Pregnancy-friendly Recipes for Street Foods in Malaysia - May 2024

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Picture it: Local favourites’ delicious noodles and burgers from Petaling Street! Mouth-watering, isn’t it? Street foods in Malaysia have always been a popular choice for foodies, especially the Asian folks!

You too probably are fond of the delicious tit-bits. The crunchy-spicy bites can fill your heart with joy at any time. But, are those foods healthy enough to try in pregnancy? What do the experts say?

Are Street Foods Safe During Pregnancy?

According to the experts, street foods in pregnancy are not harmful. But, due to poor food hygiene and unhealthy cooking styles, they are not recommended in pregnancy.

Mostly, the street foods are prepared with not-so-clean water, poor-quality oil, and over-fried food items. All of them can bring health issues in pregnancy. Especially, it may increase the risks of listeria attack. The pre-motherhood days ask for proper dietary care that includes hygiene and cleanliness. Therefore, street foods become a concern these days.

Nutritionists often do not recommend having street foods in pregnancy. However, we understand how you love them. The regular soups and fruit salads for breakfast may bore you these days. Your mind probably looks for some crispy-savoury delicious delicacies from the streets.

Things to Keep in Mind

So, you have to take care of your health. Also, you should satisfy your cravings. If you cannot eat the unhygienic foods from the streets, satisfy your taste buds in other way. Let’s cook the same delicacies in a healthy way.

Yes, today we will discuss the healthy way of cooking street foods. Before moving towards the recipes, let us remind you the basics once.

Do not eat any raw food.
Do not over-fry.
Avoid unpasteurised milk.
Add plenty of fruits and vegetables in your diet.
Maintain a diet routine.
Follow nutritionists personalised advice for you.

Now that we have our reminders in place to keep in mind while planning your pregnancy diet, let’s get to the recipes, shall we?

Healthy Ramly Burger Platter

If you look around the neighborhoods in Malaysia, Ramly burger is a popular dish. Almost every nook and corner of the streets in Malaysia have stalls for it. The delicious burger strikes through the hearts of Malaysians. If you are also fond of it but pregnancy does not allow you to have street foods, here is a healthy Ramly burger recipe for you. Let's have a look.

Course Appetiser

Cuisine Malay

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings people

Calories 596kcal

Ingredients

4 slices burger bread
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oregano fresh
1 tbsp chilli sauce
2 eggs beaten
2 tsp black pepper powder
300 g minced chicken
1 onion cut into rings
1 capsicum chopped
1 tomato chopped
lettuce leaves blanched
1 cucumber sliced
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter unsalted
2 tbsp mayonnaise

Instructions

Mix oregano, soy sauce, chilli sauce, black pepper powder with minced chicken. Shape the pair of patties for two burgers.
Fry them on a medium heat until they turn golden brown.
Sauté onion, capsicum, tomato in a pan. Add a pinch of salt.
Fry the eggs and wrap them around the patties.
Brush butter in a pan and fry the burger breads gently.
Now, spread chilli sauce on two pieces of bread. Place the lettuce leaves and top the patties on them. Add vegetables.
Sprinkle black pepper and salt as per taste.
Spread mayonnaise and place the other halves on them.

Nutrition

Sweet-Savoury Rojak

We Malaysians are blessed with all kinds of topical fruits and vegetables. It is a great advantage for pregnancy days. You can easily enjoy your regular servings of fruits. However, instead of your daily recipes of fruit salads and smoothies, let's try something different today. Here is a delicious yet healthy rojak recipe for you!

Course Snack

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings people

Calories 296kcal

Ingredients

1 cucumber chopped
5-6 pieces tofu fried
1 mango chopped
1/2 pineapple chopped
2 tbsp red chilli sauce alternative of sambal belacan
2 tbsp green chilli sauce
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp peanuts roasted
1 tbsp sesame seeds
salt as per taste
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Fry tofu on a medium heat.
Place fried tofu. cucumber pieces, mango pieces, and pineapple pieces in a bowl.
Add sauces and black pepper. Mix sugar and salt as per taste.
Drizzle lemon juice on the dish.
Sprinkle roasted peanuts and sesame seeds on it and serve.

Nutrition

Healthy and Tasty Fried Bee Hoon (Vermicelli) Noodles

The delicious fried bee hoon noodles found in the corners of the streets is a treat to both the eyes and taste-buds. We share here a healthy and tasty fried bee hoon noodles recipe. Do try it at home during your pregnancy days and let us know how you find them.

Course Mains

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings people

Calories 376kcal

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
350 g bee hoon or rice vermicelli
100 g chicken breast boiled and shredded
1 onion chopped
1 and 1/2 cup mixed vegetable tomato, capsicum, carrot, cabbage
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp chilli sauce
chopped green onions
salt and black pepper as per taste

Instructions

Boil vermicelli into a pan. Drain the water and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pan and fry two eggs. Keep it aside.
Now, stir fry the onions and vegetables. Add shredded chicken breasts and fried eggs to it.
Add soy sauce and chilli sauce and mix well. Cook for 5 minutes.
Pour the boiled vermicelli. Mix all of the ingredients together. Add salt and black pepper as per taste.
Sprinkle chopped green onion and serve.

