There are so many different types of Malaysian desserts. Malays, Chinese, and Indian Tamils lived together in Malaysia and they influenced each other's food cultures. Malaysian desserts often feature fried foods. However, apart from fried foods, you can also enjoy a variety of Malaysian desserts. And I chose 15 famous Malaysian desserts for you. But don't forget there are much more.
Table of Contents
1. Main Deserts
- 1.1. Ais Kacang
- 1.2. Cendol
- 1.3. Bubur Cha Cha
- 1.4. Tang Yuan / Taro Ball
- 1.5. Tong Sui
2. Malaysian Bread and Rice Cake
- 2.1. Apam Balik
- 2.2. Kuih
- 2.3. Curry Puff
- 2.4. Ang Ku Kueh, Red Turtle Cake
- 2.5. Egg Tarts
3. Malaysian Fries
- 3.1. Pisang Goreng
- 3.2. Kuih Loyang / Kuih Rose
- 3.3. Fired Nian gao
4. Other Desserts
- 4.1. Rojak
- 4.2. Mooncake
Main Desserts
Ais Kacang
One of the most famous desserts in Malaysia is Ais Kacang. Ais is ice and Kacang is peanuts. Ice Kacang is the Malaysian version of ‘shaved ice’. If we had to compare, Korea's shaved ice has a more colorful feel and a variety of flavors.
Despite its name, it is not easy to find iced kacang with peanuts. I first discovered peanuts in the ice kacang I ate at the famous ice kacang shop in Butterworth, next to Penang Island. The taste is just shaved ice with peanuts.
Ice Kacang is also called ABC, which is an abbreviation for Malay Air Batu Campur. In Malay, Air means water, Batu means stone, and Campur means mix. So air batu is ice.
When I first saw the Malaysian menu, I thought air meant water, so I thought water in Malay means air. However, the pronunciation of Air is 'air', not 'air' in English.
Cendol
Chendol is a starch jelly sold in supermarkets. The dessert Chendol is
made from this starch jelly with ingredients such as coconut milk, sugar, and red beans. The type of sugar used in chendol determines the taste of chendol.
The famous sugar used in chendol is Gula Malacca , made in Maleka. Gula means sugar, so Gula Malacca is Malacca sugar. Maybe that’s why the chendol I ate in Melaka was delicious.
Malacca sugar is made from the sap of coconut tree flowers and is dark brown in color. You can sometimes find this sugar in Malaysian markets.
Bubur Cha Cha
Bubu Chacha is not as famous as Ice Kacang or Chendol. Bubur in Malay means porridge. So, compared to the two desserts above, Bubu Chacha is a bit heavier as a dessert. The cha-cha is the cha-cha of the cha-cha dance.
Like many Malaysian desserts, Bubu Cha Cha uses coconut milk, but also adds sweet potatoes, yams, and bananas cut into pieces. If you want to try other desserts besides ice kacang and chendol, Bubu chacha is a good option.
Tang Yuan / Taro Ball Taro Ball
Tang Yuen is a local Chinese dessert. In Malaysia, there is a designated day to eat tang yen. People eat Tang Yuen right on the winter solstice just like Korean people do in the same day.
So, because I eat home-made tang yen, I have never seen tang yen in restaurants or restaurants.
Instead, there are many stores that sell tarot balls. These days, it's gone a bit out of fashion, but a few years ago, I used to go out to eat taro balls as a late-night snack. If you look at taro balls, they are a dessert from Taiwan, but they can be easily found in Malaysia as well.
Tong Sui (糖水)
Tong sui, like tang yen, is a dessert of Chinese Malaysians. Tong sui means sugar water. And just like Tang Yuen, I also make Tong Sui at home. There is no set day to make and eat tong sui, but I make it whenever I have time. Tong sui is a drink made with longan fruit (longan) and jujube.
And Tong Sui is a dessert that came from Guangdong Province to Malaysia. Many Chinese living in Kuala Lumpur are from Guangdong Province. So the Chinese in Kuala Lumpur speak to each other in Cantonese.
There are many types of tong sui. There are versions of tong sui sold outside, each made with black sesame seeds, red beans, black rice, and mung beans.
