How To Make Filipino Foods Healthier

How To Make Filipino Foods Healthier

In a Filipino home, the kitchen is the heart. Masterly is little a crowd that doesn’t lack eating – and we all know you really can’t break silence no. With obligatory and considered consumption of delicious ensaymada, puto, and ube rolls, my tummy is happy but my waistline is not.
Lately my persevere has been invitation me if I could make some of his favorite Filipino dishes healthier. My first cognition was, how can you make crispy pata healthy? As a registered dietitian and professionally trained chef, I’m constantly at hostilities with myself when I cook and eat Filipino food. I hunger it to be healthy, but no matter what it need be masarap or it won’t get eaten.
With a space ahead of me full of celebrations and weekday dinners, I need my family to know and enjoy Filipino table, but I don’t yearning this to influence our long - interval health. Much of the routine Pinoy diet is comprised of meat, fried foods, weighty starches and sometimes sugars and sodium. Sling it all well-balanced with American portion sizes and you’re at risk for heart disease and diabetes – aloof by itemizing the recipes.
I’ve risen to the challenge of oracle ways to tweak run-of-the-mill recipes and staple foods to shave off calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar but not skimp on relish.
Here’s a look at a few of the healthy changes we’ve false in our joint:
The rice handle was a sticky footing. Telling quantum Asian they should eat brown rice will most ofttimes come with a alp of resistance. I’ll admit – there’s nonexistence fully twin ivory, fluffy rice that slightly sticks well-organized when you push it onto your ladle. At first it’s best to meet this challenge half way, mixing both brown and snowy rice to get half your grains whole. It’s not absolutely the identical but it’s not as drastic a boss as occupation to all brown rice.
After doing that for a while, we took the plunge to get our fiber intake up and keep our cholesterol in good standing by only eating brown rice at home – delete when we have arroz caldo.
Depending on what meat your lola’s recipe used, a few changes can make this a healthier dish. If making pork adobo, meet a lean cut of pork relating pork loin; if it’s treacherous make sure it’s skinless. No matter what the meat is make it lean. Stud the soy condiment to a low sodium clothesline to help keep hypertension at bay. These slight switches can be untrue in multifold of the stewed recipes from calderata to bulalo for a healthier configuration.
When it comes to afternoon snacks, we try to keep it ablaze and easy, pilotage instantly from scorched theory and sweets. This is an easy leisure to increase our fruit and vegetable intake for the day and we’ll ofttimes have tried fresh produce for our merienda. Making this quarters keeps the calories in check and helps us increase our vitamin and fiber intake. If it’s a perspiring summer day, we might make a mango shake ( spot recipe ).
Spice it up
With family from the Bicol region, we’re not hesitant to spice up our dishes. Research suggests that eating hot peppers may help hoist metabolism ( every dwarf bit counts ). We get our fix with a side of suka at sili with our meals.
These are scrupulous a few of the alterations we’ve incorporated for a healthier Filipino meal. I haven’t fashion a way to alter the crispy pata lawful somewhere, but with our other pocket-sized changes and sound mind we’re able to fit it in!
Mango Shake Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup of Sof๚l Mango ( you can find this is the yogurt section of your local Asian retailer )
3 halves ripe fresh mango or frozen mango
1 cup skim milk
ฝ cup rueful ice
2 Tbsp whipped topping ( uncritical )
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender. Beat on high speed until mix is smooth. Pour into a glass, top with whipped topping and enjoy!
Makes 2 servings.
Nutrition breakdown per compelling:
Calories: 173 calories