Vegetables & Sides

How Many Calories in Bambangan?

Bambangan is a wild Sabah mango eaten pickled, in coconut gulai, or raw in salads like hinava, and the pickled version is one of the lightest condiments on any Sabah spread.

35kcal / 1 condiment serving, jeruk bambangan (pickled)
Jeruk bambangan comes in at just 35 calories for an 85g condiment serving. That's the pickled version you'd get on the side with your rice, made from sour unripe bambangan flesh with grated seed paste and a bit of salt and chili. Basically zero fat, 8g of carbs, basically nothing protein-wise. It's one of the lowest-calorie condiments you'll find on a Sabah table, so go ahead and pile it on.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 condiment serving, jeruk bambangan (pickled) (85g)AmountPer 100g
Calories35 kcal41 kcal
Protein1 g1 g
Carbs8 g9 g
Fat0 g0 g

Where the calories come from

Bambangan flesh (unripe, sour)68g
27 kcal
Grated bambangan kernel/seed paste12g
5 kcal
Salt and bird's eye chili5g
3 kcal

The real talk

If you're not from Sabah, you've probably never heard of bambangan, and that's a tragedy. It's a wild mango species (Mangifera pajang) that grows in Borneo, and it does not taste like the sweet Harum Manis you buy at the pasar malam. This thing is aggressively sour and fibrous, and when they pickle it as jeruk, they grate the seed kernel into the mix too, which gives it this funky, slightly bitter edge. At 35 calories for an 85g serving, the pickled version is essentially a free food. The carbs are all coming from the fruit flesh itself, there's no added sugar in the traditional preparation, and the fat is literally zero. It's mostly just fruit, salt, and chili. If you're eating this as a condiment alongside plain rice and some grilled fish, you're doing great.

What changes the maths is the cooking method. The jeruk version at 35 calories is not the same as bambangan gulai. Once you cook bambangan in coconut milk curry, a 150g serving jumps to around 140 calories because coconut milk is adding 80 to 100 calories of saturated fat on its own. The bambangan flesh isn't the problem there, the santan is. The hinava version sits in the middle at around 60 calories because the raw bambangan is mixed into a lime-cured seafood salad with no oil, just the fruit contribution of about 30 to 40 calories to the dish. So if you want bambangan at its lightest, eat it jeruk style as a condiment, not as the star of a coconut gravy.

Bambangan variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Jeruk bambangan (pickled/fermented, condiment portion)35 kcalSalt-fermented raw flesh with grated seed; no oil or sugar; 85g side serving with rice
Bambangan in hinava (raw salad with lime and fish)60 kcalRaw bambangan slices mixed into hinava seafood salad; small portion ~80g fruit component adds roughly 30-40 kcal to the dish
Bambangan gulai (cooked in coconut milk gravy)140 kcal150g serving of bambangan simmered in coconut milk curry; coconut milk adds ~80-100 kcal from saturated fat

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in Bambangan?
A standard condiment serving of jeruk bambangan (85g, pickled) has 35 calories, with 8g carbs, 1g protein and essentially no fat. If it's cooked in coconut milk as gulai, a 150g serving jumps to around 140 calories because of the santan.
What exactly is bambangan?
Bambangan is a wild mango species (Mangifera pajang) native to Borneo, particularly Sabah. It's not sweet like regular mango. It's sour and fibrous, and the seed kernel is also edible and gets grated into the pickle. You'll find it at Kadazan-Dusun tables and in Sabah markets, usually as jeruk (pickled condiment), in coconut gulai, or raw in hinava salad.
Is bambangan healthy?
The pickled version is genuinely low-calorie at 35 calories per serving, with no fat and no added sugar in traditional preparation. The fibre from the fruit flesh is a bonus. The gulai version is higher in calories due to coconut milk, not the fruit itself. As a condiment to replace heavier sauces, jeruk bambangan is a solid choice if you're watching your intake.

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See all Vegetables & Sides calories, ranked →

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

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