Ibu berkata kuah udang itu terlalu panas, jadi ayah tapis sekali lagi sebelum kami makan.

Yes. Berkata means to say / to speak and is a fairly neutral, standard verb.

In this sentence:

• Ibu berkata = Mother said
• literally, ibu = mother, berkata = said/spoke

Related forms:

• kata can be a noun meaning word, and in less formal usage it can also work like say/said
• cakap is often more conversational and can mean talk / speak / say
• berkata sounds a bit more standard or written than cakap

So Ibu berkata... is a natural way to say Mother said...

Malay often leaves out that in reported speech, just like English often does.

So:

• Ibu berkata kuah udang itu terlalu panas
  = Mother said (that) the prawn broth/gravy was too hot

You can sometimes use bahawa for that, especially in more formal writing:

• Ibu berkata bahawa kuah udang itu terlalu panas

But in everyday Malay, leaving it out is very common and natural.

Kuah usually means gravy, sauce, broth, or curry liquid, depending on context.
Udang means prawn or shrimp.

So kuah udang is literally:

• prawn gravy
• shrimp sauce
• prawn broth

The most natural English translation depends on the situation. Malay noun phrases often work like this:

• sup ayam = chicken soup
• jus oren = orange juice
• kuah udang = prawn/shrimp gravy or broth

The second noun describes the first noun.

Because in Malay, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that/the) usually come after the noun phrase.

So:

• kuah udang itu = that prawn gravy / the prawn gravy
• literally: gravy prawn that

This is normal Malay word order.

Compare:

• buku itu = that book
• rumah besar itu = that big house
• kuah udang itu = that prawn gravy

Notice that itu comes after the whole noun phrase.

It can feel like either one in translation.

In Malay, itu literally means that, but in many contexts it also helps make something definite, so in English it may be translated as the.

So:

• kuah udang itu could be understood as
  that prawn gravy
  or
  the prawn gravy

English chooses whichever sounds more natural in context.

This is very common in Malay: itu often does more than one job.

No. Terlalu means too, not just very.

So:

• panas = hot
• terlalu panas = too hot

Compare:

• sangat panas = very hot
• terlalu panas = too hot

That difference matters:

• very hot = strong description
• too hot = more than is acceptable or comfortable

So the sentence says the broth was too hot, not merely very hot.

Normally panas means hot in temperature.

If you want to say spicy hot, Malay usually uses:

• pedas = spicy

So:

• kuah itu panas = the gravy is hot
• kuah itu pedas = the gravy is spicy

A learner might confuse these because English uses hot for both temperature and spiciness, but Malay usually separates them.

Here, jadi means so / therefore.

It links the two parts of the sentence:

• Ibu berkata kuah udang itu terlalu panas
• jadi ayah tapis sekali lagi sebelum kami makan

So the meaning is:

• Mother said the prawn gravy was too hot, so father strained it again before we ate.

Jadi can also mean become, depending on context:

• Dia jadi marah = He became angry

But here it is clearly a connector meaning so.

Good question. The root word is tapis = filter / strain.

In more formal or fully marked Malay, you may expect:

• ayah menapis = father strained/filtered

But in everyday Malay, especially in speech and informal writing, the bare root verb is often used:

• ayah tapis = father strained

So this sentence sounds natural and conversational.

A rough comparison would be that English sometimes prefers shorter, more direct phrasing in everyday speech too. If you want the more fully marked standard form, menapis is possible.

Sekali lagi means again or more literally one more time.

So:

• tapis sekali lagi = strain again / strain one more time

Malay often places this kind of expression after the verb:

• cuba sekali lagi = try again
• baca sekali lagi = read again
• tapis sekali lagi = strain again

So its position is completely normal.

Yes. Literally:

• sekali = once
• lagi = again / more

Together:

• sekali lagi = once again / one more time / again

In natural English, again is often the smoothest translation, but once again is also correct.

Word for word:

• sebelum = before
• kami = we / us
• makan = eat

So:

• sebelum kami makan = before we ate / before we eat / before we were going to eat

Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do, so makan itself does not show eat / ate / will eat. The time is understood from context.

This is an important Malay distinction.

• kami = we, but not including the listener
• kita = we, including the listener

So sebelum kami makan means:

• before we ate, where we refers to the speaker and others, but not the person being spoken to

If the listener were included, Malay would use kita.

This is a difference English does not normally make, so learners often need time to get used to it.

Malay does not mark tense on verbs the way English does.

So:

• berkata
• tapis
• makan

do not change form for past, present, or future in the same way English verbs do.

Time is usually understood from:

1. context
2. time words
3. the logic of the situation

In this sentence, English will probably translate it in the past:

• Mother said the prawn gravy was too hot, so father strained it again before we ate.

But depending on context, it could also be understood more generally:

• Mother says the prawn gravy is too hot, so father strains it again before we eat.

Malay leaves that more open unless something else specifies the time.

Malay often uses family terms directly, especially when the relationship is obvious from context.

So:

• Ibu = mother / mom
• ayah = father / dad

Depending on context, these may mean:

• my mother
• our mother
• simply Mother / Mom

English often needs a possessive, but Malay does not always state it.

So Ibu berkata... jadi ayah... is perfectly natural and does not sound incomplete.

Yes. It follows a very common pattern:

• noun phrase
  • itu
• then the predicate

So:

• kuah udang itu = the/that prawn gravy
• terlalu panas = too hot

Whole structure:

• kuah udang itu terlalu panas = the/that prawn gravy is too hot

Malay often does not need a separate word for is in this kind of sentence.

Compare:

• Rumah itu besar = That house is big
• Air ini sejuk = This water is cold
• Kuah udang itu terlalu panas = That prawn gravy is too hot

Because Malay often omits the equivalent of to be in simple descriptive sentences.

So:

• kuah udang itu terlalu panas
• literally: that prawn gravy too hot

But in natural English:

• that prawn gravy is too hot

This is normal Malay grammar. You also see it in sentences like:

• Dia tinggi = He is tall
• Bilik itu bersih = That room is clean
• Makanan ini sedap = This food is delicious

No separate is/am/are is needed.

It sounds fairly natural and everyday, but not slangy.

Reasons:

• berkata is standard and slightly more formal than very casual cakap
• tapis without men- feels more conversational
• overall structure is normal spoken/written Malay

So it sits somewhere around neutral everyday Malay. It is not extremely formal, but it is also not very colloquial or street-style.

Yes. A more formal version might be:

• Ibu berkata bahawa kuah udang itu terlalu panas, jadi ayah menapisnya sekali lagi sebelum kami makan.

Changes:

• bahawa = that
• menapisnya = strained it

This sounds more explicit and a bit more formal.
The original sentence is shorter and more natural for everyday use.