How Many Calories in Ubi Kayu?

Boiled or fried cassava, a classic Malaysian hawker snack that looks humble but carries more calories than most people expect once the coconut and gula melaka show up.

310kcal / 1 serving ubi kayu rebus (boiled cassava with grated coconut and palm sugar syrup)

A standard serving of ubi kayu rebus, which is boiled cassava topped with fresh grated coconut and a drizzle of palm sugar syrup, comes in at around 310 calories for roughly 205g. Strip it down to plain boiled cassava with no toppings and you are looking at 185 calories. Order the goreng version instead and you are up at 450 calories for a 150g portion of deep fried cassava fingers. The carbs are doing most of the work here at 57g for the rebus serving, so treat it as a proper snack or a small side, not a freebie.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 serving ubi kayu rebus (boiled cassava with grated coconut and palm sugar syrup) (205g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	310 kcal	151 kcal
Protein	2 g	1 g
Carbs	57 g	28 g
Fat	9 g	4 g

Where the calories come from

Boiled cassava (165g)165g

185 kcal

Fresh grated coconut (25g)25g

88 kcal

Palm sugar syrup / gula melaka (15g)15g

35 kcal

The real talk

Ubi kayu is just cassava, a starchy root crop that gets boiled until soft and served with grated coconut and gula melaka syrup, or cut into fingers and deep fried until golden. You see it at Ramadan bazaars, pasar malam stalls, and old school kopitiams. It is not a diet food and nobody is pretending it is. The 310 calories in the rebus version come mostly from the cassava itself (185 cal) plus the grated coconut adding another 88 cal, which surprises people because coconut sounds innocent but fresh grated coconut is around 33% fat by weight once you account for the moisture. Fair warning: these are ballpark estimates because there is almost no published lab data for Malaysian hawker-style ubi kayu, so treat the numbers as a reasonable guide rather than gospel.

What actually moves the numbers is the toppings. Plain boiled cassava with nothing on it is 185 calories and genuinely not that heavy for a snack. The moment grated coconut and gula melaka syrup land on top, you add 125 calories and the fat jumps to 9g. If you get the goreng version, oil absorption during deep frying pushes the total to 450 calories and fat to around 22g for just 150g of food. So if you want ubi kayu at a stall, ask for rebus and go easy on the syrup drizzle. That alone saves you 140 to 260 calories compared to the fried version.

Ubi Kayu variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Ubi kayu rebus plain (no coconut or syrup)	185 kcal	Just boiled cassava ~165g, no toppings
Ubi kayu rebus with coconut and gula melaka	310 kcal	Standard hawker serving with grated coconut and palm sugar syrup drizzle
Ubi kayu goreng (deep fried fingers, 150g portion)	450 kcal	Deep fried cassava fingers, golden and crispy; oil absorption raises fat to ~22g

How to eat it lighter

Ask for rebus instead of goreng and you cut at least 140 calories straight away, no willpower required.
Request less gula melaka syrup or skip it entirely. The syrup alone adds sweetness and calories you can live without.
Go easy on the grated coconut portion. Ask the uncle for half and you save roughly 40 to 44 calories without losing the flavour entirely.
Treat it as a snack between meals rather than eating it on top of a full meal. At 310 cal for the full rebus serving, it is not a side dish, it is basically a snack meal on its own.
Share a portion. Hawker servings are often generous and splitting it with someone keeps your intake reasonable without skipping it altogether.

Common questions

How many calories in Ubi Kayu?

A standard serving of ubi kayu rebus with grated coconut and gula melaka syrup is around 310 calories for about 205g. Plain boiled cassava with no toppings is 185 calories. The deep fried goreng version hits roughly 450 calories for a 150g portion.

What exactly is ubi kayu?

Ubi kayu is the Malay name for cassava, a starchy root crop. In Malaysian hawker settings it is usually served one of two ways: boiled soft and topped with fresh grated coconut and palm sugar syrup (rebus), or cut into thick fingers and deep fried until crispy (goreng). Both versions are common at pasar malam and bazaar Ramadan stalls.

Is ubi kayu healthy?

It depends on the version and the portion. Plain boiled cassava is not terrible as an occasional snack, it gives you carbs and a bit of fibre. The issue is the toppings: grated coconut adds significant fat and the gula melaka syrup piles on sugar. The fried version is a different story altogether at 450 calories for 150g. Fine as a treat, just do not eat a full plate every day and call it a light snack.

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 →