How To Make Filipino Foods Healthier

In a Filipino home, the kitchen is the heart. Trained is little a assembly that doesn’t require eating – and we all know you really can’t maintain no. With obligatory and definite consumption of delicious ensaymada, puto, and ube rolls, my innards is cheerful but my waistline is not.
Lately my continue has been appeal me if I could make some of his favorite Filipino dishes healthier. My first logic was, how can you make crispy pata healthy? As a registered dietitian and professionally trained chef, I’m constantly at fighting with myself when I cook and eat Filipino food. I hankering it to be healthy, but no matter what it right be masarap or it won’t get eaten.
With a stretch ahead of me full of celebrations and weekday dinners, I yearning my family to know and enjoy Filipino eatable, but I don’t longing this to results our long - phrase health. Much of the standard Pinoy diet is comprised of meat, fried foods, heavy starches and sometimes sugars and sodium. Hurl it all cool with American portion sizes and you’re at risk for heart disease and diabetes – impartial by saying the recipes.
I’ve risen to the challenge of end ways to tweak conventional recipes and staple foods to shave off calories, saturated fat, sodium, and sugar but not skimp on bite.
Here’s a look at a few of the healthy changes we’ve specious in our dwelling:
The rice stud was a sticky location. Telling component Asian they should eat brown rice will most ofttimes come with a pile of resistance. I’ll admit – there’s zip totally undifferentiated gray, fluffy rice that slightly sticks well-balanced when you push it onto your bailer. At first it’s best to meet this challenge half way, mixing both brown and chalky rice to get half your grains whole. It’s not totally the twin but it’s not as desperate a knob as enterprise 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 – exclude 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, scare up a lean cut of pork analogous pork loin; if it’s deceitful make sure it’s skinless. No matter what the meat is make it lean. Stud the soy relish to a low sodium memoir to help keep hypertension at bay. These stunted switches can be prepared in several of the stewed recipes from calderata to bulalo for a healthier plan.
When it comes to afternoon snacks, we try to keep it radiant and easy, navigation away from desiccated goods and sweets. This is an easy time to increase our fruit and vegetable intake for the day and we’ll oftentimes have trustworthy fresh produce for our merienda. Making this spending money keeps the calories in check and helps us increase our vitamin and fiber intake. If it’s a hot summer day, we might make a mango shake ( heed recipe ).
Spice it up
With family from the Bicol region, we’re not bothered to spice up our dishes. Research suggests that eating hot peppers may help raise metabolism ( every truncated bit counts ). We get our fix with a side of suka at sili with our meals.
These are impartial a few of the alterations we’ve incorporated for a healthier Filipino meal. I haven’t initiate a way to alter the crispy pata unbiased finally, but with our other small changes and moderation 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 crushed ice
2 Tbsp whipped topping ( optional )
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender. Pulse on high speed until mixture is smooth. Pour into a glass, top with whipped topping and enjoy!
Makes 2 servings.
Nutrition breakdown per serving:
Calories: 173 calories