Malaysian Seafood

With thousands of kilometers of shoreline as well as numerous fertile lakes and rivers, seafood thrives. Malaysians also love to eat seafood, which is prepared in many ways. Malaysian seafood restaurants are available at almost every corner. Despite the higher than average price, diners flock to these restaurants.

Steamed, baked, curry, stir fried, with soup or braised seafood.  We have them all.  Fish, shellfish and crustaceans both from salt water as well as fresh water are consumed all year round.  The way Malaysians prepare seafood is pretty different from the rest of the world because we use plenty of herbs and spices which grow all around us.

The seafood is also preserved by processing them into salted fish and also pickles. Some farms freeze or process their produce and export them overseas.  Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong are some of the places where these products are shipped to.

Fish are caught in the wild seas or bred in fish farms. Fresh wild fish are usually more expensive than those that are bred in the fish farms.

However, the advance in modern aqua culture techniques enable farmer to breed expensive, much sought after species that can grow big in captivity.

The mangrove is another natural place where fish come to breed.  I have seen blue spotted stingrays swimming freely under the jetty at Merang village at a river mouth. 

The locals also catch garoupa fish fry for sale.  They use a simple trap made out of the branches of the casuarina trees.  By leaving this trap for a few days, the fish fry which were attracted to seek shelter there are captured.  These fish fry command quite a high price to fish farmers. 

Kelong is a traditional way to breed fish (man-made fish shelter, surrounded by nets).  They are built in the middle of the sea.  Fish farms,instead, are built in rivers or lake (some are built natural lakes, some are man-made).  Abandoned tin mines are also developed into fish farms in some suitable places.