Vegetables & Sides

How Many Calories in Paku Pakis?

Pucuk paku fern shoots stir-fried with belacan or sambal, a classic veg dish across Sabah, Sarawak and the East Coast that punches way above its weight on flavour.

180kcal / 1 plate, stir-fried (goreng belacan / sambal)
A standard plate of paku pakis goreng belacan comes in at around 180 calories for 170g. That gets you 9g protein, 14g carbs and 9g fat. Not bad at all for something that tastes that good with rice. The fern shoots themselves are barely 44 calories for 130g cooked, so the oil doing the stir-frying is where most of the calories come from. The protein figure of 9g is on the higher end for a veg dish, but hawker-style goreng belacan typically includes dried shrimp paste and sometimes ikan bilis, which bump up the protein compared to plain blanched ferns.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 plate, stir-fried (goreng belacan / sambal) (170g)AmountPer 100g
Calories180 kcal106 kcal
Protein9 g5 g
Carbs14 g8 g
Fat9 g5 g

Where the calories come from

Pucuk paku (fern shoots, cooked)130g
44 kcal
Cooking oil (hawker stall, ~1.5 tbsp)14g
90 kcal
Belacan / sambal paste15g
28 kcal
Aromatics (garlic, shallots, chili)20g
18 kcal

The real talk

Paku pakis is stir-fried fiddlehead fern shoots, called pucuk paku, and if you have never tried it, think of it like kangkung's wilder Bornean cousin. Slightly more tender, earthy, with that classic belacan smell that will make the whole table hungry. At 180 calories a plate it is genuinely one of the smarter veg dishes you can order at a warung. The fern shoots themselves only clock in at 44 calories for 130g, which is almost embarrassingly low. Worth noting though, these numbers assume a hawker goreng belacan that includes shrimp paste with some dried shrimp content. Plain blanched paku pakis without belacan will have noticeably less protein. Take the figures as a solid guide, not a lab result.

What actually moves the maths is the oil and whether santan gets involved. A hawker stall goreng will use roughly 1.5 tbsp of oil (14g, about 90 calories) and that alone accounts for half the plate total. Go kerabu style, blanched with lime and belacan and no frying, and the whole thing drops to around 90 calories. Order masak lemak and coconut milk pushes it up to 260 calories, and if there are prawns or ikan bilis in there too you are looking at 310 calories. Portion size matters too, warung plates vary, so if they pile it on generously add another 20 to 30 calories to whatever version you order.

Paku Pakis variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Kerabu pucuk paku (salad, no cooking oil)90 kcalBlanched ferns tossed with lime, belacan, chili and toasted coconut; minimal fat, very low calorie
Goreng belacan (stir-fried with shrimp paste)180 kcalStandard hawker version; oil is the main calorie driver
Masak lemak / pucuk paku lemak (coconut milk gravy)260 kcalSantan-based; fat climbs significantly with coconut milk; common in Negeri Sembilan and Sarawak
Masak lemak with udang / ikan bilis (protein added)310 kcalLemak version with prawns or anchovies adding protein and extra calories

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in Paku Pakis?
A standard plate of paku pakis goreng belacan is around 180 calories for 170g. The kerabu salad version drops to about 90 calories, while masak lemak with santan climbs to 260 to 310 calories depending on what protein is added.
What exactly is paku pakis?
Paku pakis refers to fiddlehead fern shoots, called pucuk paku, that are stir-fried with belacan (shrimp paste), sambal or cooked in coconut milk gravy. It is a staple veg dish in Sabah, Sarawak and parts of the East Coast peninsula, and pretty much everyone who tries it becomes a fan.
Is paku pakis a healthy choice when eating out?
Honestly, yes, it is one of the better veg orders you can make. The fern shoots themselves are very low calorie, and the protein adds up when hawker-style belacan with dried shrimp content is in the mix. The main thing to watch is whether it is fried in a lot of oil or cooked in santan, both of which push the calories up considerably. Goreng belacan style at 180 calories is a solid call.

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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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