Healthy Malaysian Breakfasts You Should Be Having To Kickstart Your Day!

If you are a Malaysian, you should be well aware of our local food options for your first meal of the day in the form of your breakfast. When it comes to healthy Malaysian breakfast, there are options out there.

Yes, we are used to our normal day to day roti canai and nasi lemak, but those are the fattening options out there. Yes there may be certain forms of a healthier alternative out there, but it is rarer to come across. With most Malaysians being unable to have their breakfast, let alone have a healthy meal, it is really important for you to realize what your options are when you are having your meals. A healthy Malaysian breakfast is not as difficult to come across as it may seem to you.

You just need to assess your options out there and make a wise pick! In this article, we will be going over certain meals that you can have for your breakfast, which are also the healthier option for you. Also, some of the tastiest foods available out there in Malaysia also happen to be among one of if not the greasiest, which poses a dilemma for you weight watchers out there. You do not want to miss out on the local fare but neither do you want to cause your waistline to expand to a bad extend. Even breakfasts are usually naughty, the all-time local favorite is the nasi lemak, which literally translates to the meaning that is fat rice! To begin your morning in a less calorific way without sacrificing our authentic Malaysian flavors, try these alternatives when eating out at the kopitiams which are the Chinese coffee shops, mamak which are the Indian Muslim restaurants, or the street side warungs. These different types of foods in this article may be something that you can swap your current meals for or some different types of meals that you can try out and give it a go!



THOSAI
Many Malaysians are well known with thosai which is a flat Indian bread that is made from and with black lentils and rice batter, with it having very little oil content. It is more or less a fermented crepe, which is responsible for the slightly sour taste. The thosai is a thin and crispy yet soft in other places, the thosai comes folded on the plate and is normally served with coconut chutney or lentil curry or more commonly known as dhall for dipping. The taste of it is deceptively light but it will be filling. There are also other variations of the thosai such as egg thosai, cheese thosai and as well as potato thosai. This thosai has approximately 120 calories per serving which is definitely lower than those other alternatives out there!



CHAPATI
The chapati is another type and variation of Indian flatbread, chapati is normally made from wheat flour and water, and is ideal for those of you guys who are intending on watching their waistline. It closely resembles a version of a flat pancake and normally, should be soft and light, with both the presentation and the taste of the chapati. Chapati is normally served with dhall which is the lentil curry or a light chicken or fish curry gravy. This chapati has also a similar calorie count as the thosai, which is approximately 120 calories per serving,



IDLI
Besides that, idli refers to a type of steamed rice cakes which are soft and spongy. This batter and mixture consists mainly of fermented black lentils and rice, which is when it is put into molds and steamed, turns into little fluffy rounds. If you were to eat two pieces of idli eaten with coconut chutney or curry sauce, it can most certainly give you a guilt free start to the day without having to worry about your calories too much! And speaking of calories, per serving, the approximate amount of calories is estimated to be around 85 calories.



PUTTU Now, the puttu scores high on the healthy scale as it is prepared from just flour, grated coconut and water, and then it is steamed into a cylindrical puttu maker. If made with ragi flour which is a finger millet, the result is a brown colored puttu and lower calories. Locals also tend to enjoy it with some brown sugar or even ripe banana which is obviously, you would want to choose the later for a way more nutritious breakfast and a healthier breakfast meal altogether. With one serving, it approximately carries about 145 calories.



STEAMED DIM SUM
The next one, the dim sum comes in smaller portions which are meant to be shared, such as tapas. The assortment of a range of choices includes fried and also steamed varieties, meat or non-meat variants, savory or sweet or even rice based dishes such as congee. To be as healthy as possible, kindly choose to avoid the fried varieties of the dim sum and order the steamed varieties, such as the ones that are har gow which are prawn dumplings or even steamed filled buns. The calorie content of this would be around 40 calories.



CHEE CHEONG FUN
This particular dish is made from flat rice noodles, and there are mainly two popular types of chee cheong fun which are the Hong Kong style which consists of thin slippery sheets with the fillings of prawns or pork bits and is drizzled with soy sauce. And, the Penang version comes in long rolls which are cut into small pieces before the sesame seeds are sprinkled as a garnish, and then served with sweet brown sauce or even chili sauce. Some places also tend to offer curry sauces and other add on such as fish balls, fried soybean sheets, and tofu. If you are planning on having added on, then two rolls of the chee cheong fun will be more than sufficient for you. This carries around 236 calories per serving.



RICE PORRIDGE
And of course, for some mornings, there is nothing that could be more comforting than a hot bowl of plain rice porridge with added condiments such as spring onions, fried shallots, white pepper as well as soy sauce. Try the seafood or even the chicken variants for adding more taste and if you do not mind some extra calories. This meal has approximately 180 calories.



NOODLE SOUP
It can often seem odd to have a hot soupy noodles first thing in the morning, but it makes for a hearty breakfast besides normally being quick to serve, affordable and not very greasy. At some Chinese hawker stalls, look for stalls that are selling fish ball noodle soup or maybe even some other variants. The Malay version of the dish implement also involve chicken and spices which can be asked from the vendors if they have mee sup or mee soto. A bowl of this would have approximately 140 calories per serving.



EGGS & TOAST
The simple yet satisfying combo of two half boiled eggs and some toast can be obtained at most conventional Chinese coffee shops and on your local breakfast menus. Just crack the eggs into the provided saucer, add a dash of white pepper and soy sauce as you please, mix it all up together and scoop it up with a spoon or you could also slurp it straight off the saucer! Do remember to ask for some plain toast or else you may be served the sinful version that is covered with butter or kaya which is sweet brown custard. This meal would come in at about 150 calories per serving.



THE NASI LEMAK
This is for, your cheat day. This Malaysian staple comprises of rice cooked in coconut milk, along with sambal which is a chili paste, fried anchovies, peanuts, egg and also cucumber. At a regular nasi lemak stall or restaurant, you also have the choice of having added on chicken, beef and cockles curry. A good way to start with and to keep it more controllable calorie wise is with having nasi lemak bungkus, a pre packed nasi lemak in its purest form. Small pyramids wrapped in banana leaf or newsprint or even brown wax paper, each bungkus or packet gives you a smaller portion of rice with sambal, a wedge of hardboiled egg, with cucumber slices and a slight sprinkle of anchovies and peanuts.