Malaysian and Singaporean foods

The rambutan (left) and mangosteen (right) are two of the exotic fruits of Southeast Asia. So what do they look like on the inside?

Inside the rambutan (left) and mangosteen (right), which have a decent amount of seeds and taste quite similar.



The coconut milk drank straight from the coconut is popular throughout Southeast Asia. 

Cendol is a concoction of green pea flour, beans, and brown sugar on top of crushed ice.  It looks gross but is actually quite good.

The very smelly durian fruit is popular throughout Southeast Asia but is also not allowed on the subways and in hotels due to its pungent aroma.

The Indian roti canai is similar to naan but is thicker and comes with spices or an assortment of different add-ons.

A spicy seafood laksa has veggies and long, circular rice noodles in a pho-style soup.

The stir fried concotion of flat noodles, greens, and seafood make seafood kway teow a bit spicy and really tasty.

The mango shake is surprisingly not sweet and really good. 



 

Malaysia and Singapore are a fusion of the Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian cultures.  Walk around these countries and you’ll see mosques, churches, and temples next to each other.  Look at the people and you’ll hardly see a traditional “look,” they come from all over Asia and speak different languages.  Singapore has four official languages: English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay.

So what do you get when you have a massive infusion of cultures?  Great food.  Singapore and Malaysia (particularly the northwest island of Penang) are famous for it.  Traveling around here requires you try the various amounts of food.  In the two weeks I was on the Malaysian peninsula I tried to eat as much noodle-rice-soup-fruit mixtures as possible.  The pictures above are a sampling of those famous foods found there.

Note:  The words in bold lettering indicate the traditional name of the food.