Singapore Dessert Stall Calories: Orh Nee Is 356 kcal in HPB's Smallest Bowl
The direct answer: HPB Singapore records orh nee at 237 kcal per 100g, and its default portion is one bowl weighing just 150g — the smallest bowl in HPB's entire dessert set. That bowl is 356 kcal, 18.3g of fat and 30.9g of sugar.
Cheng tng, sold at the same stall, comes in a 390g bowl — two and a half times the weight — and is 199 kcal. The bowl that looks generous is the light one. The small bowl is the heavy one.
That inversion runs through the whole dessert counter, and there is a second one underneath it: the lightest bowl here, peach gum dessert at 126 kcal, still carries 28.8g of sugar — about 58% of the WHO's 50g daily guideline. Ranking these desserts by calories and ranking them by sugar gives you two different lists.
Every Dessert-Stall Item HPB Records, Ranked
How to read this table: every row shows two separate bases. The per HPB portion column is the whole serving at HPB's own recorded default weight, which is printed in the portion column beside it. The per 100g column is HPB's raw density figure. Both come straight from HPB's April 2026 food composition database — no portion size here has been estimated or eyeballed.
| Dessert | HPB default portion | Per HPB portion | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tangyuan with filling, in soup | 1 bowl, 414g | 538 kcal | 130 kcal |
| Bo bo cha cha | 1 bowl, 355g | 536 kcal | 151 kcal |
| Bubur kacang (green bean soup with coconut milk) | 1 bowl, 364g | 379 kcal | 104 kcal |
| Pengat | 1 bowl, 200g | 364 kcal | 182 kcal |
| Orh nee (yam paste) | 1 bowl, 150g | 356 kcal | 237 kcal |
| Bubur terigu | 1 bowl, 400g | 336 kcal | 84 kcal |
| Peanut paste | 1 bowl, 287g | 330 kcal | 115 kcal |
| Walnut paste | 1 bowl, 259g | 321 kcal | 124 kcal |
| Tau suan | 1 bowl, 369g | 310 kcal | 84 kcal |
| Red bean soup | 1 bowl, 379g | 307 kcal | 81 kcal |
| Pulut hitam | 1 bowl, 425g | 302 kcal | 71 kcal |
| Red ruby dessert | 1 bowl, 389g | 296 kcal | 76 kcal |
| Sweet peanut soup | 1 bowl, 202g | 255 kcal | 126 kcal |
| Black sesame paste | 1 bowl, 273g | 251 kcal | 92 kcal |
| Green bean soup | 1 bowl, 376g | 244 kcal | 65 kcal |
| Tau huey | 1 bowl, 412g | 227 kcal | 55 kcal |
| Almond paste | 1 bowl, 262g | 215 kcal | 82 kcal |
| Cheng tng | 1 bowl, 390g | 199 kcal | 51 kcal |
| Sweet potato soup | 1 bowl, 300g | 186 kcal | 62 kcal |
| Beancurd with toppings | 1 bowl, 392g | 165 kcal | 42 kcal |
| Mango pomelo sago | 1 bowl, 314g | 160 kcal | 51 kcal |
| White fungus and longan soup | 1 bowl, 339g | 153 kcal | 45 kcal |
| Peach gum dessert | 1 bowl, 331g | 126 kcal | 38 kcal |
| Grass jelly with toppings | 1 bowl, 381g | 122 kcal | 32 kcal |
| Honeydew sago | 1 bowl, 256g | 118 kcal | 46 kcal |
| Beancurd skin and gingko nuts dessert | 1 bowl, 307g | 101 kcal | 33 kcal |
| Agar-agar | 1 piece, 50g | 39 kcal | 77 kcal |
The Orh Nee Trap: A Small Bowl That Outweighs a Big One
Orh nee is the one worth understanding properly, because everything about it misleads. It arrives in the smallest bowl on the counter, it is smooth rather than chunky, and it is often served at the end of a meal as a token sweet.
