿飯的經典絕配是仁當雞！仁當是一種咖哩，把雞肉在裡面燉煮到湯汁收乾，軟嫩多汁的雞肉外面裹著濃到不行的咖哩，會讓人一口接著一口，不小心就吃掉一大碗椰漿飯！有一位馬來裔的參賽者在英國Master Chef烹飪比賽裡做了這道菜，英國的評審主廚有眼不識泰山，居然講出超扯的評語：「雞肉的皮居然不脆，這個根本不能吃。」被網友罵翻，仁當雞又不是肯德基，皮會脆才奇怪呢！如果沒有時間去吃椰漿飯專賣店的話，每天早上都可以在街頭看到馬來婦女販售椰漿飯，可以去跟他們買一包試試看，他們會把椰漿飯和小菜用香蘭葉包起來，是最方便的早餐外帶包！

華人料裡是台灣人吃起來最習慣的美食，華人飲食幾乎沒有忌諱，雞羊豬牛內臟都吃的到。燒鴨、叉燒飯就跟台灣的便當差不多，海南雞飯也很難踩到雷，但炒粿條和肉骨茶就會差很多了，好的炒粿條會黑嘛嘛的很醜，但是味道超級好，大鍋翻炒讓粿條均勻的和醬料配菜炒在一起，帶一點微微的焦香，這才是最完美的狀態，技術不好的話炒粿條很容易黏在鍋子上燒焦，他們只能多加很多醬汁讓粿條不要黏住，吃起來濕濕軟軟的就不及格了。肉骨茶的靈魂就是湯頭，饕客第一件事一定是先拿起湯匙喝一口，沉思三秒之後嚴肅的宣布：「湯頭還可以。」肉骨茶本身就有分很多派別，有蒜頭為主的也有其他中藥材為主的，當地人如果家裡要煮的話是可以到中藥行去買肉骨茶專用藥材包的，類似台灣人「滷包」的概念。雖然說大排檔通常都會有肉骨茶的檔口，但如果時間夠的話，還是建議去肉骨茶專賣店吃一頓完整的肉骨茶大餐。

印度裔人口雖然是少數族群但卻貢獻非常豐富的美食料理，你可以在印度寺廟附近的街頭買到好吃的咖哩餃，走一圈小印度去買甜死人不償命的糕點，也可以去吃一頓澎湃的香蕉葉大餐！為了服務吃素的印度教信徒，香蕉葉預設都是全素套餐，要吃葷食再另外加點。坐定之後，每個人鋪上一張香蕉葉，豪邁的給兩大瓢白飯，然後是無數的配菜跟咖哩湯汁。每一家香蕉葉餐廳都有不同的菜色，但是基本配備有：炸蔬菜、炸辣椒、咖哩菜，淋在飯上的咖哩湯汁，還有幫助緩解辣度的涼拌小黃瓜，另外也會附一些抓餅，有時候會附一小杯湯或一小顆甜糕。正港的吃法是用手把菜、飯、湯汁混均勻之後抓起來吃，但是我試過一次，覺得難度有一點高，飯粒老是從指縫溜走，所以後來還是乖乖用湯匙比較方便。華人很少那些香料入菜，所以第一次吃會不習慣是很正常的，請不要直接就認定是印度餐廳不乾淨，給腸胃一個機會習慣不同香料的飲食文化，多吃幾次就會習慣了！香蕉葉餐廳很適合聚餐，因為每個人都是吃一樣的香蕉葉套餐，點餐沒有選擇障礙，結帳也不需要算半天，而且絕對吃的飽！

娘惹菜和媽媽檔(Mamak)是比較特別的飲食文化，可以說是外來文化在馬來半島落地生根後撞擊出的獨特產物。前者融合華人和馬來人的飲食文化，後者則是到了當地皈依伊斯蘭教的印度飲食文化(跟本來就來自印度的穆斯林不一樣)。葡式料理則是受到葡萄牙文化影響而發展出來的飲食文化。

