Calorie tracking in Singapore
The AI calorie tracker that knows Singaporean food.
Singapore eats out more than almost anywhere, and it eats hawker food — Chinese, Malay, Indian and Peranakan dishes that generic calorie databases simply do not contain. Chicken rice, laksa and char kway teow are daily staples with no reliable Western entry.
The problem
Why generic trackers struggle here.
- Hawker dishes are cooked with substantial oil and lard, which lighter database approximations miss badly.
- Four distinct culinary traditions appear in ordinary weekly eating.
- Portion sizes are standardised by stall convention rather than by any label.
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 Singapore: the ingredients, the cooking fats, the serving vessel and the portion size.
Reference
Singaporean 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hainanese chicken rice | 1 plate | 550–750 |
| Laksa | 1 bowl | 550–800 |
| Char kway teow | 1 plate | 650–900 |
| Nasi lemak | 1 plate | 500–750 |
| Roti prata | 1 plain | 180–250 |
| Bak chor mee | 1 bowl | 450–600 |
| Chilli crab | 1 serving | 500–800 |
| Kaya toast set | 1 set | 400–550 |
| Teh tarik | 1 cup | 130–180 |
| Satay | 5 sticks | 250–350 |
Voice logging
Say a whole Singaporean meal out loud.
Tap the microphone and describe the plate the way you would to a person — "hainanese chicken rice, laksa and char kway teow". 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 — plates, bowls, sticks, sets, cups all work. You do not need to convert anything into grams first.
Diets. Halal, vegetarian and Chinese-vegetarian options are all widely available at hawker centres. 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 Singaporean 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 hawker dishes?
Yes. Name the dish — char kway teow, bak chor mee, nasi lemak — and it estimates against how it is actually cooked at a hawker stall.
Are these dishes really that high in calories?
Hawker food is cooked with generous oil and often lard. Char kway teow in particular is routinely underestimated by people used to Western database figures.
Can I ask for less oil and log that?
Yes — say so in the description and adjust, then correct it once so the change is remembered.
How much does it cost in Singapore?
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 Singaporean food in one sentence.
Free to start on iPhone and Android.
