Over 60% of Asian restaurants underestimate their true portion costs by forgetting small ingredients. That splash of soy sauce, cooking oil, and garnish? They push your €2.80 nasi goreng closer to €3.40 per portion. Every overlooked ingredient chips away at your profit margins.
Gather all ingredients and prices
For an accurate cost price, you count every single ingredient. Even those tiny amounts that seem insignificant.
💡 Example nasi goreng (1 portion):
- Rice (150g cooked): €0.45
- Chicken (80g): €1.20
- Egg (1 piece): €0.35
- Vegetable mix (60g): €0.40
- Soy sauce (15ml): €0.12
- Oil (10ml): €0.08
- Onion (20g): €0.06
- Garlic (5g): €0.04
- Sambal (5g): €0.03
- Garnish (cucumber, tomato): €0.25
Total cost price: €2.98
Watch out for hidden costs in Asian dishes
Asian kitchens rely heavily on sauces and spices in small quantities. They appear inexpensive but accumulate rapidly.
⚠️ Watch out:
Soy sauce costs €8 per liter. Each portion uses 15ml = €0.12. At 200 portions weekly, that's €1,248 annually on soy sauce alone.
Calculate the right quantities
Track actual usage for one full week rather than guessing. Most kitchens overestimate portions by 20-30%.
- Rice: 50-60g dry transforms into 150-180g cooked
- Meat/chicken: 80-120g per portion, varies by restaurant concept
- Vegetables: 60-100g fresh weight
- Sauces: Use measuring cups, never eyeball amounts
Calculate and monitor food cost
Nasi and bami follow the same food cost formula as any other dish:
Food cost % = (Cost price of ingredients ÷ Selling price excl. VAT) × 100
💡 Example calculation:
Cost price nasi: €2.98
Selling price: €12.50 incl. 9% VAT = €11.47 excl. VAT
Food cost: (€2.98 ÷ €11.47) × 100 = 26.0%
This represents a healthy margin for Asian dishes.
Asian restaurants typically achieve lower food costs than European kitchens due to affordable base ingredients like rice and noodles. After managing kitchen operations for nearly a decade, I've seen food costs of 22-28% work well for most concepts.
Portion control in the kitchen
Your perfect cost calculation becomes worthless if chefs use different amounts each time.
- Use measuring cups for sauces and oil
- Weigh meat and vegetables (especially during training)
- Create detailed recipe cards with exact grams, not vague terms like "a handful"
- Train new staff with precise quantities
⚠️ Watch out:
One extra splash of oil (5ml) per portion costs €312 annually at 200 portions weekly. Small amounts create big differences.
Seasonality and price fluctuations
Asian vegetable prices can swing dramatically. Update your cost calculations every 2-3 months.
- Bok choy, bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage: Prices fluctuate 50% seasonally
- Chicken and meat: Track your supplier's market pricing
- Rice and noodles: More stable pricing, but verify with new shipments
Tools like KitchenNmbrs let you update ingredient prices and instantly see the impact on your per-dish food costs.
Calculate cost price nasi/bami (step by step)
Make a complete ingredient list
Write down all ingredients that go into the dish, including sauces, oil and garnish. Don't forget anything, not even the small amounts of sambal or sesame oil.
Measure exact quantities per portion
Weigh and measure for a week what you actually use per portion. Note grams for solid ingredients and milliliters for sauces and oil.
Calculate the costs per ingredient
Divide the purchase price by the number of portions you get from a package. Add up all ingredient costs for the total cost price per portion.
Check your food cost percentage
Divide your cost price by your selling price excluding VAT and multiply by 100. Aim for 22-28% for Asian dishes.
✨ Pro tip
Audit your ingredient usage on your top 5 nasi and bami dishes over the next 2 weeks. You'll likely discover 15-20% cost variations between what you think you're using and reality.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I weigh the rice dry or cooked for the cost price?
Calculate using dry weight. 50 grams of dry rice becomes roughly 150 grams cooked. Base your cost price on the dry rice you actually purchase.
How do I account for soy sauce and other sauces?
Measure milliliters used per portion and convert to costs. A 1-liter soy sauce bottle costing €8 means €0.008 per milliliter.
What is a healthy food cost for nasi and bami?
Asian dishes should target 22-28% food cost. Rice and noodles as base ingredients typically allow lower costs than European dishes.
Should I count the oil for cooking?
Absolutely. Oil appears cheap but accumulates quickly. Measure oil usage per portion and include it in your cost calculations.
How often should I update my cost prices?
Update every 2-3 months or when suppliers raise prices. Asian vegetables can fluctuate significantly with seasonal changes.
Do I need to calculate labor costs for wok cooking time?
Food cost calculations focus on ingredient costs only. Labor costs get factored into your overall operational expenses and pricing strategy separately.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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