關於峇峇娘惹的由來有很多種說法，簡單來說就是從明朝起開始有華人從中國移民到馬來半島，他們與當地人婚娶之後的混血後代就是峇峇娘惹，峇峇是男性，娘惹是女性。傳統上煮飯是女性的工作，所以他們的食物就稱為「娘惹菜」。跟Mamak族群不同的是，峇峇娘惹並沒有皈依伊斯蘭教，他們大多保持華人的祭祖等習俗，飲食上也可以食用豬肉，但是融合當地的食材烹飪出來別有一番風味的美食。對我來說，娘惹菜總有一種似曾相識的奇妙感，烹煮方式跟台灣菜非常像，只是食材不太一樣！要吃最正港的娘惹菜得去馬六甲，大部分的人會從吉隆坡去當天來回，但我覺得至少要住一晚時間比較充裕，這樣才可以吃的到更多東西！另外，現今的馬來西亞法律規定非穆斯林的人一定要皈依伊斯蘭教才可以和馬來人通婚，所以如今真正的峇峇娘惹已經非常非常稀少了，就算真的有幸認識峇峇娘惹也不必指望他們推薦好吃的娘惹餐廳，因為他們會說：「我回家吃就好啦！」

媽媽檔是馬來西亞的宵夜首選，媽媽檔要不是從傍晚營業到隔天早晨，就是24小時不休息，菜單上什麼都有什麼都賣什麼都不奇怪，讓你從早餐午餐晚餐一路吃到消夜都沒有問題。Mamak是南印度人移民到馬來西亞後融入當地並皈依伊斯蘭教而發展出的獨特族群，但他們不等於印度的穆斯林，他們發展出來的飲食習慣也未必跟印度的印度料理一樣，印度人到媽媽檔也未必能用老家的方式跟馬來西亞印度人點到想吃的菜，因為菜名可能變得不一樣。例如印度的奶茶是用鮮奶去煮混合了多種辛香料的茶，沒有加水，小小一杯就很夠份量；他們把這種奶茶帶到馬來西亞後，發現當地人對這些辛香料接受度不高，慢慢的改良之後就變成了用煉乳加紅茶的做法，而且，他們還發明了超級酷炫的特技，用兩個小鍋子或杯子把茶倒來倒去，一方面透過撞擊的方式讓茶跟煉乳充分混合，同時也讓茶稍稍降溫，而這種動輒拉的老遠的特技就讓這種茶被稱為teh tarik，teh是茶的意思，tarik是「拉」的馬來文，加起來就是華人所說的「印度拉茶」。所以馬來西亞的超市只找的到teh tarik，沒有masala chai。

葡式料理是當初葡萄牙人殖民時留下的文化遺產之一，就像峇峇娘惹，葡萄牙人在馬來西亞的後代現在已經非常稀少，就算有也只是承繼很多代以前的葡萄牙血統，外表上也因為混血而完全看不出來有白人的血統，但是他們通常都會有葡萄牙文的姓氏，名字則是以天主教聖人為名。他們傳統上都是漁夫，以住在馬六甲一代為主，所以最出名最道地的馬來西亞葡式料理也是要去馬六甲才吃的到(再次強調，馬六甲真的值得住一晚慢慢品味，因為一天真的吃不完！)。我目前還沒有認識任何的馬來西亞土生葡人，所以沒有第一手的資料，只有吃過一道「葡式烤魚」，把魚醃上香辣的醬料之後，用香蘭葉和鋁箔包起來，烤出來的魚香辣多汁，帶有香蘭葉的味道。

馬來西亞的多元種族歷史實在太久遠了，互相影響融合的程度到現在連很多馬來西亞人都會搞不清楚哪道菜原本是出自於哪個種族的，因為大家都會一起吃啊！馬來人也可以賣無豬油無豬肉的清真版本炒粿條，華人也可以把椰漿飯做出名聲，就算不是娘惹開的餐廳也可以用「娘惹」當作招牌菜的代名詞，我還有見過餐廳賣「峇峇叻沙、娘惹叻沙」結果這兩個叻沙跟峇峇娘惹根本沒有關係！只是用兩個名字分別代表咖哩和亞參湯。聽起來很複雜不過其實很簡單，反正到馬來西亞不用想太多，吃就對了！

This article does not mean to serve as a food guide or to recommend any specific restaurant. If you find yourself more confused after reading this, then I must did it right because that’s just how diverse and complex the food in Malaysia is. The food of Malaysia reflects its diverse cultural population. The three major ethnic groups are Malay, Chinese and Indian. But the category of food is more than that. There are still Nyonya cuisines, Mamak stalls and Portuguese food.

