The hawker center on Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur does not look like a restaurant. It looks like a parking lot with a roof. Rows of fluorescent lights hang over concrete tables, and the air is thick with smoke from twenty different woks. I walked in at seven in the evening and was overwhelmed by choice. On my left, a woman was frying char kway teow, flat rice noodles with prawns and cockles in a dark soy sauce. On my right, a man was shaving ice for cendol, a dessert of coconut milk, palm sugar, and green rice flour jelly. Straight ahead, a stall was selling satay, skewers of chicken and beef grilling over charcoal, basted with a mixture of turmeric, lemongrass, and peanut oil. I ate at four stalls that night and spent less than ten dollars.
What a Hawker Center Actually Is
A hawker center is an open-air food court, common in Malaysia and Singapore, where individual vendors rent stalls and sell inexpensive meals. The concept was developed in the 1950s as a way to regulate street food vendors and improve hygiene. Today, hawker centers are cultural institutions. They are where office workers eat lunch, where families gather for dinner, and where tourists discover that the best food in Asia costs less than a coffee in Paris. The Jalan Alor hawker center is one of the most famous in Kuala Lumpur, but locals prefer the less touristy centers in the suburbs, where the prices are lower and the flavors are more authentic.
The Dishes You Must Try
Malaysian hawker food is a fusion of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cuisines, reflecting the country's multicultural history. Char kway teow is the signature dish of Penang, stir-fried over high heat with garlic, chili, and lard for a smoky flavor called wok hei. Hainanese chicken rice is poached chicken served with fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock. Roti canai is a flaky flatbread served with dal, brought by Indian Muslim immigrants. Laksa is a noodle soup with a coconut curry broth that varies dramatically by region. I tried Penang assam laksa, which is sour and fishy, and Sarawak laksa, which is mild and coconutty. Both were excellent. Both were completely different.
The Culture of Eating
Hawker centers have their own etiquette. Find a table first, note the number, and then order from the stalls. Tell the vendor your table number, and they will deliver the food. Payment is usually cash, though some stalls now accept digital wallets. Drinks are ordered from a separate drinks stall, which also handles payment for the entire table. The standard drink is teh tarik, pulled tea, where the vendor pours hot tea and condensed milk between two cups from a height to create a frothy top. I watched a vendor perform this ritual with a theatrical flourish that drew applause from the queue. The tea cost eighty cents. The show was free.
Where to Go Beyond Jalan Alor
Jalan Alor is convenient but crowded. For a more local experience, I recommend the hawker centers in Petaling Jaya, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, where the food is cheaper and the crowds are thinner. In Penang, the Gurney Drive Hawker Center is famous for its variety, though it is tourist-heavy. Locals prefer the stalls on Chulia Street at night, where the char kway teow is cooked by a man who has been at the same wok for forty years. In Melaka, the Jonker Street Night Market offers Nyonya cuisine, a blend of Chinese and Malay flavors that is unique to the region. I ate ayam pongteh, a chicken stew with fermented soybean paste, at a stall run by a Peranakan grandmother who would not reveal her recipe. 'It is in my hands,' she said. 'Not in a book.'
