Sambal sotong is honestly one of the better lauk options if you're watching calories, bro. A standard hawker serving sits at around 270 calories for 200g, and 28g of protein is solid for a side dish. The squid itself is lean, maybe 130 calories for 130g cooked. The rest comes from the sambal tumis, which is where the oil, chilli paste, and belacan gang up on you for about 110 calories. Add petai and you're looking at 310 calories instead. None of these are scary numbers on their own, but fair warning: these are ballpark estimates. Hard calorie data for Malaysian home-cooked and hawker dishes is thin, so treat this as a reasonable guide rather than a lab result.
What actually changes the maths is the sambal. A generous auntie at the nasi campur stall who drowns your sotong in sauce can easily push your 270-calorie serving toward 350 or higher. Ask for less gravy or scoop the squid pieces and leave some sauce behind. On the flip end, sotong bakar (grilled squid with sambal on the side) drops to around 220 calories because you skip the oil absorption from wet cooking. Sotong goreng kunyit goes the other way, up to about 330 calories because deep-frying pulls in more oil than a wet sambal does. The squid itself is doing you a favour with the protein. The cooking method and sauce quantity are what decide whether this is a smart pick or not.