HPB's density figure explains it: 237 kcal per 100g, which is 30% higher than the next densest dessert (pengat, at 182 kcal per 100g) and more than seven times grass jelly with toppings (32 kcal per 100g). Yam paste is yam whipped with fat and sugar, and HPB's numbers show both: 18.3g of fat and 30.9g of sugar in that 150g bowl.
Put the two most-searched desserts side by side on HPB's own portions:
| Comparison (whole serving) | Bowl weight | Calories | Fat | Sugar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orh nee | 150g | 356 kcal | 18.3g | 30.9g |
| Cheng tng | 390g | 199 kcal | Trace | 22.8g |
The cheng tng bowl is 2.6 times heavier and still 157 kcal lighter. HPB does not publish a fat number for cheng tng at all — it records the value as Trace, which is HPB's own label for an amount too small to quantify, not a zero we have filled in.
Ranking by Sugar Gives You a Different List
This is the part that catches people out. The desserts marketed as light — peach gum for collagen, white fungus for the throat, mango pomelo sago as "just fruit" — are light in calories precisely because there is very little in them except sugar syrup.
All figures below are the whole bowl at HPB's default weight, with the weight repeated in every row so no number here is ambiguous on its own. The percentage is against the WHO's 50g daily sugar guideline.
| Dessert (whole bowl) | Calories | Sugar | % of WHO 50g/day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubur terigu — 1 bowl, 400g | 336 kcal | 39.2g | 78% |
| Bo bo cha cha — 1 bowl, 355g | 536 kcal | 38.0g | 76% |
| Tau suan — 1 bowl, 369g | 310 kcal | 32.5g | 65% |
| Pulut hitam — 1 bowl, 425g | 302 kcal | 32.3g | 65% |
| Mango pomelo sago — 1 bowl, 314g | 160 kcal | 31.1g | 62% |
| Orh nee — 1 bowl, 150g | 356 kcal | 30.9g | 62% |
| White fungus and longan soup — 1 bowl, 339g | 153 kcal | 30.7g | 61% |
| Peach gum dessert — 1 bowl, 331g | 126 kcal | 28.8g | 58% |
| Tangyuan with filling — 1 bowl, 414g | 538 kcal | 24.2g | 48% |
| Bubur kacang — 1 bowl, 364g | 379 kcal | 23.4g | 47% |
| Green bean soup — 1 bowl, 376g | 244 kcal | 22.9g | 46% |
| Cheng tng — 1 bowl, 390g | 199 kcal | 22.8g | 46% |
| Black sesame paste — 1 bowl, 273g | 251 kcal | 21.0g | 42% |
| Grass jelly with toppings — 1 bowl, 381g | 122 kcal | 20.6g | 41% |
| Red bean soup — 1 bowl, 379g | 307 kcal | 18.9g | 38% |
| Honeydew sago — 1 bowl, 256g | 118 kcal | 11.0g | 22% |
| Beancurd with toppings — 1 bowl, 392g | 165 kcal | 10.6g | 21% |
| Tau huey — 1 bowl, 412g | 227 kcal | 9.9g | 20% |
| Beancurd skin and gingko nuts — 1 bowl, 307g | 101 kcal | 9.3g | 19% |
| Agar-agar — 1 piece, 50g | 39 kcal | 7.8g | 16% |
The Eight Most-Asked-About Desserts, Full Macros
Whole bowl at HPB's default weight, stated in each row.
