Vegetables & Sides

How Many Calories in Latok (Sea Grapes)?

A fresh, briny Sabah seaweed eaten raw with chilli-lime or sambal belacan, and one of the lightest things you'll find on any table.

30kcal / 1 small plate
A small plate of latok comes in at around 30 calories, making it one of the most diet-friendly things you can order in Sabah or Sarawak. The plain sea grapes themselves are practically nothing, around 13 calories per 100g of plain sea grapes with no dressing added. The nutrition table on this page shows 25 kcal per 100g because that blends in the weight of the dressing across the full 120g serving, so both figures are correct, just measuring different things. Plain with just a squeeze of lime? Closer to 15 calories. With sambal belacan and garnish, you're at roughly 30. These are honest estimates though, because hard nutrition data for latok specifically is thin.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 small plate (120g)AmountPer 100g
Calories30 kcal25 kcal
Protein1 g1 g
Carbs4 g3 g
Fat1 g1 g

Where the calories come from

Fresh sea grapes (100g)100g
13 kcal
Sambal belacan or chilli-lime dressing (15g)15g
13 kcal
Sliced chilli, onion, tomato garnish (10g)10g
4 kcal

The real talk

Latok is a type of seaweed, specifically Caulerpa lentillifera, also called sea grapes or green caviar. If you've never had it, picture tiny translucent green bubbles on thin stems that pop lightly when you bite them, fresh and briny like the sea. It's a Sabah and Brunei staple, served raw as a salad with chilli, lime, and sambal belacan. At around 30 calories per plate, it is genuinely one of the lowest-calorie foods you can eat in this part of the world. To be upfront though, the numbers here are ballpark estimates because robust lab data for latok is basically nonexistent. The raw seaweed is near-zero calories; everything on this page is our best approximation.

What actually moves the number is the dressing. Plain latok with just lime is around 15 calories for the whole plate. Add a typical sambal belacan dressing and some sliced chilli and tomato and you're at 30. Go heavier on the sambal, bigger diced onion, generous extra belacan, and the fuller salad version lands around 45. None of these numbers are going to stress your calorie budget, bah. The only real way to make latok a problem calorie-wise is pairing it with a massive plate of rice and three lauk. On its own, it's basically a free food.

Latok (Sea Grapes) variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Plain latok (no dressing)15 kcalJust sea grapes with a squeeze of lime, nothing else added
Latok with chilli-lime dressing30 kcalTypical hawker serving with sliced chilli, lime, small amount of sambal belacan
Latok salad (with onion, tomato, sambal belacan)45 kcalMore substantial salad version with diced tomato, sliced onion, and a generous sambal belacan dollop

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in Latok (Sea Grapes)?
A standard small plate of latok with sambal belacan or chilli-lime dressing is around 30 calories. Plain with just lime it's closer to 15 calories. These are estimates as hard nutrition data for latok is scarce.
What exactly is latok and where do you get it?
Latok is a type of seaweed (Caulerpa lentillifera) that looks like tiny green bubbles on thin stems, which is why it's also called sea grapes or green caviar. It's eaten raw, usually with chilli and lime or sambal belacan. You'll find it at seafood restaurants and hawker stalls in Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei, it's not really a thing in peninsular Malaysia.
Is latok good for weight loss?
Honestly, yes. At 30 calories per plate it's about as low-calorie as a side dish gets. It's got a bit of fibre, a briny fresh flavour that feels satisfying, and the dressing is the only real variable. For anyone trying to eat at a calorie deficit without feeling miserable, ordering latok as a side is a solid move.

Related foods

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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