Malaysian Bread and Rice Cake
Apam Balik
On one side of the market where I go shopping in the morning, there is a couple selling appam balik. While her wife goes grocery shopping, I go to them and order two appam balik. Then, after shopping, we come home and share the appam balik one by one.
When ordering, don't say appam balik, just ask for pancakes. These are actually pancakes with peanuts.
Kuih
Kui, sometimes eaten at tea time, is the Malaysian version of rice cake. Like most hawkers, they set up a stand to sell kuih in front of the hawker center (food court). Buying kuih and eating it with coffee at the hawker center is what my husband and I do during our Malaysian tea time.
Curry Puff
Curry puffs are pastries filled with curry, potatoes, and chicken and fried. Since the pastries sold in Korea are usually filled with sweet fillings, the taste of the curry puffs I tried for the first time was quite foreign. However, as I eat it, I find that pastries with sweet fillings are okay, but stuff like curry puffs are also delicious.
Malaysian Fries
Pisang Goreng
Pisang Goreng is fried banana. Pisang means banana and goreng means fried. The first dessert I tried in Malaysia was pisang goreng.
I still can't forget the taste of pisang goreng that I bought from a Malay woman in front of my hotel early in the morning while hiking in Malaysia. After taking a bite of pisang goreng, the question of why bananas are fried was replaced by the belief that anything fried is delicious.
Kuih Loyang / Kuih Rose
If you go to shopping malls before Lunar New Year, you can find Cui Loyang sold in clear plastic bottles. This is a snack for entertaining relatives visiting during the Lunar New Year. The Malay word Loyang means brass, and Kui Loyang is made by covering a brass mold with flour batter and placing it in boiling oil.
And because the shape of the brass frame resembles a rose, it is also called Kuih Rose. Making Kuih Loyang is simple. So, I make a few bottles at home before Chinese New Year. If you look around, you will often see people making their own products and selling them, but we did not sell the cui lo yang we made. I just gave it as a gift.
Ang Ku Kueh, Red Turtle Cake
Angku Kui is a dessert from China called ‘red turtle cake’. Angku Kui can also be easily purchased at places that sell it. Angku kui is slightly different from Malay kui. Angku Kui is a type of rice cake with mung bean filling. The blood of the rice cake feels a little more sticky.
As expected, I am a regular customer at Malaysian Tea Time. Goes well with coffee and tea. Other than that, I don't eat much.
Fired Nian Gao
Nian gao is fried food. Like the fried food alley in Gongdeok street in Seoul, South Korea. there are many stores in Malaysia that specializes in fried food.
Among the many fried foods in Malaysia, my personal favorite is nien gao. Fried sweet potatoes and yams are truly the best dessert. But nowaday it is hard to hard fried yam because yam is getting expensive.
Egg Tarts
Egg tarts are now famous in Korea as well. Compared to Korean egg tarts, Malaysian egg tarts are older and still cheaper. There are two types of egg tarts sold in Malaysia: Portuguese tarts and egg tarts. The Portuguese tart is sweeter and has a brown caramel finish on the top. On the other hand, the top of the egg tart has a uniform color of egg yolk.
Other Desserts
Rojak
Rojak is a famous street food in Malaysia. There are many types of Rojak, because Rojak is the common name for food that is sold by mixing various ingredients.
The rojak is usually called Indian rojak because it is mainly sold by Indian Tamil people in Malaysia. When you order rojak, it is served with fries, eggs, crushed peanuts, and a special sauce mixed in.
Mooncake
Moon cakes are a dessert eaten in China during Full Moon Festival jus like Korean Chuseok holiday. Local Chinese also eat mooncakes to celebrate the festival. However, Full Moon Festival is not a major holiday in Malaysia and actually it is not a public holiday.
In Malaysia, mooncakes begin to be sold a month before Chuseok. If you go to a shopping mall, you'll find beautiful mooncakes displayed in all sorts of colorful boxes. As Chuseok approaches, moon cakes are discounted. Malaysian mooncake fillings are made from all kinds of ingredients. It is mainly red bean paste, but some also contain jujube and egg yolk.
What Malaysian dessert do you want to eat?
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