| Dessert (whole serving) | Calories | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Sugar | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orh nee — 1 bowl, 150g | 356 kcal | 2.2g | 18.3g | 45.8g | 30.9g | 2mg |
| Tau suan — 1 bowl, 369g | 310 kcal | 10.5g | 0.7g | 65.3g | 32.5g | 15mg |
| Red bean soup — 1 bowl, 379g | 307 kcal | 10.8g | 0.8g | 64.2g | 18.9g | 19mg |
| Green bean soup — 1 bowl, 376g | 244 kcal | 7.3g | 0.4g | 52.6g | 22.9g | 15mg |
| Tau huey — 1 bowl, 412g | 227 kcal | 12.2g | 7.6g | 27.6g | 9.9g | Trace |
| Cheng tng — 1 bowl, 390g | 199 kcal | 1.0g | Trace | 48.0g | 22.8g | 12mg |
| Beancurd with toppings — 1 bowl, 392g | 165 kcal | 9.8g | 5.3g | 19.6g | 10.6g | 51mg |
| Peach gum dessert — 1 bowl, 331g | 126 kcal | 0.8g | 0g | 30.7g | 28.8g | 17mg |
Two things stand out. The bean-based desserts are quietly high in protein — tau huey's 412g bowl carries 12.2g, red bean soup 10.8g and tau suan 10.5g, which is more protein than several hawker snacks that are sold as savoury. And none of these is a sodium problem: the highest here is 51mg for a whole bowl of beancurd with toppings, against HPB's 2,000mg daily limit. Dessert is where sugar matters and salt does not.
Green Bean Soup vs Tau Suan vs Bubur Kacang
These three are made from the same mung bean and are constantly confused, but HPB lists them as three separate entries with genuinely different numbers.
| Dessert | What it is | HPB portion | Per portion | Per 100g |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green bean soup | Whole mung beans in a thin syrup | 1 bowl, 376g | 244 kcal | 65 kcal |
| Tau suan | Split mung beans in a starch-thickened syrup | 1 bowl, 369g | 310 kcal | 84 kcal |
| Bubur kacang | Green bean soup with coconut milk | 1 bowl, 364g | 379 kcal | 104 kcal |
The three bowls are within 12g of each other in weight, so this is a near-clean comparison of the recipes rather than the portions. Thickening with starch costs about 66 kcal a bowl. Adding coconut milk costs about 135 kcal a bowl — and takes the fat from 0.4g to 11.6g.
Agar-Agar: Why the Number You Read Depends on the Basis
Agar-agar is the clearest example on this page of why a nutrition figure means nothing without its basis attached.
- Per 100g, agar-agar is 77 kcal and 15.7g of sugar — the second-highest sugar density in this guide, behind only orh nee at 20.6g per 100g, and about half again as sweet as the sweetest tang shui here (bo bo cha cha, 10.7g per 100g).
- Per HPB's default portion — one 50g piece — it is 39 kcal and 7.8g of sugar, the smallest numbers in the entire guide.
Both statements are true and both are HPB's. Quote the per-100g figure and agar-agar sounds like the worst dessert on the counter; quote the per-piece figure and it sounds like the best. It is genuinely a small, light dessert — but it is set with sugar syrup, so a plate of several pieces adds up faster than the per-piece number suggests.
How to Order at the Dessert Stall
Where Dessert Sits Against the Rest of Your Day
A dessert-stall bowl is not a snack-sized addition to a hawker meal. On HPB's own portions, a 356 kcal bowl of orh nee is roughly three-quarters of a plate of steamed chicken rice (488 kcal for HPB's 346g plate), and a 536 kcal bowl of bo bo cha cha is more than a whole one.
The sugar comparison is starker. A single 400g bowl of bubur terigu carries 39.2g of sugar — more than the 23.2g in a full 450g cup of regular kopitiam soya bean milk, and about 78% of the WHO's daily guideline on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
HPB Singapore records orh nee (yam paste) at 237 kcal per 100g, with a default portion of one bowl weighing 150g. That whole bowl is 356 kcal, 18.3g of fat and 30.9g of sugar. Orh nee is the densest item in HPB's dessert-stall set — 30% denser per 100g than the next one, pengat at 182 kcal per 100g, and more than seven times grass jelly with toppings at 32 kcal per 100g. The bowl is small precisely because the paste is rich.
