The most appreciated thing if you volunteer with the locals. In return, they provide you with valuable advice, information and the best of local delicacies. They will recommend you what to order, where to go for a great dinner or what to buy in the local markets.
The basis of local cuisine is (as in most Asian countries) rice = NASI and noodles = MEE (supplemented with some sauce). Local cuisine was influenced by Malaysian, Chinese, and Indian cuisine, and they differ slightly depending on the area of flavor. Somewhere it’s sweeter, somewhere it´s hotter.
What the local cuisine needs
Rice, rice noodles, rice dumplings
Chicken, beef, and pork
Fish and seafood (calamari, shrimp, etc.)
Coconut and coconut milk
Fish sauce, hot curry and chili sauce, soy sauce
Chilli peppers
Lime and lemongrass
Gula Melaka (unrefined palm sugar)
What we tasted
ROTI CANAI – typical breakfast, the basic option can be described as a fried bread served with curry sauce. If you want extra, you can get egg, onion or sardines, and you will have an extra sauce with legumes.
NASI AYAM – Rice served with a piece of chicken. The food is again in several variants and if the whole name is written in the MENU as NASI GORENG AYAM – the change is that the rice is fried.
NASI LEMAK – the best-known food in Malaysia. This is a rice cooked in coconut milk served with cooked egg, cucumber, dried anchovies, peanuts, meat and a hot safflower sauce.
MEE GORENG – in literal translation, it is fried noodles in many ways, very similar to the Phad Thai.
SOTTO – Traditional soup with chicken, noodles, vegetables, nuts and several kinds of spices.
Night Market
A market where you get fresh fruit, vegetables, dinner, desserts, drinks, scarves, shoes etc …
The same stands that move to a different place each day. But the island is small so there is no problem go to the market every day of the week. There are no tables and chairs so you don´t stay here a long time. There is a lot of people and the best solution is to come up with a specific idea of buying, get it fast and get home to enjoy it.
Sweet pleasure
Thanks to the tropical climate we enjoy plenty of fruits such as bananas, papaya, pineapples, melon … but we also like to meet the local sweet specialties including fried banana, coconut-coated rice balls, rice mini cakes with green tea or an extra chocolate cake.
What we have learned
Ayam – Chicken / Daging – Beef / Ikan – Fish
Tellur – Eggs
Kelapa – Coconut
Nanas – Pineapple
Pisang – Banana
Home cooking
We prepare our breakfasts at home. I usually enjoy oatmeal with soy or coconut milk and fruit (sometimes with peanut butter), and Martin loves toast with peanut butter and banana. When we have a desire for change – pancakes are always sure!
As for lunch and dinner, we always have the chance to go for cheap and cooked food (rice or noodles). The bad thing is that the locals like frying meals and sometimes we want different tastes. Martin loves the taste of the local homemade burger, and I have apparently discovered culinary art in vegetable soups (just cut a few kinds of vegetables and cook) if I want the extra soup, I add rice, noodles or once in a while potatoes. It is incredible what I can cook with a limited amount of ingredients.
PS: One evening, we wanted to show that our Czech cuisine can be excellent too, so Martin prepared the potatoes pancakes and it was delicious!
