Lovely fast food Malaysia style

I am always confuse why people in Malaysia like to eat western fast foods so much. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King and all these other fast foods. It is not that hte foods are tasty, it cannot be that the foods are cheap because they are not, and it cannot be that the foods are healthy because I don't think so they are. So why do people like to eat fast foods?

I think it is because many people nowadays cannot be bother to learn how to cook. Also maybe they like to experience American culture through fast foods. Also maybe because they like foods with a lot of sugar and fats. Also maybe because they like to eat with hand and not bother wiht fork and spoon and knife. Many reasons.

But I think that in Malaysia we are very lucky. We also have fast foods, but they are quite nutritious. What I am talking about is the foods that we can get at our kopi tiam (coffee shops or eating stalls). We have many varieties to suit everybody's taste. If you like rice, you can get chicken rice or economy rice. If you like noodles, you can get all sorts of noodles - fry, soup, braise, with chicken/fish/pork/beef/vegetables. If you like meat, you can get all sorts - roast, fry, steam. If you like duck or chicken, we have it. If you like Indian, Chinese, Malay or other types of cuisine, we also have it. If you are vegetarian, there is also vegetarian foods for you. Many times we can get all these foods under one roof, like in many kopi tiam or food courts. And the food is very cheap. We can easily get a meal for about USD1. Yes, you are reading correct - for RM3.50 or USD1, you can get a bowl of noodles in many places. I will show you below.

Here is my breakfast yesterday. As you may read before, on Saturday, I always have a nice breakfast. It is call "pan mee". The noodles is made from flour and water (I don't think so there are eggs), and is rolled in a pasta roller. In some stalls, the stall keeper just use the fingers to make the dough into small pieces. That is the homemade style.

Here I order the noodles dry, so it is mix wiht black soya sauce and some garlic oil. There is also a meat sauce make from mince pork and dark soya sauce, black woodear fungus and dry shitake mushroom. Then last is the ikan bilis or anchovies which is fry till crispy (first picture at the top). I also get a bowl of soup with vegetables and some pork slices in the soup.

This is also available in a soupy version where the noodle comes in a bowl of the soup. All the other ingredients are the same. All together this cost RM3.50 or USD1.

I also have a cup of kopi peng (local coffee with milk). The coffee is strong and with a lot of milk. It cost extra RM1.50 (USD0.43). All the orders arrive in 5 minutes, but it is early in the morning and the kopi tiam is not very busy yet. Both the noodle and the coffee is very delicious, and it is a good start to the weekend.