How Many Calories in Ikan Stim?

Ikan Stim is a whole fish, usually siakap or ikan merah, steamed and dressed with a light sauce, served at Chinese kopitiams and Malay restaurants across Malaysia. The most common preparation you will find is a Thai-influenced lime and chili style, though Chinese ginger steam versions are just as popular.

310kcal / 1 whole fish (siakap or ikan merah, mid-size), as served at restaurant or kopitiam

A whole ikan stim at a typical kopitiam or restaurant comes to around 310 calories for a mid-size siakap or ikan merah (about 280g as served). The standard hawker version uses fish sauce, lime juice, chili, lemongrass, and a touch of palm sugar, which is the Thai-style limau preparation you see at most kopitiams and seafood stalls. You are getting 45g of protein out of that, which is genuinely impressive for a dish that tastes this good. The fat is only 8g and carbs are 6g, so this is about as lean as a restaurant lauk gets.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 whole fish (siakap or ikan merah, mid-size), as served at restaurant or kopitiam (280g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	310 kcal	111 kcal
Protein	45 g	16 g
Carbs	6 g	2 g
Fat	8 g	3 g

Where the calories come from

Steamed fish flesh (siakap/barramundi, ~200g edible)200g

216 kcal

Light soy and sesame sauce (soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil)45g

66 kcal

Aromatics and condiments (ginger, chili, garlic, lime, coriander, palm sugar)35g

28 kcal

The real talk

Ikan stim is steamed whole fish, typically siakap (barramundi) or ikan merah (red snapper), covered in a light sauce and finished with aromatics like ginger, chili, garlic, and coriander. It is a staple at Chinese kopitiams and plenty of Malay restaurants. At roughly 310 calories for the whole fish, about 216 of those calories come from the fish flesh itself. The sauce adds around 66 calories, mostly from the sesame oil and a bit of palm sugar. The aromatics are basically calorie noise. So honestly, the fish is just a really good deal, protein per calorie is one of the best you will find anywhere on a Malaysian menu. Fair warning though: these numbers are a ballpark estimate. Reliable lab data for steamed fish as cooked in Malaysian hawker settings is thin, and sauce quantities vary a lot between cooks.

What actually moves the number is the sauce. A heavier hand with sesame oil or more palm sugar can push the sauce component up by 30 to 50 calories without you noticing. The Thai-style stim limau version stays around 310 calories because the lime and fish sauce base is fairly light. The ginger steam version (stim halia) comes in a bit lower at 280 calories because it skips the sugar and heavier aromatics. If someone adds coconut milk to the sauce, which does happen in some Malay-style preparations, you are looking at 390 calories instead. Also worth noting: the edible flesh on a mid-size fish is roughly 200g out of the 280g total served. If you order a bigger fish, scale the numbers up accordingly.

Ikan Stim variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Stim halia (ginger steam, Chinese style)	280 kcal	Lighter sauce using soy, sesame oil, ginger and scallion only. Slightly less sugar and chili than Thai-style.
Stim limau ala Thai (lime and chili steam)	310 kcal	Standard variant. Fish sauce, lime juice, chili, lemongrass, palm sugar. Typical hawker and kopitiam preparation.
Stim dengan santan (with coconut milk sauce)	390 kcal	Less common. Some Malay-style preparations add coconut milk to the sauce, adding roughly 80 kcal from the santan.

How to eat it lighter

Ask for the sauce on the side or request less of it, the sauce adds 66 calories and that is easy to halve just by not pouring the whole thing over.
Go for stim halia over the Thai-style version if you want to trim about 30 calories without sacrificing flavour.
Skip the white rice and pair it with sayur manis or a plain vegetable dish instead, the fish alone is filling enough with 45g of protein.
Do not eat the skin if you are being strict, most of the fat in steamed fish sits in and around the skin layer.
Order siakap over ikan merah if you have a choice, siakap flesh tends to be slightly leaner by default.

Common questions

How many calories in Ikan Stim?

A whole ikan stim (siakap or ikan merah, mid-size) as served at a kopitiam or restaurant is around 310 calories, with 45g protein, 8g fat, and 6g carbs for roughly 280g total.

What exactly is ikan stim?

It is a whole fish, usually siakap (barramundi) or ikan merah (red snapper), that is steamed and then poured over with a hot sauce. The most common version is Thai-influenced, using fish sauce, lime juice, chili, lemongrass, and palm sugar. You also get a Chinese kopitiam style that uses soy, sesame oil, ginger, and scallion instead. Both are standard sights at Malaysian kopitiams and seafood restaurants.

Is ikan stim a good choice if you are trying to lose weight?

Bro, it is probably one of the best things on any Malaysian menu. 310 calories, 45g of protein, and it is genuinely filling. The only thing to watch is the sauce, which adds about 66 calories. Compare that to something like rendang or masak lemak and it is not even close.

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.

New to all this? Read how I went from 128kg to 86kg without cutting rice →