Malay people use lots of coconut milk and local South-East Asian herbs to cook, such as pandan leaves. Because of their Islamic believes, all Malay cuisines are halal food. The signature dish is Nasi Lemak. The rice is cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaf until it’s nice and fluffy and fragrant. Served with crispy fried peanuts and anchovies, sambal chili paste, egg and cucumber, it makes the best breakfast ever. The most classic side dish for Nasi Lemak is Rendang Chicken. Rendang is a type of curry. The dish is cooked until the curry is almost dried and the chicken is tender. The chicken is juicy inside and coated in amazingly rich curry. You’ll finish a huge amount of rice with it easily! There was a Malaysian chef in Master Chef UK. She made this dish and the British judge made a ridiculously non-sense comment, “The skin is not crispy. The chicken cannot be eaten.” This went viral on the Internet. Rendang chicken is not KFC. It’d be wrong if the skin is crispy! If you don’t have time to visit Nasi Lemak restaurants, you can find Malay ladies selling it on their stalls. They wrap the rice with the sides in pandan leaf and together, it’s the best breakfast to go!

Chinese cuisine is the easiest option for Taiwanese people. Chinese people don’t really have any taboo on food. We eat anything from chicken, lamb, pork, beef to animal organs. Roast duck, Char Siew and roast pork rice is pretty much like that in Taiwan. It’s also hard to find bad Hainanese chicken rice. But the quality really varies when it comes to Char Kway Teow and Bak Kut Teh. A good Char Kway Teow usually comes in a very ugly presentation. It’s just dark you can’t see anything in detail. But the taste is super good. The flat rice-noodle would be fried in the wok with sauce and sides fried to a degree that it comes slightly caramelised. Yes, slightly caramelised is the best way to have it. However, it’s very easy to have the noodle being stuck and burned in the wok. So the less skillful stalls would add extra sauce to keep it from sticky. But the whole thing would turn out to be too soggy. For Bak Kut Teh, the soul is in the broth. A real foodie would first spoon a bit of broth and tastes quietly for 3 seconds before making the grand comment, “The broth is decent.” Bak Kut Teh itself has many different styles. Some are made with garlic base some are with other types of herbs. Local people would go to Chinese medicine pharmacies to purchase herbal packages specifically designed for Bak Kut Teh. Similar to our “marinate package” in Taiwan. It’s not hard to find stalls selling Bak Kut Teh in food courts but I’d suggest finding a spcecialised Bak Kut Teh restaurant for a more complete experience if time permits.

Indian population is a minority in Malaysia but make a huge contribution on its rich culture of food. You can find delicious curry puff on the street by an Indian temple or taste some unbelievably sweet desserts from bakeries at Little India. Or, you can also try a hearty banana leaf meal! To serve the Hindu community, banana leaf by default is always pure vegetarian. Non-vegie dishes can be ordered as an extra side dish. As you sit down, you’ll get a piece of banana leaf on the table and 2 large spoons of hearty rice. And then you get countless of side dishes and curry sauce. Each and every banana leaf restaurant has its own dishes but the basic combinations are: friend vegie, friend hot chili, curry veg, curry toppings for the rice and cucumber salad to ease the spiciness. The set comes with some bread or crackers. Some would come with a small cup of soup or a little piece of cake. The authentic way is to use your hand mixing all the sauces, dishes and rice together and eat with your hand. But I tried once ad kind of struggled since the rice just slipped through my fingers… Easier with a spoon. Chinese people cook with these types of spices so it’s perfectly normal if you don’t feel so used to it at first. Please don’t directly blame the Indian restaurant for serving food not clean. Give your stomach a chance to embrace a different type of spicy food culture. You’ll get used to it one day! Banana leaf restaurant is very suitable for parties because everyone gets the same set of banana leaf. No need to struggle to order or split the bill, and, it’s definitely enough to feed everyone!

