Connie Chew’s tiny little kitchen is a veritable Aladdin’s cave of fermented food. From her refrigerator, she unpacks fermented tamarind, mushrooms, fish guts, salt, tempeh and natto.

Dan Curry Rice at Mei Ling Food Centre serves hearty Curry Rice with crispy cutlets, rich curry, and a fiery sambal belacan ...

a stall run by a kind woman named Redha in Singapore’s Amoy Street Food Centre. Nasi ulam is served traditionally with ...

Sambal belacan is a Malay-style sambal made by pounding ... and Terengganu and has been declared a Malaysian heritage food. Budu is often paired with fish, rice, and vegetables.