Malaysian Pantry Ingredients
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PDFFirst off, thanks to my Malaysian friends Nirmala, Marinna, Hazel and Muna for their contributions – before I draw up the list, I wish to point out that their input reflect the following –
– Some do a lot of cooking; others, as with most busy, working women nowadays, either don’t, or they use commercial, prepared pastes/sauces/seasonings to simplify their task.
– Malaysia’s ethnic diversity (Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasion etc.) means that depending on your racial heritage, there is almost certainly going to be some differences in what is considered indispensable or widely used or never used.
– The influence of Thai cuisine (north of Malaysia) seems to have made an impact judging from some of the items listed by one of my friends; this was not that common back in my day (I left Malaysia in 1984).
– Malaysians do eat out a lot since it’s so affordable to do so. What we eat at home is distinctly different to the street food that Malaysian cuisine is known for. Eg. The average Malaysian housewife doesn’t make popiah or char kway teow or satay or laksa for dinner – it’s cheaper and easier (and probably tastier) just to get those at their local eatery.
– We do use a lot of modern conveniences in our cooking eg. commercial curry powders, blenders, food processors; some Westerners view Asian cuisine through exotic, soft-focused filters and imagine women in sarongs and flowers in their hair, grinding their own spices with mortar and pestle and cooking with charcoal or wood fire.
That may have happened once upon a time or in certain rural kampungs (villages) but it certainly wasn’t reality even back when I was a kid (and I was born in a small-ish town back in 1967 ie. a loooong time ago).
So here we go (highlighted items are what I personally think are the important ones) –
| SEASONINGS/BOTTLED SAUCES/DRIED FOODSTUFFS | SPICES | FRESH INGREDIENTS |
| Kicap Pekat (Thick Soy) | Curry powder for fish | Small onions |
| Oyster sauce | Curry powder for meat | Garlic |
| Kicap Cair(Light Soy Sauce) | Turmeric powder | Ginger |
| Kicap Manis (sweet soy sauce) | Chilli powder | Large onions |
| Chilli Paste | Fenugreek | Lemongrass (I use a minced, frozen variety) |
| Tamarind (I use tamarind extract) | Cumin | Pandan leaves (freezeable) |
| Coconut milk/coconut cream (in a box) | Star anise | |
| Tomato ketchup | Cinnamon | |
| Belacan (shrimp paste – i use the granulated form) | Black and white pepper | |
| Petis Udang (prawn paste – hei ko brand) | Mustard seeds | |
| Rice (usually jasmine) | Fennel | |
| Glutinous rice | Asafoetida | |
| Rice flour | Dhal | |
| Palm sugar (Diff. from Thai version; we use a darker type that comes in logs) | Cardamoms | |
| Chilli sauce | Galangal powder | |
| Thai sauce (Thai Sweet Chilli) | ||
| Chicken stock cube (or granules) | ||
| Ikan bilis stock cube (dried anchovy stock cube) | ||
| Tom Yam cube | ||
| Ikan bilis (dried anchovy) | ||
| Udang kering (dried shrimp) | ||
| Tapioca Flour | ||
| Glutinous Rice Flour | ||
| Ground bean paste | ||
| Hoisin sauce | ||
| Fish Sauce (my own addition) |
I shall update this list as more items come to mind. Having lived overseas the best part of my life, here are some pointers re: shopping for these –
– I don’t think I’ve ever come across a ‘Malaysian’ grocery store. In its absence, I try to aim for its closest neighbours ie. South-East Asian stores -. Vietnamese, Indonesian, Laotian etc. for the widest range.
– Indian stores are your best bet for the spices – eg. cardamoms, asafoetida etc.
– Chinese grocery stores are fine for stuff like Thick or Thin Soy, rice, hoisin sauce etc.
– If you can’t find Malaysian-made ingredients, again, aim for those coming in from other South-East Asian countries. Eg. Indonesia is great for palm sugar; Thailand for durian etc.
– For the Chinese ingredients, where possible, I go for Hong Kong, Singaporean or Taiwanese products
– Brands I trust quality-wise – Anything from Malaysia, Ayam, Cheong Chan, Lee Kum Kee, RasaKu, Kara, Chang’s, Pun Chun
Finally, here are some pics of some of the ingredients I use in my kitchen – apologies for the overlaps but before you complain about the crappy quality and lack of editing, please read my About page for my take on this.
No no it’s not that crap, your’e just sharing what your kitchen is all about. I just noticed that Malaysian and Indonesian pantry ingredients have do lots of common.
Yes, lots of crossovers between Malaysian and Indonesian ingredients. We don’t use Kicap Manis as much in our cooking as the Indonesians do, but a lot of our curries are very similar. My home state of Negeri Sembilan was established by settlers from Indonesia as a matter of fact.
I noticed in the picture you have Ayamo curry powder, are there any other brands I should look out for for curry powder? Although I love the taste of curry, the stuff carried in most of the local chain stores have not been kind to me. I am going to try the large alternative “Market of choice” for some of these. I think there may also be an Indian market right across the street from that.
Hi there, I grew up with Ayam Brand curry powder (my mom’s preferred brand); apart from that I really like Baba’s (this is very popular with Indians so you may be able to find it at Indian stores) and I remember one I’ve used before called Cap Burung Nuri (Parrot brand – there’s a picture of a parrot on the packaging). If all else fails, look for ones imported from Malaysia if possible – they’re generally safe bets 🙂 Keep a lookout for future posts where I plan to offer my own combinations of spices to make your own curry mixture 🙂
Probably should add rice flour on the list. It is quite widely used for many recipes e.g for the batter when frying banana, make many types of Malaysian kuihs and is good to absorb unwanted smell from the fish too!
It’s already there, a couple of lines under Rice on the left hand column; but yes you’re right – it’s very widely used 🙂
where do you find the frozen lemongrass? I’ve used it overseas, but haven’t found it for sale in Sydney. I find paying Sydney prices for lemongrass a stretch after living in Singapore and Hong Kong.
I get them in frozen, minced form at Asian grocery stores – I usually shop at Flemington or Cabramatta (check the freezer section) – they usually come in 500g or 1kg blocks 🙂
good to know where to source Malaysian ingredients. there is one ingredient i struggle to find – torch ginger or bunga kantan. do you happen to know where in Sydney that might source this exotic flower?
Hi Ana, I’ve been trying to hunt it down for the longest time; I’ve been told it’s been seen in Paddy’s Market in Chinatown so I’ve asked my crew to pick some up next time they’re in the area; will let you know if we do find it 🙂