The short answer
Start with Malaysia’s MOH plate: quarter wholegrains, quarter protein, half vegetables and fruit. The sources give plate proportions and ordering words, but no ranking of mamak dishes. Read every food figure with its serving and where it was measured. For drinks, kopi O kosong means black coffee without sugar or milk. Kopi O includes sugar.
The MOH Hospital Sibu plate guide is quarter wholegrains, quarter protein, half vegetables and fruit. Its protein choices include fish, poultry, meat or egg.
A plate guide and an ordering glossary. Neither needs a motivational speech.
The serving figures in this table come from Yeo and colleagues, measured at Singapore food courts. They are not Malaysian mamak portions.
| Item | Serving measured | Energy | Where measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roti prata (closest measured match to roti canai) | 246 g | 511 kcal | Singapore food court |
| Egg thosai | 325 g | 484 kcal | Singapore food court |
| Masala thosai | 569 g | 971 kcal | Singapore food court |
| Chapati set with potato | 336 g | 558 kcal | Singapore food court |
| Economical mee goreng | 350 g | 566 kcal | Singapore food court, Chinese stall |
| Boneless mutton biryani | 459 g | 799 kcal | Singapore food court |
| Nasi kandar | No published figure found | No published figure found | No measurement found |
| Fried kuey teow | No serving figure found for energy | No energy figure found | Malaysia (volunteer research below) |
The paper does not specify whether the prata serving includes curry. Plain capati is not listed.
We found no official published portion weight for Malaysian mamak roti canai or nasi kandar, and no published nasi kandar energy figure. Biryani cannot quietly stand in for nasi kandar.
Zainal Arifen and colleagues reported saturated fat per 100 g in Malaysian street foods: roti canai 3.6 g from 2 pan-fried samples, murtabak 5.4 g, roti jala 5.2 g, fried kuey teow 2.9 g, fried noodles 1.9 g and nasi lemak 2.3 g.
Henry and colleagues’ compendium reports glycaemic index measured in volunteers:
The paper calls them “flatbread”, not roti canai. We found no published journal figure specifically named roti canai.
The Kopi reference gives these ordering definitions:
| You say | It means |
|---|---|
| Kopi | Coffee with sugar and condensed milk |
| Kopi O | Black coffee with sugar |
| Kopi O kosong | Black coffee without sugar or milk |
| Kopi C | Coffee with sugar and evaporated milk |
| Kopi siu dai / siew dai | Coffee with less sugar and condensed milk |
| Kopi peng | Iced coffee |
According to SAYS’ glossary, teh tarik is tea with condensed milk pulled between two cups. Teh O means tea with sugar; teh C means tea with evaporated milk and sugar. “O” is not a disappearing-sugar trick.
See How much sugar is in teh tarik?.
“Kurang manis” means “less sweet”. Homage, a blog citing no study, says the sugar taken out can be negligible.
Bernama reported on Jom Kosong, a campaign by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN). Tealive reported 1,000 participating outlets.
FoodNavigator-Asia reported on 21 January 2019 that the Deputy Health Minister asked mamak shops to voluntarily reduce the sugar content of their drinks. The Star, on 1 October 2024, captioned a photo: “Most mamak outlets use condensed milk instead of sugar to make numerous popular drinks”.
“Kopi O kosong, please.”
That means black coffee without sugar or milk. Short order. No speech required.
Kosong means “empty” in Malay and indicates no sugar in the glossary. Kopi O kosong means black coffee without sugar or milk.
Kopi O is black coffee with sugar. Kopi C has evaporated milk and sugar. Kopi siu dai means coffee with less sugar.
We found an unpublished student thesis, but no published journal figure specifically named roti canai. The compendium’s “flatbread” entries do not identify it as roti canai.