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Food & Nutrition
Healthy Diets

Famous Malaysian Snacks by Calories

19 August 2022 · 12 mins read

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Find out more about famous Malaysian snacks and the calories they contain.

Malaysians love food, which is no surprise considering the abundance of varieties that we have. Aside from regular meals, Malaysians love to snack as well. Most of our meetings have some form of kuih-muih, curry puffs, or other snacks.

Often you will find Malaysians munching on a bun or two between meals, or a packet of chips, goreng pisang, cucur udang! We really are spoilt for choice when it comes to snacks.

However, have you considered how many calories there may be in some of your favourite snacks?

Understanding calories

Firstly, let's understand calories. Just like a teaspoon or an inch, a calorie is a unit of measurement.

Calories are the amount of energy released when your body breaks down (digests and absorbs) food. The more calories a food has, the more energy it can provide to your body.

However, when you eat more calories than needed, your body stores the extra calories as body fat. Even fat-free food can have a lot of calories. Excess calories in any form will be stored as body fat.

While calories are not the only measurement to determine how healthy a type of food is, it provides a good baseline.

Recommended calories intake

According to the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines 2010, the recommended calories intake for adults (18-59 years old) who are living a sedentary lifestyle is as below:

  • Male: 2000 kcal / day
  • Female: 1500 kcal / day

However, the calories intake also depends on the level of activity and exercise you do. Another key factor is that the older you are, the fewer calories you need as your activity levels start to slow down.

Calories in famous Malaysian snacks

It is difficult to ascertain the specific calorie value for any type of given food as a lot depends on the serving size, and serving sizes differ.

However, the table below gives you an indication of the different amounts of calories each food contains.

We also compare each of them to a bowl of rice that contains 207 calories. That will give you a great visual idea of how many calories you are actually consuming!

No. Snack Serving Size Kcal Equivalent Bowls of Rice
1 Agar agar 1 piece 37 0.18
2 Chicken Curry Bun 1 piece 204 0.99
3 Chinese glutinous rice (Lor Mai Kai) 1 bowl 422 2.04
4 Cucur udang 1 piece 144 0.70
5 Curry puff 2 pieces 256 1.24
6 Doughnut 1 piece 268 1.30
7 Fried spring roll 1 piece 91 0.44
8 Kaya/Coconut bun 1 piece 219 1.06
9 Kuih Ang Koo 1 piece 111 0.54
10 Kuih apam balik 1 piece 282 1.36
11 Kuih koci, pulut putih 1 piece 183 0.88
12 Kuih talam seri kaya 1 piece 183 0.88
13 Nuts 6 whole almonds / cashew nuts; 1 whole walnut, 20 small peanuts without skin 45 0.22
14 Papadam 1 piece 26 0.12
15 Pisang goreng 1 piece 129 0.62
16 Plain Bread 1 piece 75 0.36
17 Potato chips 1 piece 95 0.46
18 Processed cheese 1 piece 95 0.26
19 Red bean bun 1 piece 223 1.08
20 Rojak (Chinese style) 1 plate 443 2.14
21 Rojak (Pasembur) 1 plate 752 3.63
22 Sardine Sandwich 1 piece 71 0.34
23 Vadai 1 piece 194 0.94
24 Yam cake 1 piece 174 0.84
25 Yau cha kueh 1 piece 292 1.41
26 Yoghurt, low fat 1 cup (150g) 100 0.48

Calories in Local Malaysian Dishes

No. Dish Serving Size Kcal
1 Fried beehoon 1 plate (200g) 346
2 Chicken rice 1 plate (168g) 203
3 Briyani rice 1 plate (245g) 448
4 Soto ayam 1 bowl (493g) 512
5 Fried rice 1 plate (200g) 386
6 Roti canai 1 piece (95g) 301
7 Roti telur 1 piece (135g) 356
8 Capati 1 piece (64g) 192
9 Thosai 1 piece (114g) 210
10 Curry mee 1 bowl (544g) 702
11 Noodles soup 1 bowl (522g) 355
12 Nasi lemak 1 plate (200g) 338
13

Double cheeseburger

French fries

Coke

1 piece (156g)

1 pack (67g)

1 glass (250g)

365

208

104

14 Murtabak 1 piece (146g) 231
15 Pizza with chicken, mushroom, tomato 1 medium slice (187g) 400
16 Fried kuey teow 1 plate (170g) 321
17 Chicken kurma 1 medium piece (125g) 179

Find out more about your calorie intake at Gleneagles Hospital

If you have certain medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, consuming certain snacks may affect your recommended daily calorie intake and inadvertently cause complications.

Contact your doctor or the Diet Counselling Centre at your nearest Gleneagles Hospital to receive professional dietary advice from the team of qualified dietitians.

If you would like to make an appointment for health screening, please contact the health screening centre at the Gleneagles Hospital nearest to you.

References

  1. Malaysian Dietary Guidelines. Available at https://www.moh.gov.my/index.php/pages/view/227 [Accessed 17 June 2022]

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