Snacks & Kuih · Singapore

How Many Calories in Chwee Kueh?

Also known as Chwee Kway, Water Rice Cake, 水粿, Chye Poh Kueh.

Chwee kueh is the Singapore breakfast of small steamed rice cakes with a dip in the middle, topped with chye poh, preserved radish fried in oil with garlic, and a spoon of chilli.

342kcal / 6 pieces with chye poh
A plate of 6 chwee kueh with chye poh is about 342 calories for a 240g serving, with around 13g of fat. The 6 steamed rice cakes are about 215 calories together. The oily chye poh topping is around 110, and the chilli about 17.

Nutrition facts

Per 6 pieces with chye poh (240g)AmountPer 100g
Calories342 kcal143 kcal
Protein5 g2 g
Carbs52 g22 g
Fat13 g5 g

Where the calories come from

Steamed rice cakes, 6 pieces180g
215 kcal
Chye poh in oil40g
110 kcal
Chilli10g
17 kcal

The real talk

The rice cakes are steamed rice flour and water, nothing else, about 36 calories each. Six of them are 215. The reason the plate is 342 is the topping. Chye poh is preserved radish fried in a lot of oil with garlic and a bit of sugar, and a hawker spoon of it holds about 40g, of which a good part is oil. That is about 110 calories on top of the cakes. The chilli adds 17. So one third of a chwee kueh breakfast is the topping.

Some stalls are famous precisely because they are heavy handed with the chye poh and the oil pools on the plate. A plate from one of those is closer to 400 for the same 6 pieces. HealthHub puts a 5 piece plate at about 250, which is a stall with a lighter hand. The cakes are the same everywhere. The topping is the variable.

At S$2 for 6 pieces, this is the cheap breakfast that nobody counts. 342 calories is about the same as a plate of economy bee hoon with egg at 369, with much less protein, only 5g. It is fine as a breakfast. It is a lot as a snack after another meal.

How the portions compare

230 kcal
4 pieces
342 kcal
6 pieces
480 kcal
8 pieces with extra chye poh

Chwee Kueh variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
5 pieces, light topping250 kcalHealthHub figure
6 pieces, standard342 kcalHPB figure
6 pieces, oily famous stall400 kcalHeavy chye poh

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

Is chwee kueh healthy?
The rice cakes are, at about 36 calories each and fat free. The chye poh is fried in oil and adds around 110 calories to a plate of 6. It is a fine breakfast at 342, but low in protein at 5g.
How many calories in one chwee kueh?
About 36 calories for the steamed cake alone, and about 57 with its share of chye poh and chilli. A 6 piece plate comes to 342.
Is chye poh high in calories?
Yes, for what it is. Preserved radish itself is low, but it is fried in oil with garlic and sugar. A hawker spoon of about 40g is roughly 110 calories, mostly from the oil.
Is chwee kueh the same as soon kueh?
No. Chwee kueh is plain steamed rice cake with a topping. Soon kueh is a rice flour skin wrapped around a turnip and bamboo shoot filling, about 89 calories each.
Berapa kalori dalam Chwee Kueh?
Chwee Kueh ada kira-kira 342 kalori untuk satu hidangan biasa (240g), dengan 5g protein, 52g karbohidrat dan 13g lemak. Angka ini anggaran untuk hidangan gerai biasa, jadi ia berbeza ikut kedai dan saiz hidangan.

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Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical hawker centre or kopitiam serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.

Calorie figure based on HPB iDAT via danielfooddiary.com 2015 (342 per 6), HealthHub.sg (250 per 5). Macros estimated from the ingredients.

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