Rojak
Noun, Malay.
A common salad style dish, that can be found in various style and taste.
Adjective, Malay.
Also bears the meaning of "a mixture of"
Before fusion dishes is in the mainstream, we as Malaysian have enjoyed Rojak for a very long period of time. Our style of rojak encompasses all aspect of our life, from speech to food, from culture to lifestyle. Most of the time, we just happily mix all the best of each cultures, stir it thoroughly for a few times so that all ingredients fully folded then top it up with a flare of personal taste.
Some Background
Malaysia is inhabited by various group of indigenous people, including the Malay people. After many years of different Sultan rule over different part of the Malayan Peninsula, comes the British rule, which brought in a large number of Chinese and India immigrants as workforce. Then come the WWII, the Japanese invasion, the independence struggle and finally Malaysia was formed in 1963.
Malaysia is really a great place, coupled with nice weather all year round and plentiful of resource, some the Chinese and India immigrants then naturalized as Malaysian citizen. Their involvement in building this nation creating a new style in local culture that is not found anywhere else, hence the Rojak.
The Food
Let's talk about the food, shall we?
In Malaysia, we can find at least three type of Rojak, each contributed by the three major ethnic group here in Malaysia.
Image credit: Cheah KH/penang-asia.blogspot.my, Malayvillage.com
The Chinese Rojak is a savory dish, that consist of papaya, mango, Jícama (aka 沙葛 ), a varieties of fried fritters (油炸鬼和虾饼), folded in thick black sweet and salty sauce, sometime with some chili paste. It often topped with crushed peanuts and sesame seeds.
The Malay Rojak is a mix fruits and vegetable salad, including but not limited to cucumber, beansprout, mango, papaya, pineapple over a thin salty and spicy sauce, topped with crushed peanuts.
Image credit:Vincent Cheok/Pinterest, 蔡羽/caiyukch.blogspot.my
The Indian Rojak, or Rojak Mamak (Mamak is a term referring to Muslim Indians) is the undisputed King of all Rojak here in Malaysia, just like how we like our mamak restaurant. (Story for another time, I promise!). Rojak Mamak consist of fried beancurd (locally known as toufu 炸豆腐), boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs, a variety of fritters, Jícama, bean sprouts and cucumber all mix with a thick sweet fragrant peanut-ty sauce.
Then, there is the peculiar one, the famous Sotong Kangkung (literally Squid and Water Spinach (鱿鱼蕹菜). This is a dish of steamed water spinach, top with steamed squid, then eaten over a savory sauce and crushed peanuts.The Language
Since there is so many type of people live in Malaysia, the language we speak often consist of word or phrases from different people, then seemingly simply connected via different grammar system. Voila, the Rojak language.
Let me show you some example:
- Don't play play!
- Bro, tapau for me please!
- People mountain people sea
- Ayam kambing!
Have a guess of their meaning before you check the translation available below.
"Don't play play!" is "Please don't joke around!"
Literal translation from Malay: Jangan main-main.
"Bro, tapau for me please!" is "Please buy me some food"
Tapau 打包 is the pronunciation of the mandarin word for take away. While "bro" is the short form for "brother", it does encompasses all male in the speaker's vicinity.
"People mountain people sea" is "Crowded"
Originated from the Chinese idioms 人山人海, directly translated for easy understanding. "人" means people, "山" means mountain and "海" means sea
"Ayam kambing" is "I'm coming"
A transliteration from the pronunciation of "I'm" and "coming" into two unrelated Malay words. Ayam means Chicken while Kambing means Goat.
The core component of Malaysia brilliant culture lies in the diversities she holds. It's everybody's country thus everyone is putting some of their effort into her. There is no one unified recipe for Rojak the dish, so do the Rojak culture of ours. So, do any of you fellow Steemian have more rojak story to share?