Nyonya cuisine and Mamak stalls are unique food cultures. They are both created by migrants who blend into Malaysia Peninsula. The former is a mix of Chinese and Malay food. The latter is the food of Indian community who embrace Islam in Malaysia (not exactly same as Indian Muslim). Portuguese cuisine is local food with Portuguese influence.

There are many theories about the origin of Baba Nyonya. Basically, early Chinese migrants from Ming Dynasty came to the Peninsula and married local Malays, their descendants are called, Baba Nyonya. Baba are male and Nyonya are female. Since cooking was traditionally a women’s job, their food is called, “Nyonya Cuisine”. Unlike the Mamak community, Baba Nyonya did not convert to Islam. They preserve Chinese traditions such as worship the ancestors and use pork in their food but with a local ingredients gave their cuisine a unique flavour. Nyonya cuisine always gives me a sense of déjà vu. The cooking methods are very similar to Taiwanese food but using different ingredients! To have the most authentic Nyonya food, you have to go to Melaka. Most of the people take a day trip from Kuala Lumpur but I think it’s better to stay at least overnight so that you can get to try more food! Another thing to note is that now in Malaysia, a non-Muslim cannot marry a Malay person without converting to Islam. So it makes the real Baba Nyonya incredibly rare in the society now. Even if you are so lucky to meet Baba Nyonya people, they probably can’t help too much in recommending good Nyonya restaurants because they’d say, “I just eat at home!”

Mamak stall is the best place for late night supper in Malaysia. Mamak stalls either run from evening to the next morning or just run 24/7. You can find anything on the menu. Keep you full and satisfied from breakfast, lunch, dinner to late night supper. Mamak is a unique community of Southern Indian migrants who blend into Malaysia and embrace Islam. They are not the Muslim community in India and their food is not exactly the same as Indian cuisine in India. If Indian people from India try to order in Mamak stalls with the way they do in India, they probably won’t get the food expected because the menu is different. For instance, masala chai in India use fresh milk to cook tea mixed with multiple spices without added water. The milk tea is very rich just in a small cup of it. When Indian people introduced this to Malaysia, they notice that local people weren’t that used to the spices so they alter the drink until today the recipe of making black tea with condensed milk. Also, they created a fancy way to pour tea with 2 pots or cups. This can help the tea to fully mix with condensed milk and in the same time slightly cool down the hot drink. The way they pull the tea makes it called “Teh Tarik”. Teh means tea and Tarik means “pull” in Malay, together as “Indian pulled tea”. That’s why you’ll only find Teh Tarik in supermarkets there but no Masala Chai.

Portuguese cuisine is part of the heritage left by the Colonial times. Just like Baba Nyonya, the descendants of the Portuguese settlers are also incredibly rare in today’s Malaysia. After many, many generations of integration with different ethnic groups, their identity can hardly be seen by appearance. But they usually have Portuguese surnames and named after Catholic saints. They traditionally work as fishermen and live at the area near Melaka which is where you would find the best Malaysian Portuguese food (again, Melaka is definitely worth an overnight stay to try all the food!). So far I haven’t met anyone with Portuguese blood in Malaysia yet so can’t tell much about them. The only dish I had is “Portuguese grilled fish”. The fish is wrapped in pandan leaf and foil with spicy sauce. The fish comes out spicy, juicy and full of the fragrant of pandan leaf.

Malaysia’s dynamic culture is developed from such a long time of history. Everything is so mixed up that even Malaysia people themselves are confused of which dish is originally from which ethnic group because they all eat together! Even Malays can sell Char Kuay Teow in Halal version as long as there’s no pork or lard; Chinese can make Nasi Lemak so good that earns its own reputation as well. Even restaurants that are not opened by Nyonyas can use “Nyonya” as the name for their signature dishes. I’ve seen a restaurant that sell “Baba Laksa, Nyonya Laksa” and the 2 Laksas have nothing to do with Baba Nyonya! They just use the names to differentiate curry base and assam base. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry, the rule is simple when it comes to food in Malaysia: Eat and Enjoy!