Malaysian Kuih Guide: Traditional Sweets and How to Tell Them Apart

Green, layered, sticky, crisp, rolled in coconut or soaked in palm sugar: how to tell Malaysia’s favourite kuih apart, and when and where to eat them.

Walk past any morning market, office pantry or Ramadan bazaar in Malaysia and you will see trays of them: small, brightly coloured cakes and snacks known as kuih (also spelt kueh). The plural, kuih-muih, covers hundreds of sweet and savoury bites, most made from rice flour, glutinous rice, coconut, palm sugar (gula melaka) and pandan leaf, the fragrant leaf that turns so many of them green. They are eaten at breakfast, with afternoon tea and at every celebration, and many are protected: Malaysia’s Department of National Heritage lists dozens of kuih, from seri muka and kuih keria to onde-onde and bahulu, among the country’s heritage foods.

Kuih belong to all of Malaysia’s communities. Malay, Peranakan (Straits Chinese), Chinese and Indian cooks all have their own, and many are shared. Here are the ones you are most likely to meet, and how to recognise them.

Layered and Steamed

Seri muka is the easiest to spot: a bright green, smooth layer of pandan custard on top of a white layer of glutinous rice, cut into squares. The top is sweet and silky, the bottom slightly salty and chewy. Kuih lapis is a steamed cake of thin, coloured layers that children love to peel apart one by one. Kuih talam pairs a green pandan layer with a white coconut-cream top.

Rolled in Coconut

Onde-onde (listed by the heritage department as buah melaka) are little green balls of glutinous rice dough filled with palm sugar and rolled in fresh grated coconut. Bite carefully: the sugar inside melts and bursts. Kuih kosui is a soft, dark, caramel-flavoured jelly cake coated in coconut, and kuih lompang (also called kaswi) are small, bowl-shaped steamed cakes topped with coconut.

Fried and Sugared

Kuih keria look like small doughnuts, but are made with sweet potato and coated in a crunchy shell of sugar. Savoury kuih are fried too: the karipap (curry puff), a half-moon pastry filled with spiced potato and meat, is a favourite at tea time.

East Coast and Peranakan Favourites

On the east coast, look for akok, a rich little cake of eggs, coconut milk and sugar, cooked in a mould until browned and slightly chewy. When the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture announced in September 2025 that 213 foods had been recognised as National Heritage, it named akok and kuih jala emas, golden threads of sweet egg yolk, among Kelantan’s entries, Malaysia’s national broadcaster RTM reported.

From the Chinese and Peranakan kitchen comes kuih angku (ang ku kueh): a soft, chewy cake of glutinous rice flour, shaped like a tortoise in a carved mould and usually filled with mung bean paste. In March 2026, Bernama reported that it is often served at weddings and celebrations for newborns, as it is believed to bring good fortune, and that newer fillings such as red bean and kaya (coconut jam) have joined the classic.

Indian Sweets and Festival Kuih

Malaysia’s Indian community adds its own favourites, several of them also on the national heritage list: putu mayam, nests of steamed rice-flour noodles eaten with grated coconut and brown sugar; muruku, crisp, spiralled savoury snacks made especially for Deepavali; masalodeh, crunchy fried lentil fritters; and sweet laddu. At Hari Raya, Malay families bring out dodol, a dark, sticky toffee-like sweet of coconut milk, palm sugar and glutinous rice flour that is stirred for hours in a huge wok, and wajik, glutinous rice cooked in palm sugar. During Chinese New Year, look for crisp kuih kapit (also called love letters) and pineapple tarts.

Where and When to Eat Kuih

• Morning markets and roadside stalls sell kuih fresh from about 7am. Buy early: the best go first.
• Ramadan bazaars: during the fasting month, evening bazaars across the country sell dozens of kinds for breaking the fast. See our Pasar Payang guide for a market where kuih is sold all year.
• Hotels and cafés: many hotels in Malaysia include a small selection of kuih at breakfast or afternoon tea, an easy way to try several kinds at once.
• Price: kuih are usually sold by the piece or in small boxes, and pointing is fine.
• Eat them fresh. Most kuih are made without preservatives and are best eaten the same day. Coconut-topped kinds do not travel well in the heat.

Pick three colours, three textures and one you cannot name. That is how every Malaysian learned.

Which kuih would you choose first? Tell us in the comments below.

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