The multi-racial Malaysian food..

FOOD! Glorious food! Those were my sentiments as I walked into a restaurant at Kg Baru, Kuala Lumpur..

Variety is the spice in Malay food. The traditional culinary style has been greatly influenced by the long-ago traders from neighboring countries, such as Indonesia, India, the Middle East, and China. Malay food is often described as spicy and flavorful as it utilizes a melting pot of spices and herbs.

Malaysia has many kinds of restaurants almost everywhere in the cities and towns. There are Malay Restaurants, Chinese restaurants, Indian Restaurants, Thai Restaurants and more. Eating out in Malaysia is a real gastronomic adventure. There is such a great variety; spicy Malay Food, a seemingly endless variety of Chinese food, exotic cuisine from North and South India, as well as Nyonya and Portuguese Food. Popular Malaysian dishes include satay, nasi lemak, rendang, roti canai, murtabak, laksa, chicken rice, and fried noodles. Western cuisine is also easily available. In addition, international fast food chains operate in major towns side by side with thousands of road side stalls and food bazaars.

• Malay Food : Nasi Lemak,Satay

Rice is the staple diet in any Malay meal. It is often served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper too. Most meals are eaten by using your fingers, and eating utensils are kept to a minimum. All dishes are served at the same time, accompanied by a refreshing drink. Fish is popular in Malay cooking, as with other seafood such as shrimps and cuttlefish. Beef and mutton are very popular choices but never pork as it is against their religious beliefs to eat pork. The other popular white meat is chicken.The nasi lemak, which is rice cooked in coconut milk and flavored with cloves and pandan leaves, is an all time favorite... The traditional culinary style has been greatly influenced by the long-ago traders from neighboring countries. Malay food is often described as spicy and flavorful...

• Indian Food : Roti Canai,Chapatis

Roti Canai is a kind of pancake prepared with wheat flour, eggs, ghee, or butter. It is eaten with meat or chicken curry. Best eaten hot, it is a perennial favorite served at most roadside stalls.

As well as rice, a number of different styles of unleavened, wheat-flour bread are eaten with Indian cuisine. Chutneys, pickles, and relishes are always served to complement and balance the main dishes.

• Chinese Food : Dim Sum,Mushrooms

The Dim Sum has more than 30 items and includes delights such as the baked egg custard, pan-fried carrot cake, baked cake with sausages and turkey ham, steamed seafood dumplings with shark's fin, steamed soft noodles with shrimps, steamed crabsticks stuffed with fish paste, deep-fried dumplings with salted eggs and red bean paste, and very promising-sounding steamed fresh super prawn dumplings.

Freshly cooked mushroom dishes include the mouthwatering grilled shitake mushrooms with chrysterium and special sauce, teapot soup with pine mushrooms, and the succulent grilled shimeji mushrooms