Susheela Raghavan certainly thinks so. She’s author of the new cookbook, “Flavors of Malaysia: A Journey Through Time, Tastes and Traditions” (Hippocrene, $40).

If you want to go all out, try the rendang made with slow-cooked wagyu beef cheek ($44). It is served in a curry-meets-demi-glace sauce, coconut milk, and other aromatics, including lemongrass ...

Food in the country amalgamates different influences, including Indigenous populations, communities from China and India, and a colonial legacy from Portugal, Holland, and Britain.

Its aim: to bring Malaysian food into mainstream Los Angeles cuisine. Lee, who was born in China but grew up in Lincoln Heights, is considered one of the premier Asian chefs in Los Angeles.