How Many Calories in Nasi Ulam?

A Peranakan herb rice salad, also popular in Kelantan and Terengganu, tossed with shredded raw herbs, dried shrimp or fish floss, and toasted kerisik. One of the few rice dishes that's genuinely not that bad for you.

360kcal / 1 plate (rice with herbs and dried shrimp/fish)

A standard plate of Nasi Ulam is around 360 calories for a 320g serving. That covers the rice base (about 160g cooked), a generous pile of fresh herbs like daun kesum, bunga kantan and shallots, plus dried shrimp or ikan bilis, and a bit of toasted kerisik. For a rice dish, that's actually pretty reasonable, mainly because the herbs add almost zero calories but a lot of volume and flavour.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 plate (rice with herbs and dried shrimp/fish) (320g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	360 kcal	113 kcal
Protein	20 g	6 g
Carbs	50 g	16 g
Fat	10 g	3 g

Where the calories come from

Cooked white rice160g

208 kcal

Fresh herbs mix (daun kesum, daun kaduk, bunga kantan, shallots, lemongrass)70g

35 kcal

Dried shrimp and/or shredded fish (ikan bilis or serunding)35g

30 kcal

Toasted coconut (kerisik)25g

87 kcal

The real talk

Nasi Ulam sits at around 360 calories for a full plate, and honestly that's pretty good for a rice dish. To be upfront, the numbers here are a ballpark estimate because hard nutritional data for this dish is thin. The rice itself (160g cooked) is already 208 calories, so the rest of the plate is only adding about 150 calories. Most of that comes from the kerisik (toasted coconut, about 87 calories for 25g) and the dried seafood component. The fresh herbs, which are the whole point of the dish, basically contribute almost nothing calorie-wise. So if you're comparing this to nasi lemak or nasi kandar with lauk, nasi ulam wins by a comfortable margin lah.

What actually moves the number is the kerisik and the fish topping. A restaurant or Nyonya version that goes heavy on both can push you towards 420 calories. The vegetarian home-style version with no seafood at all drops to about 290 calories. So the range is real: 290 to 420 depending on how generous the cook is. The rice portion matters too; some stalls give you closer to 200g of rice which already adds another 50-60 calories before anything else. If you're eating this as part of a calorie-tracked day, 360 is a solid middle estimate to use.

Nasi Ulam variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Vegetarian (herbs and kerisik only, no fish)	290 kcal	No dried shrimp or fish; common home-style version
Standard with dried shrimp and ikan bilis	360 kcal	Typical hawker plate with ulam herbs, kerisik, and dried seafood
With serunding ikan (fish floss) or shredded fried fish	420 kcal	Nyonya or restaurant style with generous fish topping and extra kerisik

How to eat it lighter

Ask for less kerisik or skip it entirely. That toasted coconut is doing 87 calories in just 25g, and it adds up fast if the cook is heavy-handed.
Go vegetarian style, no dried shrimp or ikan bilis. You drop from 360 to around 290 calories and you still get the full herb flavour.
Watch the rice portion. If the plate looks like it has more than a fist-size of rice, you're probably above the 160g baseline. Ask for a smaller scoop if you can.
Pair it with a clear broth soup instead of adding extra lauk on top. The herbs and fish already give you decent protein without loading the plate further.
If you're making it at home, use brown rice. You keep the same portion size but get more fibre, which means you stay full longer on the same calories.

Common questions

How many calories in Nasi Ulam?

A standard plate of Nasi Ulam is around 360 calories for a 320g serving. The vegetarian version without fish or dried shrimp comes in lower at about 290 calories, while a restaurant Nyonya version with extra fish floss and kerisik can reach 420 calories.

Is Nasi Ulam good for weight loss?

It's one of the more diet-friendly rice dishes around. The herbs add almost zero calories but a lot of volume, so you're eating a big plate for 360 calories. The main thing to watch is the kerisik (toasted coconut) and how much rice the stall packs in, since both can push the number up quietly.

What is the difference between Nasi Ulam and Nasi Kerabu?

Both are herb rice dishes, but Nasi Kerabu uses blue-coloured rice (tinted with butterfly pea flower) and is associated with Kelantan, often served with specific salted egg, crackers and fish sides. Nasi Ulam is more of a mixed herb rice salad style, common in Peranakan cooking, where the raw herbs are tossed through the rice rather than served alongside it. Nasi Kerabu tends to run a bit higher in calories due to the accompaniments.

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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 →