Beginner Vocabulary for Navigating Singapore's Street Food Scene

• Mee / mian: Yellow noodles of varying thickness. The former is pronounced “me” and can be found on both Malay and Chinese menus. The latter is a Chinese term which is pronounced “me-an.”
• Mee kia: Thin noodles. Pronounced “me-kee-yah.”
• Mee pok: Flat noodles. Pronounced “me-pork.”
• Mee hoon / bee hoon: Thin rice vermicelli.
• Kway teow / hor fun: Flat rice vermicelli that can be thin or broad. Kway teow is pronounced “kway-ti-ow.” This is the key ingredient in char kway teow, where it’s stir-fried over high heat with eggs, seafood, meat, and vegetables.
• Maggie: Instant noodles. This is usually stir-fried to produce maggie goreng.
• Nasi: Rice. A Malay term pronounced “na-see.” One example would be nasi lemak, where rice is cooked in rich coconut milk.

Know your dinosaurs

The drink menu (or lack thereof) in a kopitiam can get pretty amusing and confusing.

• Kopi: Coffee.
• Teh: Tea. Pronounced “tay.”
• -O: No milk. Teh-O would refer to plain tea.
• -Siew dai: Less milk. Pronounced like “sea-u-dye.” Kopi-Siew Dai equals coffee with less milk.
• -Gah dai: More milk.
• -C: Served with evaporated milk. Tea with evaporated milk is Teh-C.
• -Kosong: Pronounced “co-song,” the word also means “zero.” It refers to no sugar. For instance, Teh-O-Kosong is tea with no milk and no sugar.
• -Peng: With ice. Milo-Peng would be Iced Milo. Pronounced “bing,” with gusto.
• -Dinosaur: A large cup of a beverage topped with a heap of the beverage powder. This is usually used for drinks such as Milo and Horlicks.
• Teh Tarik: A frothy favourite where tea is prepared by skillfully passing tea back and forth between 2 mugs. This allows the tea and milk to mix thoroughly and be ready for serving at an optimal temperature.
• Teh Halia: Ginger milk tea. Halia is pronounced “hah-li-ah.”