Calorie tracking in Philippines
The AI calorie tracker that knows Filipino food.
Filipino food combines large rice portions with rich, often fried or braised viands. Neither part is well represented in mainstream calorie databases, and the rice-to-viand ratio in a typical meal is quite different from Western assumptions.
The problem
Why generic trackers struggle here.
- Rice is eaten at most meals and in larger portions than Western database servings assume.
- Viands are frequently fried or braised in oil and soy, adding calories that generic entries miss.
- Dishes like sinigang, adobo and kare-kare have little reliable coverage.
BetterCal takes a different route. There is no database to search — you describe the meal in plain words, and the estimate is made against how that food is actually cooked and served in the Philippines: the ingredients, the cooking fats, the serving vessel and the portion size.
Reference
Filipino food, roughly counted.
Ranges rather than single numbers, because home and restaurant versions of the same dish differ enormously — mostly in cooking fat. Use these as a starting point, then correct against your own kitchen.
| Dish | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Rice, cooked | 1 cup | 200–240 |
| Chicken adobo | 1 serving | 350–500 |
| Pork sinigang | 1 bowl | 300–450 |
| Lechon kawali | 100 g | 400–550 |
| Kare-kare | 1 serving | 450–650 |
| Pancit canton | 1 plate | 400–600 |
| Longganisa | 2 pieces | 250–350 |
| Lumpia (fried) | 3 pieces | 200–300 |
| Halo-halo | 1 glass | 300–450 |
| Pandesal | 2 pieces | 150–200 |
Voice logging
Say a whole Filipino meal out loud.
Tap the microphone and describe the plate the way you would to a person — "rice, cooked, chicken adobo and pork sinigang". BetterCal transcribes it, separates every dish, and writes the lot into your day with calories and macros.
One recording covers the whole meal, however many items are in it. You see the transcript before anything is saved, so a misheard dish name is obvious rather than buried inside a number.
Journal logging
Or type it like a note.
Write what you ate the way you would text a friend. No search box, no results list to choose from, no serving-size picker to scroll — just a line of plain text that turns into a logged meal.
It is the faster option when you are somewhere quiet, and it works just as well hours after the meal. Anything you log often is saved automatically, so the second time round it is a single tap and costs nothing.
Details
Portions and diets.
Serving units. Describe portions the way you normally would — cups, plates, bowls, pieces all work. You do not need to convert anything into grams first.
Diets. Meat and fish feature heavily; vegetarian options exist but are less common. BetterCal supports vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, eggetarian and everything.
Corrections stick. If a dish is made differently in your household, adjust it once and BetterCal remembers. Over a few weeks the estimates converge on your kitchen rather than an average of everyone else's.
Frequently asked questions
Can I log Filipino food by voice?
Yes. Hold the microphone, describe the meal in your own words, and it is transcribed and logged with calories and macros. One recording handles several dishes at once, and you can review the transcript before it saves.
Can I type instead of speaking?
Yes — the journal takes plain typed sentences in exactly the same way. Most people mix the two: voice at home, typing when they are somewhere quiet or logging a meal after the fact.
Does it know Filipino dishes?
Yes — adobo, sinigang, kare-kare, pancit and similar are handled as ordinary entries rather than approximated from Western dishes.
Does it handle rice portions properly?
Yes. Say how many cups and it counts them. Rice is often the largest single calorie item in a Filipino meal and is worth being accurate about.
Is it available in the Philippines?
Yes — on Android through Google Play now, with iPhone following.
How much does it cost in Philippines?
Free to download, with 20 AI meal logs a day at no cost. Meals already in your memory are always free to log again, however often you repeat them. See what is free.
Do I need to photograph my food?
No. BetterCal has no camera and no barcode scanner. You log by speaking or typing, which means you can log a meal after you have eaten it rather than having to remember beforehand.
Start today
Log Filipino food in one sentence.
Free to start on iPhone and Android.
