We Singaporeans love our hawker food – oh, yes we do. But as with all relationships in life, some love are a little more toxic than others. I got a local dietitian to help shed light on what dishes we should keep a distance from. Check out Singapore’s 10 unhealthiest hawker dishes, listed according to total calories. I do apologise for the impending heartbreak.
10. CHICKEN SATAY AND SAUCE
5 sticks of satay with 5g of sauce each (75g) = 185cal
Well, this is a small number – what’s the big deal, right? But this is a lot of calories, fat (10g) and sodium (249mg) in a small amount of food. Typically you’ll have satay alongside other dishes as well. Oh, and if you wolf down 10 sticks, you would have already hit about one-third of your daily fat allowance.
9. CHENDOL
Grass jelly, red bean and pandan jelly served in a sweet coconut milk base soup (368g) = 386cal
Who can resist the addictive combo of gula melaka and coconut milk? But it is precisely all of its sweet goodness that’s leading to the high calorie count. Plus, a bowlful has about nine teaspoons of sugar. Chendol has a high glycaemic index (GI), which means it’s digested and released into the body quickly, giving you a spike in energy that crashes, and leaves you tired and hungry quickly.
8. FRIED ECONOMIC BEE HOON
Fried vermicelli with fried luncheon meat and fried egg (273g) = 427cal
A favourite at breakfasts, this dish will almost hit your daily limit for cholesterol (300mg) at 219mg, so be careful with the rest of the day’s intake. Luncheon meats are also highly processed and contain a lot of MSG, which will make you thirsty. Try to reach for water instead of a sweet drink.
7. BLACK FRIED CARROT CAKE
Fried radish with egg and sweet sauce (295g) = 493cal
This dish scores high marks not just in taste but in all the wrong nutrients as well. There is a lot of fat in it (35g), because it’s usually cooked in pork lard. There is also a lot of sugar from the sweet sauce (up to 6 teaspoons) and about 1,289mg of sodium – this is more than half of your 2,000mg daily requirement.
6. MEE GORENG
Yellow noodle with vegetables, egg, cooked in tomato and chilli sauce (309g) = 500cal
This one’s a real danger for adults with hypertension as the salt content of 1,851mg is close to one entire day’s requirement of 2,000mg. A large proportion of mee goreng’s calories come from fat (20g), which makes the quality of the calories low. A dish with high quality calories would be a better balanced one (think salads with olive oil dressing and lean meats).
5. LAKSA LEMAK
Noodles with prawns and fish cakes in coconut-based soup (540g) = 591cal
The richness of the coconut milk which gives laksa that wonderful full-bodied mouthful is also the undoing of this dish – nutritionally. More that half the fat (32g) comes from saturated fat (17.8g), which is harmful to the heart. The sodium levels are right up there as well at 1,588mg.
4. CHICKEN RICE
“Roasted” chicken with skin, served with rice and chilli sauce (382g) = 607cal
The rice, while delicious, was cooked swimming in chicken fat. The total fat count here is at 23g, which is about one-third, or half of your daily requirement, depending on your gender. A fatty meal takes about four hours to digest – a plate of this will leave you sluggish and sleepy after you eat it, especially with a rush of serotonins (a feel-good hormone) from the high carbohydrate content. Again, watch the sodium too (1,287mg).
Read: recommendations on some of the best chicken rice in Singapore.
3. NASI LEMAK
Coconut rice with fried chicken wing, fried egg, fried anchovies and chilli sauce (306g) = 657cal
This one’s my personal favourite and I’m horrified to find it third on the list. The fat content of 25g is high and it’s all thanks to the rich coconut milk-soaked rice and deep fried accompanying dishes. At 657 calories, this exceeds your “budget” for a meal, based on a 1,800cal diet.
2. MEE SIAM
Thin, white rice noodle, hard boiled egg and dried beancurd in tangy gravy (655g) = 694cal
A bowlful of mee siam always looks so unassuming, until you find out about the high amount of carbohydrates from the noodles and sugar-laden gravy (92g). This dish also takes home the award for highest amount of sodium, clocking in a whopping 2,659mg – that’s one entire day’s allowance and a third of tomorrow’s.
1. CHAR KWAY TEOW
Rice noodles fried with cockles, Chinese sausage and sweet sauce (384g) = 744cal
This tasty plate of wok hei-heavy kway teow noodles tops the list at 744 calories. It is also extremely heart-unfriendly with it’s high levels of fat (38g) – of which 70% is saturated fat (29.2g) – and cholesterol (234mg). It gets most of its calories from the sweet sauce, highly processed meats and pork lard used. Also take note of the sodium levels, which sits at 1,459mg.
So there you go, remember that you don’t have to cut these hawker favourites from your life forever – they are after all, as Singaporean as they come. Enjoy them no more than once a week, and choose healthier dishes for your other meals on the days you decide to indulge.
Expert source: Jaclyn Reutens, clinical dietitian at nutrition consultancy Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants www.aptima-nsc.com
About the writer:
Ruby Tan used to write for Her World, and is now a freelance writer with a dream to travel the world. She believes that the some of best things in life don’t have to be bought. If you want to make a friend, share travel tips and advice, or even to discuss deeply about life, write to her at [email protected]
All of them are all time favorites of local and foreign people that fall in love with your food
You might want to do more research on the saturated fats in coconut. It is essential to our brain. Coconut oil is one of the Most healthiest oil for our body. Although mainstream dietician will not agree as coconut oil have been demonized in the last few decade.
the list should be from 1 to 10 and not descending order for people to really make a change.