HPB records cheng tng at 51 kcal per 100g, with a default portion of one 390g bowl — 199 kcal for that whole bowl. It is one of the lighter desserts by calories, but not by sugar: the same 390g bowl carries 22.8g of sugar, about 46% of the WHO's 50g daily sugar guideline. HPB lists cheng tng's fat as Trace rather than a number.
HPB records tau suan at 84 kcal per 100g with a default portion of one 369g bowl, which works out to 310 kcal for the whole bowl. That bowl also carries 32.5g of sugar — roughly 65% of the WHO's 50g daily guideline — and 10.5g of protein from the split mung beans. Tau suan is thickened with starch, which is why it is heavier than plain green bean soup at 244 kcal for HPB's 376g bowl.
HPB records green bean soup at 65 kcal per 100g, with a default portion of one 376g bowl — 244 kcal for that bowl, plus 22.9g of sugar and 7.3g of protein. The coconut milk version is a separate HPB entry: bubur kacang is 104 kcal per 100g with a default 364g bowl, which is 379 kcal. Adding coconut milk to essentially the same dessert costs about 135 kcal a bowl.
In calories, yes — it is the lightest bowl in HPB's dessert set. HPB records peach gum dessert at 38 kcal per 100g with a default portion of one 331g bowl, or 126 kcal for the whole bowl, with no fat at all. In sugar, no. That same 331g bowl carries 28.8g of sugar, about 58% of the WHO's 50g daily guideline, so almost all of its calories are sugar. It is a low-calorie dessert, not a low-sugar one.
HPB records red bean soup at 81 kcal per 100g, with a default portion of one 379g bowl — 307 kcal for the whole bowl. That bowl carries 18.9g of sugar and 10.8g of protein, one of the higher protein figures in HPB's dessert set, from the beans themselves.
HPB lists two separate entries. Tau huey is 55 kcal per 100g with a default portion of one 412g bowl, or 227 kcal for that bowl, with 12.2g of protein and only 9.9g of sugar. Beancurd with toppings is a lighter 42 kcal per 100g with a default 392g bowl, or 165 kcal. Both are among the lowest-sugar desserts HPB records — tau huey's 9.9g per bowl is under a fifth of the WHO's 50g daily guideline.
The two bases give very different answers, so it matters which one you are quoting. HPB records agar-agar at 77 kcal per 100g, but its default portion is one 50g piece — that piece is 39 kcal. Per 100g, agar-agar has the second-highest sugar density in HPB's dessert set at 15.7g of sugar, behind only orh nee at 20.6g per 100g, and about half again as sweet as the densest tang shui here (bo bo cha cha, 10.7g per 100g). Per piece it is still the smallest number in this guide at 7.8g of sugar, because the piece is small.
On HPB's own default bowl weights, beancurd skin and gingko nuts dessert is the lightest whole bowl at 101 kcal for 307g, followed by honeydew sago at 118 kcal for 256g, grass jelly with toppings at 122 kcal for 381g and peach gum dessert at 126 kcal for 331g. If you are ranking by sugar rather than calories, the order changes: beancurd skin and gingko (9.3g per bowl) and tau huey (9.9g per 412g bowl) come out ahead of peach gum, which carries 28.8g.
Nutrition data sourced from the Health Promotion Board (HPB) Singapore food composition database (April 2026 release). Every per-bowl and per-piece figure in this article is HPB's own per-100g value scaled to HPB's own recorded default portion weight for that item, which is stated alongside each number; no portion size has been estimated. Where HPB records a value as Trace rather than a number — cheng tng's fat and tau huey's sodium — it is shown here as Trace rather than converted to a figure. The 50g daily sugar reference is the World Health Organization's guideline, not an HPB figure, and HPB's sugar column reports total sugars rather than added sugars. Values are approximate and vary by stall, portion, and cooking method. This article is for general wellness purposes only and does not constitute medical or dietary advice. Nutrition data referenced in this article is used under licence from the Health Promotion Board (HPB) of Singapore and may not be redistributed, republished, or reused commercially without NutriKaki's prior written permission.