The diversity of traditional Malay kuih in Malaysia and its potentials

Abstract

Malaysia is synonymously known as a multicultural country flourished with gastronomic nuances in abundance. Within the multitude of well-known savory foods available through the history of Malaysia, kuih has always bestowed a special part in the Malaysian diet. Kuih houses varying types of delicacies ranging from sweets to savory treats or snacks. As with its counterparts in the Malay cuisine, kuih has also been influenced by many historical events led by the migration of Chinese, Indians, and other explorers or visitors to Malaysia in the olden days. This casually developed the Malay kuih which now coined as the traditional Malay kuih; traditional as in the way that the classical values and authenticity were respected and established then. As time progresses and changes the lifestyle of Malays, newly innovated products are at the rise and emerged another type of kuih with somewhat similar characteristics to that of traditional Malay kuih, namely Nyonya Kuih. Nyonya kuih noted to be a reformulation of traditional Malay kuih with native Chinese expertise through some tweaks inculcating their palates and culinary library. Further along, the modernization also impacted the traditional Malay kuih in such a way that the overall representations being put at stake of unclear identity through innovations and industrializations. This paper draws out the history, authenticity, identity, and potentials of the traditional Malay kuih. Besides, this article is hoped to contribute to further refining the traditional Malay food knowledge specifically in its kuih sub-genre against the heritage-destructive modernization led by globalization.

Development of a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire to Estimate Macronutrient Intake among Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Malaysia

“…This food group was considered a staple food by the Malaysian population. Rice is a staple food in Malaysia, specifically to the Malays, accounting for the majority of the carbohydrate source [ 47 , 48 ]. The major contributors to the total protein intake were chicken, meat, and fish, which contributed 61.90% of the total protein intake among T2DM patients.…”

“…Furthermore, as shown in Table 4 , our FFQ consists of traditional Malaysian “kuih” such as banana fritters, curry puff, cucur udang, sri muka, lopes, and kuih lapis which are food items related to our Malaysian cultural and tradition [ 48 ]. The traditional Malaysian “kuih” contributed 9.47% for energy, 4.88% for carbohydrates and 8.52% for protein.…”

Street Food in Malaysia: What Are the Sodium Levels?

“…Street foods with a sodium content of less than 120 mg sodium/100 g sample were found mainly in the dessert category. Kamaruzaman et al stated that as many as 70 types of traditional Malay cakes are still popularized in Malaysia [ 41 ]. The basic ingredients used to produce traditional sweet cakes are sugar, coconut milk, brown sugar, and Malacca sugar [ 42 ].…”

A Review on the Notions of Food Heritage Conservation

“…The range of the traditional delicacies always demanded to meet the exact replica of those made years ago. This has been the benchmark of the claimed traditional within the Malaysia heritage food (Kamaruzaman et al, 2020). Authenticity always been a niche researched within the food on how it portrays exact orthodoxies to that of the past creations by ancestors (Hamzah et al, 2013;Hasni et al, 2020;Mohammad & Chan, 2011;Omar et al, 2011;Omar & Omar, 2018;Zulkifli et al, 2020).…”