Meat, Grills & Lauk

How Many Calories in Khau Yuk?

Khau Yuk is a Hakka braised pork belly dish, slow-cooked with preserved mustard greens (mui choy) or fermented bean curd until the fat is meltingly soft.

490kcal / 1 serving (3-4 slices pork belly with mui choy and gravy)
A standard serving of Khau Yuk, which is 3 to 4 slices of braised pork belly with mui choy and gravy (about 220g total), comes in at around 490 calories. That is 16g protein, 8g carbs, and a hefty 41g of fat. This is Hakka braised pork belly, slow-cooked until the skin and fat layers go completely soft, and those numbers do not lie about where the calories are coming from.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 serving (3-4 slices pork belly with mui choy and gravy) (220g)AmountPer 100g
Calories490 kcal223 kcal
Protein16 g7 g
Carbs8 g4 g
Fat41 g19 g

Where the calories come from

Braised pork belly (skin-on, ~100g cooked)100g
395 kcal
Mui choy / preserved mustard greens (~60g)60g
18 kcal
Braising sauce and oil absorbed (~30g)30g
77 kcal

The real talk

Khau Yuk is a Hakka dish you will find at kopitiams and Chinese restaurants across Malaysia, especially in communities with strong Hakka roots. The dish is pork belly braised low and slow with either mui choy (preserved mustard greens) or nam yue (red fermented bean curd), sometimes with fried taro layered in between. The result is pork belly so soft the fat practically dissolves when you eat it. That melt-in-your-mouth texture is exactly why 100g of the pork belly alone clocks in at 395 calories. The mui choy adds almost nothing calorie-wise at just 18 calories per 60g, but the braising sauce and absorbed oil contribute another 77 calories. So 490 calories for a serving is a reasonable ballpark, though be honest: this is a genuine estimate. Hard nutritional data for home-style Hakka dishes like this is thin, and fat content can swing quite a bit depending on how thick the belly slices are and how generously the cook ladles on the gravy.

The biggest variable here is portion size and how much gravy you take. Khau Yuk is not a lean protein situation, full stop. If you are counting calories, the practical move is to eat one or two slices instead of three or four, which cuts you from 490 calories down to roughly 250 to 300 calories. Skip the extra ladle of braising sauce too, that alone saves you maybe 30 to 40 calories per tablespoon of oil-rich gravy. The taro version (wu tau kau yuk) jumps to around 640 calories because deep-fried taro absorbs a lot of oil, so if you are watching numbers, stick to the mui choy version. Pair it with plain steamed rice rather than claypot or fried rice to keep the overall meal from blowing out your deficit for the day.

Khau Yuk variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Mui choy (preserved mustard greens) version490 kcalMost common in Malaysian kopitiams and Hakka restaurants; mustard greens add negligible calories
Nam yue (red fermented bean curd) version without taro520 kcalRicher sauce from fermented bean curd adds slightly more fat and sodium
Wu tau kau yuk (with fried taro)640 kcalDeep-fried taro slices interleaved with pork belly add ~120-150 kcal from starch and absorbed frying oil

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in Khau Yuk?
A standard serving of Khau Yuk (3 to 4 slices pork belly with mui choy and gravy, about 220g) is around 490 calories, with 16g protein, 8g carbs, and 41g fat. Note that this is a ballpark estimate as detailed nutrition data for this dish is not widely available.
What exactly is Khau Yuk?
Khau Yuk is a Hakka braised pork belly dish. The pork belly is slow-braised with either mui choy (preserved mustard greens) or nam yue (red fermented bean curd) until the fat layers go completely soft. It is a non-halal dish and one of the classic comfort foods in Malaysian Chinese cooking.
Is Khau Yuk healthy?
Honestly, no, not if you are trying to lose weight. At 490 calories for a small serving and 41g of fat, it is one of the higher-calorie lauk options out there. It is not something to eat every day if you are in a deficit. That said, a couple of slices alongside vegetables and plain rice is manageable as an occasional meal, just keep your portion honest.

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See all Meat, Grills & Lauk 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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