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Calories · Malaysian & Singaporean

Calories in chili crab

A typical restaurant serving of chili crab (a quarter of a Singapore chilli crab with its egg-and-chilli gravy, no buns, about 384 g) is about 330 calories, usually 250–750.

Restaurant portions vary; this is a typical estimate, not a label. Also called chilli crab, Singapore chilli crab, chili crab with mantou.

~330
Chili crab

The usual range

Drawn on one 0–2,000 scale shared by every dish page, so plates compare at a glance.

Protein, carbs and fat

  • Protein18 g
  • Carbs21 g
  • Fat20 g

One serving

Serving
a quarter of a Singapore chilli crab with its egg-and-chilli gravy, no buns
Weight
~384 g
Per 100 g
~86

The dish

About chili crab

Singapore chilli crab is mud crab stir-fried in a thick, sweet-hot gravy of tomato, chilli and egg, shared from one plate and mopped up with fried mantou buns. The crab itself is lean; the gravy and especially the buns are where the calories pile up. Numbers from Singapore’s Health Promotion Board lab analysis of chilli crab (86 per 100 g, a quarter crab weighed at 384 g), with fried mantou at about 180 a bun.

Ways it comes

One dish, a few numbers

Chili crab · rough numbers

  • With two fried mantou~690
  • A whole crab with gravy~1,300

What moves the number

Why one plate is 250 and another 750

  • Fried mantou buns for mopping up the gravy
  • Egg, sugar and oil in the gravy
  • How much crab each person gets at a shared table
  • Fried rice or noodles alongside

Ordering lighter

If you want a lighter plate

  • Have steamed mantou instead of fried, or just one
  • Eat the crab and leave some gravy
  • Share the crab among more people

Side by side

Next to other Malaysian & Singaporean dishes

Malaysian & Singaporean · typical restaurant servingAll about Malaysian & Singaporean food →

  • Teh tarik~100one medium cup (200 ml) of hot teh tarik with condensed and evaporated milk · usually 50–150
  • Kopi~190one regular cup (250 ml) of kopi: local coffee with condensed and evaporated milk · usually 30–240
  • Popiah~210one fresh popiah roll filled with braised turnip, egg, Chinese sausage and sweet sauce · usually 170–300
  • Ice kachang~270one bowl of ice kachang: shaved ice over red beans, sweet corn, jelly and attap seeds, with syrups and gula melaka · usually 200–450
  • Chicken satay~290ten sticks of grilled chicken, peanut sauce, rice cakes and cucumber not included · usually 200–550
  • Chili crab~330a quarter of a Singapore chilli crab with its egg-and-chilli gravy, no buns · usually 250–750
  • Cendol~340one bowl of chendol: green rice-flour jelly, red beans and shaved ice in coconut milk and gula melaka · usually 250–500
  • Kaya toast~380one order of kaya butter toast: thin toasted bread sandwiched with kaya and a slab of cold butter · usually 300–710
  • Roti canai~420two plain pieces, curry not included · usually 330–600
  • Prawn mee~470one hawker bowl of prawn noodle soup with whole prawns, lean pork, fishcake and kangkong · usually 380–650
  • Bak kut teh~480one bowl of Singapore-style peppery pork rib soup with a bowl of rice · usually 220–1,000
  • Nasi lemak~490one basic plate with coconut rice, egg, anchovies, peanuts and sambal · usually 400–900

In PlateDiary

A rough number for the dishes you save — only if you want one.

Off unless you turn them on

Calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and, when PlateDiary AI reads your photo of the table, each dish gets one rough “~” number. Accept it or change it; a number you correct is remembered for that dish. With Calories off, the app looks exactly as it did before.

A read sends small pictures of the cut-out dishes, with the place's name as a hint — never the table photo, faces or your location. Calorie numbers never go to analytics, and nothing is written to a health app. PlateDiary AI starts with free tries; here is how it works.

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How these numbers were made

Method and sources

Last reviewed

Restaurant portions and cooking vary, so these are typical estimates for one serving, built from the sources below. Treat it as a rough number: your plate may land anywhere in the range.

If you manage a health condition, ask a doctor or registered dietitian.

AI helped draft this page; every number was checked against the sources.

  1. Singapore Food Insights Database (SG FoodID, Health Promotion Board) — Chilli crab, F03060005: 1 pincer = 177 g; 1 quarter = 384 g (lab analysis, 2024)
  2. Singapore Food Insights Database (SG FoodID, Health Promotion Board) — Fried mantou, F05020047: 1 piece = 45 g (lab analysis, 2010)

Questions

Questions people ask.

How many calories are in chili crab?

A typical restaurant serving of chili crab (a quarter of a Singapore chilli crab with its egg-and-chilli gravy, no buns, about 384 g) is about 330 calories, usually 250–750. The number depends mostly on the portion and how it is cooked.

How many calories is chili crab with mantou?

About 690 for a quarter crab with two fried mantou; each fried bun adds about 180.

How many calories are in a whole chili crab?

About 1,300 for a whole crab with its gravy, usually shared by four.

Is chili crab high in calories?

The crab and gravy are moderate, about 330 a quarter. Fried mantou more than doubles it.

What changes the calories in chili crab?

Fried mantou buns for mopping up the gravy. Egg, sugar and oil in the gravy.

How can I order chili crab lighter?

Have steamed mantou instead of fried, or just one. Eat the crab and leave some gravy.

Can PlateDiary show calories for the dishes I eat out?

Yes, if you want it to: calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and each dish you save from a photo of the table gets one rough “~” number you can accept or change.