How To Make Filipino Foods Healthier

How To Make Filipino Foods Healthier

In a Filipino home, the kitchen is the heart. There is rarely a gathering that doesn’t lack eating – and we all know you really can’t tell no. With obligatory and voluntary consumption of delicious ensaymada, puto, and ube rolls, my paunch is happy but my waistline is not.
Lately my control has been solicitation me if I could make some of his favorite Filipino dishes healthier. My first thought was, how can you make crispy pata healthy? As a registered dietitian and professionally trained chef, I’m constantly at strife with myself when I cook and eat Filipino food. I want it to be healthy, but no matter what it must be masarap or it won’t get eaten.
With a allotment ahead of me full of celebrations and weekday dinners, I want my family to know and enjoy Filipino cuisine, but I don’t want this to impact our long - term health. Much of the general Pinoy diet is comprised of meat, fried foods, heavy starches and sometimes sugars and sodium. Pitch it all together with American portion sizes and you’re at risk for heart disease and diabetes – just by rendering the recipes.
I’ve risen to the challenge of arbitration ways to tweak ordinary recipes and staple foods to shave off calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar but not skimp on flavoring.
Here’s a eyeful at a few of the healthy changes we’ve made in our home:
The rice boss was a sticky locus. Telling any Asian they should eat brown rice will most often come with a eminence of resistance. I’ll admit – there’s nonbeing totally relating blanched, fluffy rice that slightly sticks together when you push it onto your scoop. At first it’s best to meet this challenge half way, mixing both brown and gray rice to get half your grains whole. It’s not wholly the alike but it’s not as forceful a handle as stir 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 – omit 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, choose a lean cut of pork related pork loin; if it’s chicken make clear it’s skinless. No matter what the meat is make it lean. Protuberance the soy sauce to a low sodium folktale to help keep hypertension at bay. These little switches can be made in many of the stewed recipes from calderata to bulalo for a healthier profile.
When it comes to afternoon snacks, we try to keep it light and easy, semanship away from baked goods and sweets. This is an easy opportunity to increase our fruit and vegetable intake for the day and we’ll often have just fresh produce for our merienda. Making this pennies keeps the calories in check and helps us increase our vitamin and fiber intake. If it’s a lukewarm summer day, we might make a mango shake ( see recipe ).
Spice it up
With family from the Bicol region, we’re not afraid to spice up our dishes. Research suggests that eating hot peppers may help promote metabolism ( every little bit counts ). We get our fix with a side of suka at sili with our meals.
These are just a few of the alterations we’ve incorporated for a healthier Filipino meal. I haven’t form a way to alter the crispy pata just yet, but with our other small changes and discernment 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 damaged ice
2 Tbsp whipped topping ( optional )
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender. Tempo on high speed until mixture is smooth. Pour into a glass, top with whipped topping and enjoy!
Makes 2 servings.
Nutrition breakdown per sufficient:
Calories: 173 calories