Malaysia is located in the central part of Southeast Asia, slightly north of the equator. The capital of the state is the city of Kuala Lumpur. See Malaysia abbreviations.
The country covers an area of 329,750 square kilometers. Malaysia is divided into two halves (western and eastern) by the South China Sea. The first part (western) is located in the south of the Malay Peninsula, and the eastern part – with the states of Sarawak and Sabah – is located in the northeastern region of the island of Borneo. Between the peninsula – that is, the mainland of the country – and Borneo is almost 600 kilometers of water. Malaysia also owns a number of small islands and several large ones.
Four states have a border with Malaysia: Thailand – in the north, and Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore – in the south.
In the west of the Malay Peninsula, the Kerbau Range stretches. In the northeast of the same peninsula there are mountains in which the highest point of the Malaysian mainland is located – Mount Tahan with a height of 2187 meters.
The western and eastern coasts of the Malay Peninsula are low-lying, wide plains, sometimes very swampy. Sometimes there are limestone outcrops with karst caves: Gua-Eir-Jernih and others.
In the north of the island of Kalimantan, lowlands covered with hills stretch along the entire coast. In the south, they are limited to small mountains no more than 2 thousand meters high. To the east of the island are the much higher ridges of Croker and Apo Duat. The highest point of the whole country is also located here – Mount Kinabalu, whose height is 4101 meters. The snow line on this island is just over 4 kilometers above sea level. There are also very long caves on the island of Kalimantan.
Climate
According to 800zipcodes, the climate in Malaysia is equatorial – hot and very humid. The temperature throughout the year does not fall below +27 °С, and in the summer months it sometimes rises to +34 °С. There is just a huge amount of precipitation – 1500 mm on the banks and more than 5000 mm in mountainous areas. Humidity is high throughout the year: 70-80%.
In the east of the Malay Peninsula, the northeast of Sabah and the west of Sarawak, the “rainy season” lasts from October to February. Off the western coast of the country, the rainy season lasts from April to May. Another lasts from October to the end of November, but the rains in these months are somewhat less than in the first season.
Capital of Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur.
Major cities: Johor Bahru, Ipo, Kota Bharu.
Main resorts: Langkawi archipelago, Penang, Pangkor, Sipadan, Tioman, Redang.
Malaysian cuisine
The culinary traditions of Malaysia were formed under the influence of local traditions, as well as culinary schools of various countries of East Asia. All provinces have special unique cooking methods, as well as special ingredients.
The main part of the local diet is rice, which is called “nasi” here. Usually, rice is made completely bland and used only as a side dish, which emphasizes and sets off the taste of the dish itself.
Rice is often colored during cooking. Naxi is used almost everywhere. It is steamed and in broth, fried with vegetables and spices, stewed with coconut milk or water. For the preparation of desserts, rice boiled in coconut milk is mixed with various fruits. Naxi is used to make noodles, pastries and even puddings.
The following dishes are very popular:
Chinese rice with vermicelli and chicken,
lemang – sticky rice boiled in coconut milk
cha kwai tew – flat noodles made from rice flour, in which eggs, soy sauce, herbs, shellfish, shrimp and more are added,
nasi goreng – fried rice
roti chanai – pancakes made from rice flour,
ketupat – rice cakes,
nasi dagang – rice with fish curry boiled in coconut milk,
nasi lemak – also rice boiled in coconut milk with nuts, cucumber, eggs and other additives.
In addition to rice, vegetables, bamboo shoots, coconut milk, soybeans and fruits occupy an important place in Malaysian cuisine. Most of the fruits that grow here are completely unknown to Europeans. Some of them have a somewhat specific smell, appearance and taste.
The national dishes of Malaysia are gado gado – vegetable salad with peanut sauce, hot peppers and coconut milk, akar – pickled vegetables and rojak – pineapple salad with cucumber and shrimp fritters. Rojak is usually served with peanut sauce.
Meat is used very rarely during cooking, mainly during holidays and solemn ceremonies. You should definitely try dishes such as:
rendang – meat with spices stewed in coconut milk,
hainanese – rice with chicken pieces,
curry laksa – noodles with boiled chicken in curry sauce,
sati ayam – chicken skewers with peanut sauce,
soto ayam – chicken soup
murtabak – pancakes with meat.
Many seafood and dishes from them are popular: shark fin soup, fried scallops, cuttlefish salad, fish curry, anchovies, as well as various types of dried, smoked, fried and salted fish.
Of the non-alcoholic drinks, various fruit juices are especially popular.
Since Malaysia is dominated by Islam, alcoholic beverages are not welcome and are almost not produced at all. The wine is mostly imported, the most popular are Australian wines, which are brought into the country from the countries of Southeast Asia. But in Malaysia they also produce their own varieties of beer, not only rice, but also traditional ones.
