Are you a culinary enthusiast and ready to explore the diverse culinary world of Halal Cuisine? Halal culinary tourism offering a Muslim friendly and the chance to taste also understand the diverse cultures, traditions, and heritage behind each dish.
If you are Southeast Asian and looking for halal culinary adventure, you deserve to be happy as these Southeast Asian countries provide Halal Culinary Tourism that you can explore. As the concerns of their securitisation act for halal issues, Muslim Tourists should feel safe and secure for it.
For those planning a holiday with halal culinary exploration here are the 5 must-visit countries with halal culinary tourism in Southeast Asia.
1. Malaysian Halal Culinary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia that has become a frontrunner in the Halal Industry for a long time. It’s known for its diverse culture and rich history especially for its food that is a fusion of different cultures including Malay, Indian, Chinese, and European.
Malaysian culinary is known for its unique blend of spices, herbs, and flavors that is different from any other places. In Kuala Lumpur, you can found so much halal cuisine stall that sell Nasi Lemak, roti canai, teh tarik, and many more.
It is not difficult to find and taste halal culinary delights in Kuala Lumpur, many restaurants or food stalls already have halal certificates from JAKIM (Halal Certification Agency) Malaysia. You can find the halal logo that is visible at the entrance of the stall or on their stall's menu.
This make it easier for us to taste varios halal dishes in Kuala Lumpur. Restaurant and shop waiters will be happy to tell you that the dishes they serve are halal. To make it even sure you can also verify their halal certification via Halal Malaysia Portal official website.
2. Indonesian Halal Culinary in Jakarta, Indonesia
In Jakarta, as the capital city of Indonesia, we can explore many halal culinary incorporating various ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavours. The popular dishes that you can found in are nasi goreng (fried rice), rendang (spicy meat stew), gado-gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce), soto (a soup made with chicken or beef, vegetables, and spices) and many more.
Most Indonesia food is halal, as the majority of the population in Indonesia is Muslim and follows halal dietary laws. But there are some dishes that may contain non halal ingredients such as pork or alcohol. You can know the food in Indonesia is halal or not by looking for Halal certification logo that is issued by Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Produk Halal (BPJPH).
This halal logo certification mostly visible at the front of halal restaurant or stall before you enter it. To make it even sure you can also check wether the restaurant or stall is halal or not by check their halal certification on bpjph.halal.go.id.
3. Singaporean Halal Culinary in Singapore
Even though Singapore is not a Muslim majority population country, this country provide Halal culinary that you can explore and enjoy. Muslim-friendly restaurants in Singapore can be classified as establishments that serve halal food with halal ingredients but may offer alcoholic drink.
This country culinary heritage is rich and diverse, with many dishes and ingredients that come from different communities. Some of halal culinary that you can find and have to try in Singapore are Laksa, Hainanese chicken rice, chwee jia bao, and many more.
You can know the food and culinary in Singapore is surely halal or not is by the halal certification that is issued by The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS). You can find the MUIS Halal-certified logo at the restaurant and you can verify it on MUIS official website to make sure it is halal.
4. Thai Halal Culinary in Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand is a country that may not have Muslim majority population but it provide many diversed food culinary heritage that perfect for a culinary adventure. This country is known as a paradise where spicy, sweet, sour, and salty that are perfectly balanced in every meal.
Although Thailand is predominantly a Budhist country, it’s worth knowing that their second biggest religion is Islam. Although not all the food in Thailand is Halal, but you can certainly find Halal food pretty easily especially at Bangkok that is capital city of Thailand.
There are lots of popular dishes that you can find in Bangkok, that are Pad Thai (a stir-fried noodle dish), green curry, tom yum, mango sticky rice, soup, Massaman curry, papaya salad, red curry, and many more.
It’s recommended to do some research whether the food is Halal or not and you can find it by overseeing Halal certification for food products that is issued by the Central Islamic Council of Thailand (CICOT). To verify the halal certification that its restaurant has, you can check it on the CICOT offiicial website that is halal.co.th/en.
5. Vietnamese Halal Culinary in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia country destination that brings a captivating and mouth-watering experience on Vietnam culinary journey. It has diverse flavours and regional specialities dishes that you can explore.
Ho Chi Minh is the city in Vietnam that you can find range of Halal-certified restaurants, grocery stores, and prayer facilities there.There are many traditional Vietnamese dishes that you can find in Ho Chi Minh like Pho (iconic noodle soup), Banh Mi (baguette sandwich that can be filled with chicken, eggs, and vegatables), Fresh Spring Rolls, Com Tam (broken rice with frilled chicken or fish), and many more.
Despite being a predominantly non-Muslim, Ho Chi Minh is becoming more halal-friendly destination. Its country also developing national standars for halal food, agricultural production, and other areas.
Vietnam has launched national Halal certification center (HALCERT) on October 2024 by the Vietnamese Government to promote Halal economy to the country. So, Muslims can feel safe because of the HALCERT that its country has. You can also verify more on their official website that is on halalghc.com.