Nutrition

Char Kway Teow

Noodles are love. Especially when it is straight from the streets, the taste somehow becomes more delicious. We have seen how different versions of char kway teow are available around the streets of Malaysia. Let's move ahead with a healthy recipe of it. Whenever you feel like having street-style noodles, do try this recipe.

Course Mains

Cuisine Malay

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings people

Calories 349kcal

Ingredients

400 g flat noodles
2 tbsp oil
1 onion chopped
1 green chilli chopped
1 ginger-garlic paste
1 chicken sausage cooked and chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
2 eggs fried
green onions chopped
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp coriander powder
salt as per taste

Instructions

Boil noodles in a saucepan and drain water.
Heat oil in a pan. Add bean sprouts, chilli, onion, coriander powder, and ginger-garlic paste. Stir-fry them.
Add sausage and fried eggs to it. Cook for 10 minutes.
Add noodles to it and mix well. Mix sauces and salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes
Sprinkle green onions and serve hot.

Nutrition

Red Bean Soup

If you are looking forward to enjoy some sweet dishes, here is something for you. You can try this red bean soup. Being a popular dish from Malaysian streets, it can satisfy your craving for sweets at any time. Also, with the nutritional benefits of red beans, it is considered to be a healthy option for you during pregnancy days. Let's find the recipe below.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Malay

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings people

Calories 466kcal

Ingredients

250 g red beans
150 g palm sugar
1 litre water
1 pandan leaf knotted
150 ml light coconut milk

Instructions

Wash red beans and boil them for 20-25 minutes, closing the lid.
Add pandan leaves, palm sugar and boil again at low heat. Cook until the beans become tender.
Now, add coconut milk and stir well. Cook for 10 minutes more.
Turn off the flame and serve hot.

Nutrition

Healthy Apom Balik

Being a Malaysian, it is hard to stay away from a delicious platter of apom balik. But the versions available on streets are mostly cooked with poor quality oil. Also, the cooking process is unhealthy enough. Therefore, to help you satisfy your tastebuds, we share here a healthy yet mouth-watering recipe of apom balik!

Course Mains, Snack

Cuisine Malay

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

resting time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings people

Calories 460kcal

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 pinch baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 and 1/2 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup warm milk keep some more milk aside for use if needed.
peanuts roasted, chopped
sweet corn
butter unsalted

Instructions

In a bowl, mix all-purpose flour, sugar, soda, salt, dry yeast, warm milk, and vanilla extract. Whisk well and keep aside for 30 minutes as covered.
After 30 minutes, the batter will be foamed with increased volume.
Now, heat butter in a pan and spread some batter on it. Spread evenly and cook for 5-10 minutes.
Sprinkle granulated sugar on it and cook for 2 minutes more. Then, add peanuts and sweet corns to it.
Fold it into halves and serve. Continue the process with remaining batter.

Nutrition

Sweet-Chilled Cendol

A Malaysian heart leaps up in joy as it senses the smell of sweet cendol. The sweet, layered, iced dessert contains different ingredients that are easily available in our local markets. So, instead of having the street cendol, let's try preparing it at home. We share here an easy recipe for the sweet delicacy.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Malay

Keyword Pregnant

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings people

Calories 316kcal

Equipment

Potato Ricer

Ingredients

50 g corn starch
10 g rice starch
30 cane sugar granulated
2-3 ice cubes
4 cups water
3-4 pandan leaves you can use pandan extracts
100 g palm sugar
coconut milk for dressing
crushed ice for dressing
yellow beans cooked
red beans cooked

Instructions

Place the ice cubes into water.
Boil corn starch, rice starch, pandan leaves, and cane sugar until they turn into a thick, translucent paste.
Put the cendol into potato ricer and press to prepare the cendol noodles.
Add the cendol noodles to the iced water. Keep it aside for 15 minutes and drain the water. Keep it in refrigerator until the sugar syrup is prepared.
To prepare the sugar syrup, combine water and palm sugar and boil. Cook until they are thick. Let it rest for 5 minutes.
In a glass or bowl, place ice (shaved or crushed would be best) and add in the cendol, yellow beans, red beans. Pour syrup over them. Drizzle coconut milk and serve.

Nutrition

The Takeaway

So, got enough ideas to prepare Malaysian street foods at home? From spicy bites to sweet tit-bits, we have mentioned them all. The recipes are enriched with essential nutrients. Hence, instead of disturbing your diet chart, they will complement it. You can easily avoid your favourite street-style noodles or satay these days and switch to these healthy recipes. We hope you will find the recipes to your liking.

If you want more pregnancy recipes, click here.

Let’s meet again another day with some new recipes. Till then, cheers to your upcoming motherhood days!

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