Cooking & recipes
Olive Oil for Cooking: How to Use It in a Malaysian Kitchen
A practical guide to olive oil for cooking in a Malaysian kitchen, from tumis and roasting to what a tablespoon actually costs.
The short answer
Olive oil for cooking suits most of a Malaysian kitchen: tumis, roasting, marinades, rice and anything served cold. Use about half what you would pour of a neutral oil. At RM236 a litre a tablespoon costs roughly RM3.54, so the price lands per dish, not per bottle.
Extra virgin olive oil is not a quiet swap for palm or corn oil. It has a taste, and that taste ends up in the food.
This is a kitchen guide. Where it works in Malaysian cooking, how much to pour, what a pour costs at RM236 a litre, and when to reach for an infused bottle instead.
Is olive oil for cooking worth it in a Malaysian kitchen?
Yes, for most of what a Malaysian kitchen does daily. Tumis, roasting, marinades, rice and anything finished cold sit comfortably inside its range. Olive oil for cooking behaves differently from a neutral oil: it carries flavour instead of hiding, so use it where that flavour is wanted, and use less than you expect.
Where it fits less well is a wok on a hard flame. Heat limits are their own subject, and what heat olive oil can take covers the numbers.
What changes when you cook with extra virgin
Three things change. The dish picks up a peppery, grassy note that a neutral oil never adds. Onions and garlic brown a little more slowly and more evenly. And quantity starts to matter, because a heavy hand tastes heavy: one tablespoon of a good oil reads as seasoning, three reads as a mistake.
- Flavour — green, faintly bitter, with a peppery catch at the back of the throat.
- Colour — vegetables roast to a deeper gold.
- Texture — dressings cling instead of sliding off.
- Quantity — start with half a neutral oil's measure.
Where olive oil for cooking works in Malaysian dishes
Everywhere the heat is moderate and the oil is meant to be tasted. Tumis for a sambal base or a plate of stir-fried sayur. Roasting ayam, potatoes, terung or pumpkin. Marinades for grilled fish. A spoon forked through rice once it has steamed. Salads, kerabu and ulam, where nothing is heated at all.
| Use | How | How much |
|---|---|---|
| Tumis | Medium flame, warm pan | 1 tbsp for two |
| Roasting vegetables | Tossed on the tray | 2 tbsp per tray |
| Marinade, fish or chicken | With salt and lime | 2 tbsp per kilo |
| Rice after steaming | Forked through, off heat | 1 tsp per cup |
| Dressing, kerabu, ulam | Three parts oil, one acid | 3 tbsp per bowl |
What does olive oil for cooking cost per dish?
Less than the shelf price suggests, because you pour teaspoons and tablespoons rather than cups. Arabian Village Extra Virgin is RM59.00 for 250 ml and RM109.00 for 500 ml, which is RM236 and RM218 a litre. Divide by a thousand and a millilitre costs about 24 sen from the small bottle, about 22 sen from the large.
| What you pour | Volume | From 250 ml | From 500 ml |
|---|---|---|---|
| A teaspoon, finishing a plate | 5 ml | RM1.18 | RM1.09 |
| A tablespoon, tumis for two | 15 ml | RM3.54 | RM3.27 |
| Two tablespoons, a roasting tray | 30 ml | RM7.08 | RM6.54 |
| A quarter cup, marinade or dressing | 60 ml | RM14.16 | RM13.08 |
Classic oil or an infusion?
Reach for the classic when the oil should not decide the dish: roasting, tumis, rice, a dressing you are seasoning yourself. Reach for an infusion when you want one clear flavour to arrive without chopping anything. The Infused Collection is six botanicals in the same cold-pressed base, in 250 ml bottles at RM75.00.
- Wild thyme — roast potatoes, flatbread, a dipping bowl.
- Rosemary-basil — grilled chicken, tomato salads, pasta.
- Turmeric-black pepper — rice, roasted cauliflower, lentils.
- [Blackseed](/products/infused-extra-virgin-olive-oil-blackseed) — dips, labneh, warm bread.
- Fennel-anise — fish, slaws, carrot dishes.
- Lavender-chamomile — fruit, yoghurt, light bakes.
Buying and keeping a bottle you cook from every day
Buy the size you will finish in two or three months, then keep it away from the two things that age it fastest, heat and light. A dark bottle in a closed cupboard holds up far better than a clear one standing beside the hob in a kitchen that never really cools down.
- Store it in a cupboard, not above the stove.
- Close the cap after every pour. Air dulls it.
- 250 ml for a few times a week, 500 ml for daily cooking.
- Fresh oil smells green and grassy; tired oil smells flat or waxy.
In Malaysia the brand is carried by Berkat Madinah Store, its official distributor, at five branches in Selangor (Ampang, Kajang, Shah Alam, Cash & Carry in Ampang and Sri Gombak). Ampang and Sri Gombak open 8:00 am to midnight daily. Where to buy has the addresses.
Cook with it, do not save it
A bottle kept for special occasions goes stale before anyone gets to it. Olive oil for cooking earns its price on weeknights: the roasting tray, the tumis, the spoon forked through rice. Open the next bottle before the last runs dry.