Eating Plant Based in Malaysia Part Two – Detailed Images and Journal

A quick salad with lettuce, cabbage, hummus, roasted cashews and lemon juice.  As long as you have a fridge where you’re staying, this is totally doable.

This is lunch from a plant based restaurant called Roots. We ordered miso udon, broccoli ginger soup, spicy noodles, brown rice with tempeh and fresh soy milk.  It was yummy and nice to be able to order anything on the menu.

So we’re usually in bed by 9:30pm and we hardly ever (read: never) go out.  We were invited by a friend and her husband to check out a comedy club, so we did it up.  I have been sober for three years and it’s still weird for me to go out drinking with people.  I can do it for a short amount of time and then I get super bored. A comedy club was perfect because I could be entertained while everyone else got drunk!

Notice my tea in front of a huge bottle of whisky. Luanne got proper drunk  and the last thing she said to me before she went to sleep was “I’m ready for the rodeo!”.

Pink dragon fruit.  One of the prettiest fruits on the planet.  Mild in flavor and easy on the eyes.

Having a snack at an outside food court.  Steamed turnip cake with chili sauce and sesame balls with red bean paste.

When in doubt about what to order, just ask for some greens with garlic and soy sauce.  Most any restaurant can whip it up for you without a fuss.

Oh my.

If I were on Death Row and I had to choose my very last meal, THIS would be it.  And Luanne’s mom would have to make it because her’s is the best on the planet.

This is a little something called Nasi Lemak.  Nasi is “rice” in Malay and Lemak is “rich” or “fragrant”.  There are many different types of Nasi Lemak and they are all clumped together under that one name.

The basic blueprint of this dish is coconut rice, protein (usually fried chicken, squid or tempeh), sambal (chili paste), hard boiled egg, cucumber slices and roasted peanuts.  This is a breakfast dish but can be found throughout the day at certain restaurants or Mamaks (if you haven’t read last week’s post where I explained Mamak Stalls, do it here and then come back to me).

Nasi Lemak is traditional Malay food, but there are Chinese and Indian versions (the two other dominant races that make up Malaysia), making Nasi Lemak one of the most popular dishes in all of Malaysia.

I’ve been to a few places that serve plant based Nasi Lemak but NOTHING compares to Luanne’s mom’s Nasi Lemak (below). Holy hell.

She makes the best coconut rice ever because she adds pandan leaves to the rice while it’s cooking. Yup, my best friend, pandan shows up again!

A good Nasi Lemak is judged by the deliciousness of the sambal, which is chili paste. Luanne’s mom nails it with her sambal.

Petai is a bean that is a typical staple in villages (or “kampungs” in Malaysia). Most people who didn’t grow up eating petai (or “stinky bean”) can’t stand it because of its pungent smell (both the bean and your pee after you eat the bean are super pungent). But I LOVE it. I could eat petai every day. Luanne’s mom knows this about me so she makes her Nasi Lemak with petai as the protein component. She also serves her Nasi Lemak with four angled bean (or “winged” bean), which I love.

Luanne’s mom’s Nasi Lemak (the one pictured below) is made up of coconut pandan rice, roasted peanuts, sambal petai, four angle bean and cucumber. This dish is always waiting for me upon arrival.  And because I only get it once a year, I love it even more.

We are doing a version of this in our Malaysian meal plan so be on the lookout!

I never eat vegan yogurt at home but it spoke to me at the store one day so I did it up with some granola and mangoes.

If you’re ever in Malaysia with omnis, check out Kon Rak Pak, a really yummy plant based Thai restaurant that meat eaters love.  Below is an all-vegan potato mutton curry and fried morning glory leaves.

Also from the Thai restaurant, vegan fish, topped with cabbage, carrots, pineapple and crushed peanuts.  Super yummy.

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