Malaysian soup refers to any soup recipe from Malayasia, which comes in different varieties depending on the influence of the several immigrant cultures who have permanently left their culinary imprints on this region's cuisine. Chinese, Indian, and Thai dishes are common in the Malaysian cuisine, thus, there are dramatically different soups that are cooked here in various individual ethnic groups.
Malaysian Soup Recipes: Ingredients Used and Preparation
Traditionally, Malaysian soups are an amalgamation of many different cooking styles. Fresh aromatic herbs and roots like lemon grass, kaffir limes, chilies, local basil, lasao leaf, ginger flower buds, turmeric powder and turmeric root, are used to flavor the soups. Meats, fish, chicken and game, may be used individually or together to form thin or thick soups. Coconut milk or rice pastes are used to thicken soups. Key flavoring ingredients like Blacan or fermented fish paste and dried fish, are essential to the cuisine to form the traditional soups.
Serving and Eating Malaysian Soup
Malaysian soups are traditionally consumed hot with rice or flat breads. Plain rice called nasi kosong, turmeric rice or nasi kunyit, ghee rice or nasi minyak are all served with the soups.
Variations of Malaysian Soup Recipes
Laksa - It is a very nutritious Malaysian soup that is prepared with noodles in a tangy fish-based stew. Thick noodles are preferred and they are immersed in a mackerel soup that is flavored with aromatic herbs. The key ingredient is tarmarind. It is a spicy and sour dish.
Mee Jawa – It is an Indonesian variety of soupy noodle dish that is prepared from fresh prawns. Fresh prawns are cooked in an aromatic stew with several herbs. The soupy gravy is served over yellow egg noodles with slices of potato, egg, vegetables, shrimp and tofu.
Soto- It is a Malaysian soup that is prepared from mee hun or ketupat.
Rasam – It is a local Malaysian adaptation of an Indian dish. Lentils are cooked with tomatoes and spices to form of a thick soup that is served by itself or with rice.
Bak Kut - This is a Malaysian-Chinese version of pork ribs soup. Pork ribs are cooked with herbs and garlic and served by itself.