Jimmy,
I agree but you also have to take into consideration the amount of coconut milk/ oil you are consuming. Also what type, Perhaps the hawkers use poor quality leaving none of the good nutrition left. I am not sure. But eating that much of good fats can also be a negative thing.
Whoever wrote this blog and doing calorie counting is a doing everyone a disservice. this concept in regards to healthy and weight loss/gain is so,, ,passe and absolutely wrong! Calories are counted only by a calorimeter in the laboratory, where you measure the amount of heat given off by burning a unit of that food in a calorimeter . Our bodies do not handle food or gain energy in that way. These foods ( listed here) are healthy ( except the chendol — just sugars; and processed luncheon meat). Another food that should be on the list is soyabean drinks and soya bean curd — they are just processed sugars and packed full of phyto-oestrogen ( it will give guys man boobs if they consume lots of it. cause prostatic cancers, cause breast cancer in women). Whole, unprocessed foods, such as chicken, with oil and all – you need that. You need the protein, the fats and the carbs together to modulate the rate of assimilation of simple carbs. Animal fats such as lard , butter is good; margarine, most vegetable oils – are extremely bad ! Coconut milk. oils are alreeady touted as the next best thing! Apart of maligning animal fats and counting calorie, this authors preading falsehood and giving our traditional food – -delicious , healthy – having fed 3-4 generations of singaporeans – an undeserved bad name. The fact that there is an expert consultant advising this give you an understanding why the health of our population is going ape-shape.
Healthiest hawker food next
That its all indonesian food….not singapore food
I’m interested in how you measured the ‘healthiness’ of these foods. Does more calories equal to it being unhealthy?
I just feel like it’s a little misinformed. Nice list though.
Please share the 10 healthiest Singapore hawker foods so I can target those. This list is making me hungry and wanting to eat the bad stuff~
There are healthier options for some of them. Like for me, I order the carrot cake white. Bye bye to the sweet soya sugars. Also, the constant Singaporean desire to put chilli in everything may lead to taking more sweet drinks to cool down after. Lucky I always order food without chilli.
Ahhhh, my love for chicken rice will not die because of this! Hahahaha
i am surprise that Masala Dosa is not included on this list. It is also offered in many hawker food centers.
What Jimmy said, please do not demonize saturated fat or fat for that reason. New research shows otherwise and we should look at a balanced view. Also, not all calorie are equal and it would be unfair, and unhealthy to base the healthy-ness of a dish by their caloric count.
A healthier way would be to learn to recognize when the body is full and stop eating compared with calorie counting which is unrealistic.
number 5 should be laksa
While I’m not disagreeing with the unhealthy labels due to the amount of vegetable oil, carbohydrates and refined sugars in the dishes, which ARE the actual factors that result in cardiovascular diseases, please do note that the nutritional warnings on saturated fat are absolutely misplaced (http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303678404579533760760481486 if a quick verification of facts is needed)
Wow, the sheer arrogance and misinformation in the comments. Look at all these pseudo-scientists who think they know better. One study that shows that there is no CONCLUSIVE link between CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE and saturated fat, and people jump on it to justify their bad eating habits. Did this study say there is no link between eating saturated fat and weight gain? That’s what I thought.
Please actually read the study or studies that you are referencing. Look at the limitations of the study. Look at PAST studies that suggest an increased risk of cardiovascular disease with an increased consumption of saturated fat. Attempt to understand why the results are different this time round. Then REALIZE that this is highly inconclusive and further studies are required.
To state as if it’s an axiomatic truth that saturated fats are ‘healthy’ speaks of unparalleled arrogance. Or ignorance, because at this point I can’t tell which.
But by all means, continue to eat all the ‘local healthy hawker fare’ that you want. I mean, you obviously know better than all the nutritionists and scientists who have dedicated their lives to studying dietary science, right? (eyeroll)
To help all the truly curious people who might come to this page because they are genuinely concerned about their health, I include the following links:
https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2014nl/mar/chowdhuryp1.pdf (a critique of the ‘Association of Dietary, Circulating, and Supplement Fatty Acids with Coronary Risk: A systematic Review and Meta-analysis’ study that has evidently shaped the opinions of some commenters above. There are two parts to this; this is only part 1. A very interesting and educational read)
http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/crdweb/ShowRecord.asp?LinkFrom=OAI&ID=12014019479#.VL0VEi6J13U (A small review of the study by university of York)
http://news.sciencemag.org/health/2014/03/scientists-fix-errors-controversial-paper-about-saturated-fats?utm_content=buffer648ea&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer (an article on the study’s errors)
http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/111114p32.shtml (another informative article citing criticism of the study from respectable sources)
I highly suggest checking out the references individually if you are concerned about bias in the articles. Again, I emphasise: Educating yourself is important. Don’t blindly regurgitate information – such as claiming the study ‘proves’ that saturated fats are healthy; the study does no such thing – just because it’s convenient and you want to convince yourself that your bad eating habits are actually healthy.
OH MY! CAN YOU PLEASE WRITE ANOTHER POST on what hawker food to eat that is relatively healthier and perhaps under 500 calories?!!! i can only think of yongtaufoo and fishbeenhoon?? hawker food are so quick to order and so much easier on the pockets >.<
no wonder there are so many fat Singaporeans below 30
Basically, all of the food that Singaporeans eat on a daily basis.
Well, you don’t have to eat them EVERYDAY! It’s nice to have something ”unhealthy”once in a while. Live a little. You don’t have to see the label all the time.
Sometimes the healthier food are expensive. This is why people go for something cheaper. And cheaper stuff are somewhat unhealthy.