Rice Meals

How Many Calories in Linopot?

A Kadazan-Dusun rice parcel from Sabah, pressed into a ball with hill or red rice, sometimes mixed with yam, and wrapped in fragrant wild leaf.

300kcal / 1 parcel (rice ball, plain, no accompaniments)
One plain linopot parcel (230g, rice and yam mix, no sides) comes in at around 300 calories. That's the traditional version with hill or red rice and some yam mixed in. If you're eating the modern white rice only version with no tuber, it's closer to 250 calories. Add a grilled fish set and you're looking at roughly 510 calories for the whole meal. Fair warning though: these numbers are ballpark estimates because linopot doesn't exactly have a mountain of lab data behind it, so treat them as a solid guide rather than gospel.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 parcel (rice ball, plain, no accompaniments) (230g)AmountPer 100g
Calories300 kcal130 kcal
Protein7 g3 g
Carbs65 g28 g
Fat1 g0 g

Where the calories come from

Cooked hill/red rice or white rice180g
234 kcal
Cooked yam or tapioca (mixed in)50g
60 kcal
Leaf wrap (doringin/tarap, negligible edible)0g
0 kcal

The real talk

Linopot is a Sabahan thing and if you haven't grown up in KK or the Kadazan-Dusun kampung circuit, you've probably never touched one. Picture this: cooked rice, often the nutty local hill rice or red/purple rice, sometimes mixed with a bit of yam or tapioca, then compressed into a tight ball and wrapped in doringin or tarap leaf. That leaf gives it a faint herbal aroma and it's traditionally eaten with grilled fish or meat. No oil in the rice itself, no coconut milk, nothing. So at 300 calories for a 230g parcel with the yam mixed in, it's honestly pretty clean as rice portions go. To be upfront about it though, the numbers here are a genuine estimate because hard nutritional data for linopot specifically is basically non-existent. So take 300 calories as a well-reasoned ballpark, not a lab result.

What actually moves the number is what you eat with it. The rice parcel alone, 250 to 300 calories depending on whether it's pure white rice or the traditional rice-plus-yam mix. The moment you add ikan bakar, a sambal, some ulam on the side, you're at 510 calories for the full set. That's still a pretty reasonable meal. The protein from a 120g grilled whole fish adds maybe 100 to 120 calories but bumps your protein up significantly, which matters if you're trying to stay full. The sambal is where you want to pay attention, because a heavy coconut-based sambal can add another 50 to 100 calories on top without you noticing. Go lighter on the sambal, load up on ulam, and the set meal stays well under 550 calories for a pretty satisfying feed.

Linopot variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Plain rice parcel only (white rice, no yam)250 kcal~190g cooked white rice, no tuber; common modern version
Rice + yam/tapioca parcel (traditional)300 kcalMixed rice and yam as in traditional Kadazan-Dusun preparation
Hill/red rice parcel + yam310 kcalRed or purple hill rice has similar calories to white but more fiber and slightly denser
Linopot set with ikan bakar (grilled fish)510 kcalRice parcel + ~120g grilled whole fish + sambal + ulam; typical hawker set meal

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in Linopot?
One plain linopot parcel (230g, traditional rice and yam mix) is about 300 calories. The white rice only version without yam is closer to 250 calories. A full linopot set with ikan bakar, sambal, and ulam comes to roughly 510 calories.
What exactly is linopot?
Linopot is a Kadazan-Dusun traditional food from Sabah. It's cooked rice, sometimes hill rice or red rice, pressed into a ball and wrapped tightly in doringin or tarap leaf. The leaf gives it a faint herbal smell and the parcel stays compact for eating on the go or at gatherings. It's usually eaten with grilled fish or meat.
Is linopot a healthy choice for weight loss?
It's one of the cleaner rice options out there because there's no added oil or coconut milk in the rice itself. At 250 to 300 calories per parcel, it's a reasonable carb portion. Pair it with grilled fish and ulam instead of heavy sambal and you've got a pretty decent meal under 550 calories. The yam version also has more fiber than plain white rice, which helps with fullness.

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See all Rice Meals 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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