Malaysian Munching Trivia Quiz

Answer: Coconut milk or cream

Nasi lemak (whose name means oily rice) is prepared by soaking rice in coconut milk or cream (the difference between these being their thickness) before it is steamed. Pandan leaves are usually added - they provide the same fragrance as that found in jasmine rice, due to the presence of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline - to give the dish its traditional scent and flavour.

The rice is then served (traditionally at breakfast, but optionally at any time of the day), usually with some variety of the spicy chili-based sauce called sambal.

Other accompaniments may include any or all of ikan bilis (fried anchovies), roasted peanuts, fried or boiled eggs, cucumber slices, and acar, a mixture of various pickled vegetables. All of these are illustrated in the image accompanying the question, which also shows a piece of chicken, which might be added when the dish is being served as a meal later in the day.

Answer: It is wrapped in a thin omelette.

Although the name is thought to be from the Thai city of Pattaya, the dish is actually believed to have originated in Malaysia. It is popular in a number of countries, especially Indonesia and Singapore. While fried rice can be prepared in many ways, Malaysian fried rice is made with kecap manis, the Indonesian name for a thick sweet soy sauce, along with almost any ingredients you choose to add (usually chopped meats or seafood and vegetables), After the rice has been wrapped in the omelette, the dish may have chili sauce (or tomato sauce) drizzled over the top.

Answer: Palm leaves

Janur, the young leaves of any of several species of palm trees, are woven into diamond shapes, as shown in the image. After cooking, the rice forms a solid dumpling, which is removed by slicing open the basket. In Malaysia, as in other predominantly-Muslim nations in the region, the consumption of ketupat is strongly associated with the feast of Eid al-Fitr, the celebration of the end of the month-long fasting period observed during Ramadan. Hollow baskets are often displayed as decorations, much as Christians may display bells or stars around Christmas.

These decorations are often made from more colorful materials (such as brightly-colored ribbons) than the practical baskets used for cooking.

Answer: Glutinous rice

Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa) is also called sticky rice, as its low amylose content means the cooked rice does not readily form separate grains, as the grains tend to cling together. The Malaysian term for it is pulut. To produce lemang, a hollow bamboo tube is lined with banana leaves (to keep the rice from sticking), then filled with a mixture of pulut and coconut milk.

The tubes are then roasted over a fire for a period of hours, cooking slowly to allow the full smoked flavor to develop.

When ready, the bamboo tube is sliced in half, and the tubes of rice cut into serving-sized pieces. Lemang is a popular dish as part of the feasting for Eid al-Fitr, as well as a range of other days of celebration.

Answer: The rice is blue.

The rice used in nasi kerabu is cooked with the flowers of the bunga telang plant, Clitoria ternatea, also known as the butterfly pea. They produce the blue color shown here. The rest of the dish includes a protein such as fried chicken, pickles, keropok (fried crunchy crackers, which come in a range of types) and possibly other vegetables.

The chicken may be replaced by another protein food, such as solok lada (hot green chilis stuffed with fish and simmered in coconut milk).

Answer: Chicken

Ayam means chicken, so you really need chicken, in some form, to make a dish called nasi ayam. There are a lot of variations. The image used for the question showed a presentation common in the state of Malacca, in which the steamed rice is formed into balls, and served separately from the chopped chicken.

The chicken can be roasted, fried or boiled, and may be served in large pieces or in bite-sized chunks. It may be served dry, or in a sauce - or you may be offered a number of sauces to add separately to each serving as you combine the chicken and the rice.

Answer: Fish curry

The fish curry (kari ikan) prepared for nasi dagang is a particular type that is only prepared as a part of this dish. It is a curry based on coconut milk, with flavoring agents such as lemon grass, galangal (the rhizome of a plant related to ginger), chili paste, and turmeric.

The most common fish is tuna, but others can be substituted. The rice is specially prepared with fenugreek seeds and lemongrass included as it cooks in the coconut milk. Traditional accompaniments include fried coconut flakes, boiled eggs, pickled cucumbers and other vegetables, and sambal. Regional variants include other side dishes.

Answer: Noodle

To make these rice noodles, rice flour is mixed with water or coconut milk to form a dough which is pressed through a sieve so that long thin strands emerge. These are steamed, usually immediately on production. It is common to add pandan leaf to the water, to create a fragrant noodle. The noodles may be used as an accompaniment to replace rice, or they may be served on their own, topped with grated coconut and a sweetening agent such as gur (date palm sugar).

To make the Malaysian dish of putu piring, the rice flour dough is formed into a ball around a filling of coconut and gur, then pressed into a flower-shaped mold before steaming.

Answer: Coconut milk

This is an example of a kuih, the generic term for a bite-sized sweet food in Southeast Asia. They are usually made from rice in some form, and often flavored with coconut, pandan and/or palm sugar. The bottom layer of seri muka is formed from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk.

The top layer is a custard made with coconut milk and egg, flavored with pandan (screwpine), which produces the green color. If your kuih has the layers reversed, it may be talam, which has a green layer made from green pea flour and pandan on the bottom, and a white layer made from coconut milk and rice flour on top.

Answer: Maggi goreng

This is the odd dish out in the quiz, as it uses wheat noodles, which have been prepared so that they can be cooked in much less time than is required for traditional noodles, and are usually packaged in a block, accompanied by flavoring agents to produce a range of taste sensations. (Personally, I find they all taste more like salt than their official flavor!) In Malaysia, the Maggi brand has become the generic term for using these instant noodles for stir frying, although some places do use a different name if they have used another brand of noodles.

The noodles are softened in water long enough to separate the block without fully cooking them, then stir-fried with the other ingredients. There is no standard set of ingredients for the dish - each stall makes their own - but it is usual to include the ingredients of the flavoring packet as part of the mixture.

A slice of lime is a common garnish when your Maggi goreng is served.