assignment 4

The most important food and drink in Melaka is 'nasi lemak' and 'teh tarik'.Nasi lemak is a dish that is commonly sold in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Southern Thailand. In fact, it has been called the unofficial national dish of Malaysia (though such claim is unheard of outside of Kuala Lumpur). In the East Coast of Malaysia, Terengganu and Kelantan, their version is called Nasi Dagang although this claim is never acknowledged by anyone as both dishes can usually be found sold side by side for breakfast. There is a similar dish in Indonesia called nasi uduk.

With roots in Malay culture, its name is a Malay word that literally means 'rice in cream'. The name is derived from the cooking process whereby rice is soaked in rich coconut cream and then the mixture steamed. Sometimes knotted screwpine (pandan) leaves are thrown into the rice while steaming to give it more fragrance. Spices such as ginger (common in Malay cuisine) and occasionally herbs like lemon grass may be added for additional fragrance.

Traditionally, this comes as a platter with cucumber slices, small dried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts, stir fried water convolvulus (kangkong), hard boiled egg, pickled vegetables (achar) and hot spicy sauce (sambal). Nasi lemak can also come with any other accompaniments such as chicken, cuttlefish, cockle, beef curry (beef stewed in coconut milk and spices) or paru (beeflungs). Traditionally most of these accompaniments are spicy in nature.

Teh tarik (literally pulled tea or 拉茶 in Mandarin) is a type of tea which can be bought in restaurants, outdoor stalls and kopi tiams in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It is often compared to cappuccino because of its frothy top. The main ingredients are tea and condensed milk. Ginger water may also be added to form teh halia, or ginger tea. It has become the de facto national drink of Malaysia. In Malaysia, there are also occasions where teh tarik brewers gather for competitions and performances to show their skills in making this drink.

This tea is special in that it is prepared using a unique technique. The tea is poured from a hand held high into a container held in a hand below. The tea is poured back and forth in this manner to create a thick froth. Aside from cooling down the tea to drinking temperatures, it is believed that this method mixes the tea with the condensed milk more thoroughly.

An element of showmanship also exists in the preparation of teh tarik, the ability to drag a long stream of tea well over their heads is an amusing novelty for the locals and tourists alike.
The same technique can be used to make kopi tarik, the coffee equivalent of teh tarik.