Keto Life In Singapore: How To Eat Out Without Breaking Your Diet

Singapore’s food culture is legendary, with staples such as chicken rice, bak chor mee, laksa, and roti prata feeding generations of locals and visitors alike. But there’s one thing they all have in common – carbs!

In carb-crazy Singapore, sticking to a keto diet might seem like a gone case and borderline sacrilegious, but trust me, it’s doable. I’ve been through it, and I’m here to share my tips on how you can enjoy our local food scene while staying keto.

What is keto?

In case you blur about what a ketogenic (keto) diet is, it’s all about cutting carbs and eating more fat. Yup, you read that right – more fat. Sounds shiok, right? The goal is to push your body into ketosis, where instead of burning carbs for energy, it burns fat. Hello, weight loss! Beyond that, keto helps you avoid those pesky post-meal sugar crashes – you know, the ones that make want to toh after a heavy meal.

My keto experience

I first tried keto as a teen, thinking it was just about cutting out rice, bread, and noodles. Wrong! Keto is stricter than that. To stay in ketosis, you’ve got to limit your carbs to just 20-50g a day. So, forget about the breading on fried chicken, the sugar in your kopi, and those thick, saucy dishes. Even a little bit can sabo your efforts and knock you out of ketosis.

I tried cooking my own meals – boiled chicken breasts and lettuce every day. Boring! Naturally, that didn’t last long. I got tired of it (no surprise there), and I needed some variety, so I had to figure out how to eat out and still stick to my diet. To my surprise, you can confirm stick to a keto-friendly diet, even in carb-heavy Singapore.

Here’s how:

IMAGE: PEXELS

1. Beverage options

On keto, you don’t always have to gei siao and stick to plain water with every meal. I drink kopi every day, so I had to learn to love the kosong versions. Took a while, but you eventually get used to and appreciate the natural taste of the beans.

But when I buay tahan and craved something sweet, I carried around a sachet of Stevia. (Stevia is a sugar substitute easily found in grocery stores and supermarkets.) Is it exactly like sugar? No lah, but it does the job.

And then there’s Coca-Cola Zero and other diet drinks. I know some people say diet drinks are not good for you, but once in a while won’t kill you, right? It helps keep me disciplined, like Saitama sticking to his exercise routine.

2. Choose the right places

Eating keto in Singapore is all about choosing the right places. Not every hawker stall will work (bye-bye chee cheong fun and claypot rice). So I had to figure out which jaunts give me the best bang for my keto buck. Here are my go-to’s:

• Roasted meat stalls: Char siew, roast duck, and roast pork are keto gold! Just skip the sugary sauces.
• Fish soup stalls: Get fish and veggies; skip the noodles or rice.
• Cai fan stalls: Just go for the meat and veggie dishes, and hit them with the “No rice”.
• Western food stalls: Grilled chicken, steak, or fish with salad or extra veggies – no fries, no mashed potatoes.
• Salad bars: Places like SaladStop and Stuff’d let you customise your meal with plenty of keto-friendly toppings.
• Skewers and satay stalls: Meat on a stick is your friend! Yakitori places like Tori-Q and satay stalls are perfect. Skip the rice or ketupat.

IMAGE: PEXELS

3. Watch out for “hidden carbs”

We Singaporeans love our sauces – braised, chilli, curry, you name it. But on keto, some sauces can be dangerous. Thick, sweet sauces are loaded with sugar and starch. McDonald’s curry sauce? Sadly, no can do on keto. Same goes for garlic chilli and ketchup, or sweet-and-sour sauces.

Also, beware of fried food that’s breaded or battered. I learned the hard way that the crispy coating is packed with carbs. So if you really must have fried chicken, scrape off as much of the breading as possible. Yeah, I know – sibei leh cheh. But that’s keto life.

4. Don’t shy – ask for substitutes

Ah, this one is important. If you’re on keto, don’t be paiseh to ask for swaps or extras. You’re still paying the same price, right? So be polite and ask nicely for substitutes. For example, when I skip the fries at Western food stalls, I’ll ask for extra eggs or greens. Most of the time, they will accommodate.

At fish soup stalls, you can also ask for extra veggies in place of carbs. As long as you’re nice about it, most stallholders usually won’t mind.

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