How Many Calories in Yong Tau Foo (Soup)?

Stuffed tofu, fish paste items, and vegetables in a clear anchovy broth, one of the most diet-friendly bowls at any hawker centre if you pick your pieces right.

300kcal / 1 bowl (8 pieces, clear soup, no noodles)

A standard bowl of Yong Tau Foo soup (8 pieces, clear broth, no noodles) comes in at around 300 calories. That is a pretty solid number for a meal that actually fills you up, and it is one of the better options you will find at a hawker stall if you are watching what you eat. The clear anchovy broth itself is almost nothing calorie-wise; most of the calories come from the fish paste stuffed into the tofu, bitter gourd, and eggplant pieces.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 bowl (8 pieces, clear soup, no noodles) (400g)	Amount	Per 100g
Calories	300 kcal	75 kcal
Protein	24 g	6 g
Carbs	22 g	6 g
Fat	10 g	3 g

Where the calories come from

Fish paste stuffed items (tofu, bitter gourd, eggplant, chili)200g

170 kcal

Fish balls and fish tofu80g

65 kcal

Clear anchovy/ikan bilis soup broth250g

25 kcal

Tofu skin and vegetables70g

40 kcal

The real talk

Bro, Yong Tau Foo soup is genuinely one of the hawker stall MVPs for anyone trying to eat less. Around 300 calories for a proper 8-piece bowl in clear broth, with 24g of protein from all that fish paste, is hard to beat. The broth itself is basically free at only 25 calories for 250g of soup. To be straight with you though, that 300 figure is a solid ballpark estimate because hard nutritional data for YTF is thin and every stall stuffs their pieces differently. Some auntie might pack twice the fish paste into her bitter gourd, and suddenly your 170-calorie stuffed items column is off. Use 300 as a working number, not gospel.

What actually changes the maths is your piece selection and whether you go dry or soup. One or two fried pieces like tau pok or fried tofu skin sneaks in an extra 50-70 kcal right away. Go for the soup version and stick to tofu, bitter gourd, okra, fish balls, and eggplant and you are looking at closer to 280 calories. Swap to the dry version with sweet sauce and you are at 360 before you even add noodles. Add bee hoon or kway tiao and the bowl jumps to around 480 calories lah. The good news is you have full control at the ordering stage, which is more than you can say for most hawker dishes.

Yong Tau Foo (Soup) variants, ranked by calories

Variant	Calories	Notes
Soup only, all non-fried pieces (8 pcs)	280 kcal	Lightest option; tofu, veg, fishballs in clear broth only
Soup with mixed pieces including 1-2 fried items (8 pcs)	340 kcal	1-2 fried tau pok or fried tofu skin pieces adds ~50-70 kcal
Dry version with sweet chili sauce (8 pcs)	360 kcal	Pieces drained, served with sweet hoisin/chili sauce adds ~60 kcal
Soup with bee hoon or kway tiao (8 pcs + noodles)	480 kcal	Add ~150-180 kcal for a serving of rice noodles

How to eat it lighter

Go full clear soup, no fried pieces at all. Fried tau pok or fried tofu skin adds 50-70 kcal just from 1-2 pieces, and honestly you barely notice the difference in taste.
Skip or halve the sweet chili or hoisin dipping sauce. That sauce alone adds around 60 calories and it is mostly sugar.
Skip the noodles entirely or ask for a smaller portion. No noodles saves you 150-180 kcal.
Load up on the vegetable pieces like bitter gourd, okra, and eggplant rather than multiple fish tofu pieces. More volume, fewer calories.
Avoid the dry version served with thick sauce. The soup version keeps everything lighter and you still get a satisfying bowl.

Common questions

How many calories in Yong Tau Foo (Soup)?

A bowl with 8 pieces in clear soup and no noodles is roughly 300 calories. Keep in mind this is a ballpark figure since the exact count depends heavily on which pieces you pick and how much fish paste is stuffed into each item.

Is Yong Tau Foo good for weight loss?

It is genuinely one of the better hawker options out there. High protein from all the fish paste, relatively low fat if you stick to the clear soup version, and it is filling enough that you are not hungry again in an hour. Just skip the fried pieces and go easy on the sweet sauce.

Does adding noodles to Yong Tau Foo make a big difference?

Yes, a fair bit. Adding bee hoon or kway tiao bumps the total up to around 480 calories, so you are looking at an extra 150-180 kcal. If you are cutting calories, go noodle-free or ask for less noodles.

Related foods

See all Soups 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.

New to all this? Read how I went from 128kg to 86kg without cutting rice →