Thinly sliced daun kayu or cassava shoots cooked in tempoyak is a classic Negeri Sembilan dish.

Fermented durian gives this classic Pahang dish a rich taste and heady aroma.

Make your own tempoyak with just durian flesh, salt, and time.

Revive dry, stale okra by deep-frying it until crunchy and supremely snack-able.

A Dayak chicken curry made with an often-overlooked off-cut: chicken feet.

We’ve been putting fruits in savoury dishes for ages in this part of the world, such as this chicken curry which gets a tangy boost from pineapple.

A Nyonya classic that uses sweet potato and its leaves in one luxurious dish.

Make this singgang with extra soup to sip on slowly when you’re under the weather.

A perfect not-too-sweet snack to add to your array of CNY treats.

A deeply savoury curry found in many South Indian and Ceylonese homes.

An immensely satisfying lunch for hungry folks on a budget.

Give tofu some extra love with a healthy dose of warm spices and plenty of complementary textures.

When bambangan season rolls around, this braised fish is a delicious way to use up a glut of the fruit’s harvest.

Low-stakes steamed fish to get you accustomed to making this favourite at home.

A festive roast chicken seasoned with local and easily attainable ingredients.

A quick vegetable stir-fry with the classic savoury spices of an Indian kitchen.

A deep, dark, complex mutton dish to impress your guests on festive occasions.

A spicy and savoury vegetable side for the dinner table, with budu as the star.

An any-meal sambal-scramble that can be stored in the fridge for busy days.

A Hakka homestyle dish that became an instant classic in Zara’s home.

Sambal-stuffed fish is a highlight at many nasi campur stalls; you can now make it at home.

A herby sambal to accompany daily meals, especially when paired with fried meats and more ulam.

A dish with many styles, this variation amps up the savoury kick with a lot of taucu and kucai.

Cooking cucumbers isn’t a novel method. This excellent Nyonya recipe shows us a tangy application for weeknight meals.

Make this simple vegetable side dish without even turning on the stove.

Bring chicken liver pâté to Malaysia by infusing it with the hallmark flavours of the region.

A sweet introduction to the world of fruit curries, this mango curry is perfect for an Onam Sadhya lunch.

When you want ayam kunyit but can’t bear the oily cleanup, turn to this braise instead.

Wonder why sardine sambal isn’t up your alley? Try this pre-frying technique and let us change your mind.

Fiery black pepper meets silky meehoon in this quick meal, perfect for when you want a homemade meal—fast.

Ferment your fishing trip catch with this method, and enjoy a uniquely Kadazandusun flavour while you’re at it.

Swap out the usual stir-fry aromatics for fragrant and crunchy almond flakes instead.

Chicken and coconut milk come together in a simple preparation of gulai kuning or masak lemak, perfect for a quick yet satisfying meal.

A base Eurasian sambal for many dishes such as prawn or ikan sambal, and sambal petai.

A versatile minced meat sauce that can be paired with your carb of choice for a complete meal or even a quick snack.

The kind of homestyle weeknight braise you probably won’t find in a restaurant.

This dish is a common staple on Diana’s family dining table, as her mom would buy terung Dayak whenever they were in season.

Rather than raw, this kerabu includes cooked elements that result in something like a masak lemak.

Unlike many other chutneys popular in the Malaysian-Indian repertoire, this one veers sweet and makes for a great snack on its own.

A wonderfully savoury salad for a crowd, perfect for potlucks, parties, and picnics.

Soft and tender chunks of meat without hours on the stove is not possible, but getting those spicy rendang flavours definitely is.

This version of Malaysian-Indian chicken curry uses store-bought curry powder such as Baba’s, but is taken up a notch with extra spices.

Pulut kacau or wajik can be made at home as a gift for the neighbourhood.

This Nyonya-style fish pickle ticks all the tasty flavour boxes: tangy, fatty, savoury, sweet.

Umbut sawit is the young shoot or heart of the oil palm tree. Plentiful in Borneo from the plantations, resourceful locals have found that it makes for a terrific ingredient.

The Temuan way to cook this fish is over the embers of an outdoor stove. We highly encourage you to go for it if you have a grill.

This is a traditional recipe originating from Jerantut, Pahang, and has since spread to neighbouring areas in the state.

Consumed as a dessert, the serving of orh nee marks the end of a traditional multi-course Teochew banquet.

This dish, inherited from Banyen’s late grandmother, makes an appearance at least twice a week on their dinner table at home.

Made with fresh rice of the first harvest at the end of the winter solstice, this is offered to gods & goddesses before family & friends.

Leela’s late mother was the family’s ‘culinary comforter’, and taught her how to make this vegetable dish. Complex in flavour, this recipe takes no shortcuts.

A dessert containing eggs, milk and Horlicks means it’s okay to eat for breakfast, right?

Many kampung folks catch freshwater fish as a cheap source of protein, and pekasam is a way of fermenting a glut of a catch.

This is quite possibly the best version of kangkung belacan we’ve tried—spicy, briny and still-crunchy.

Hinava is a traditional native dish of the Kadazandusun people in the state of Sabah, which is a method of cooking saltwater or freshwater fish using lime juice.

The star of this dish is fenugreek, along with the freshest fish possible.

Natasha learned how to make this dish from her mother (who she assumes learned it from her mother), and craves it on gloomy rainy days.