is for ayam the Malay word for chicken. You'll see it a lot as Malaysian cuisine features chicken frequently.

also ais kacang shaved iced with red beans, jelly, and sweet corn, drizzled with evaporated milk and sugar syrup.

is for blacan (or belacan) - the love-it/hate-it (very whiffy) shrimp paste, used extensively as a flavour base for many dishes. Think of it in the same way as anchovies.

is for coconut - an absolute staple of everything from curries and a mixed with rice for nasi lemak to desserts.

also cendol a dessert like no other - green pandan-flavoured noodles, cooked beans, and coconut milk. Delicious!

also eating. Malaysians love to eat, and why wouldn't they when there are so many wonderful foods and dishes to tempt them? Walk down any street, any time and there will be people eating. Crouched on a stool with a bowl in their hands, seated on plastic chairs at ristorans at any time of day or night, or hovering around hawker's stalls in the evening.

is for gadogado similar to a similar salad dish in Indonesia. It's full of healthy ingredients such as bean sprouts, boiled egg and tofu and topped with peanut sauce.

also gula melaka collected from the flower-bearing stalks of the sugar palm. You'll see it poured over sticky rice and other desserts.

also guavas, a popular fruit in Malaysia. These green ones appear cut up and sold fresh, in pieces from fruit stalls, or pickled. They have a refreshing flavour and are good in fresh juices too.

also Hokkien dishes brought by Straits Chinese who immigrated to Malaysia bringing their recipes with them. Look for Hokkien mee, and Hokkien char, in food markets, both noodle dishes.

also kecap manis a sweet dark soy sauce which adds depth of flavour to noodle and meat dishes.

also mee noodles. These thick wheat flour noodles are like spaghetti and are used in many dishes.

also murtabak a meat filled fried bread that is delicious. Even more exciting is the theatre of the murtabak-man flipping and throwing the ball of dough until it is paper-thin.

N is for Nyonya food. Wonderful fragrant, spicy, tasty food from a cuisine that is unique to Malaysia. Borne of the intermarriage of Straits Chinese and local Malay people, it builds on the best from the kitchens and cooking pots of both cultures.

also nasi goreng and nasi lemak and all the other nasi dishes. Why so many? Nasi means rice. Nasi lemak is made with coconut milk, or 'fat', as the word implies. Nasi goreng is fried rice. Take plenty of exercise in Malaysia as the food is not exactly slimmer's food! But it's far too tasty to miss.

also noodles. Rice noodles, wheat noodles, flat round, in soups, stir-fried - you'll see them everywhere.

 is for oil palms. Wherever you go in either part of Malaysia (peninsular or Eastern) you will pass many kilometres of oil palm plantations. The reddish palm oil is integral to almost every dish you eat and a major industry for this country having superseded tin and rubber.

 is for pandan (sometimes called screwpine) the green leaf of which adds a subtle flavour and green colouring to many dishes.

also pineapple which is used for flavour in many dishes and is widely grown in this country. Malaysians like it dipped in dark soya sauce which has been infused with fresh chilli.

also Penang an delightful island to the north-west of peninsular Malaysia and noted for its fine Nyonya food and other dishes unique to the island.

 is for quick. Malaysia's hawker food and street food is by its nature "fast" food in the very finest sense of the word. No one waits long for their meals in Malaysia.

is for rojak an unlikely yet addictive savoury fruit salad, in which cucumber, pineapple, nutmeg, green mango, jambu (another fruit) and cuttlefish are smothered in a spicy sauce and topped with ground peanuts.

also rice (see nasi)

also roti, the bread of Malaysia. There are many sorts - roti canai the plainest and used to mop up sauces or wrap curry, roti telur filled with egg, and many more.

 is for satays, fanned over charcoal braziers in every food alley in the country. These skewers of marinated beef or chicken are usually served with cucumber, raw onion and a spicy peanut sauce.

also shrimp which are bred extensively. They may be used in everything from the redolent belacan paste which is the base flavour for so many dishes, to being included in fried rice or stir-fries, to starring in a curry or other dish.

also sambals the little side dishes of condiments, dips for vegetables or to be mixed with the meal. They are essential and enhance most meals. They also may be fiery hot. Be careful!

 is for teh (tea) grown in the highest part of Malaysia, the Cameron Highlands. Teh tarik (or 'pulled tea') is made by heating tea, sugar and milk together, then pouring the hot tea backwards and forwards from the jug to the cup.

 is for unusual, and sago worms are certainly very strange! The live worms (which come from the sago palm) are tossed with ginger and onion in a hot wok for a couple of minutes. It's OK, you wont be expected to eat the tough heads.

W is for water. As with most countries, as a visitor it is possibly best to buy bottled water and be careful about ice in drinks or desserts.

is for yucca (yams). These starchy vegetables are very popular cooked by steaming and mainly appear in dessert dishes such as bubur cha cha in which they are served in coconut milk.