Chosen Dish! :D

Homemade Hokkien Mee 


Hokkien Mee is often associated with "fat", "oily" and "unhealthy". However, the homemade hokkien mee is modified such that it is less fat, less oil, and healthy for one to consume! To add to its perks, its taste is not compromised! :) 


Analysis of a typical Hokkien Mee found at a neighbourhood hawker centre: 
(http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/ere/ere070205.asp)

Ingredients	Energy (kcal)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Carbohydrate (g)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Yellow noodles, fried eggs, prawns, squid, sliced pork belly, cabbage	590	21	22	8.3	150	79	5.0	1,610
Total (per serving)	590	21	22	8.3	150	79	5.0	1,610

Typical Hokkien Mee Recipe: 

(http://www.mywoklife.com/2009/10/hokkien-mee-singapore-style-recipe.html)

Serves 2
Ingredients:
1/2 packet of Hokkien Mee, about 250gram
4 - 6 medium-sized prawns, shelled with tail intact
100 grams of lean pork hind (about 50 gram), thinly sliced
1/2 cup of Chinese cabbage (白菜), cut
2 artificial crab sticks, halves lengthwise
1 1/5 cups of water, or more

1/2 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce (thick soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil

Marination for pork slices:
1/2 teaspoon of light soy sauce
Sprinkle of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

Method
1) Marinate pork slices with the listed marinating ingredient, for at least 15 minutes.

2) Heat oil in wok over medium heat, add garlic and stir-fry till fragrant. Add in pork and stir fry for 2 minutes. 

3) Then, add Hokkien noodles (loosen the strands beforehand, if it's all lumped together) and water (ideal water level should cover almost three quarter of the noodles). Redice heat to low fire, and simmer for 10 minutes, with lid on. Remove lid, and add dark sauce, salt and pepper, stir fry to mix well.

4) Add in Chinese cabbage and cover wok with lid again. Stir frying to mix well is not necesary at this stage. Just add the vegetable on top, and simmer for another 5 minutes, with lid on.

5) Afterwhich, remove lid. Add also the prawns and crab meat sticks. Stir fry the ingredients until cooked. Place a large leaf of lettuce on a serving dish. Laddle noodles on top of it. Serve immediately.

As shown above, the dish is high in fat, cholesterol, oily and very high in sodium. After learning about the possible complications of excess fat and sodium, this dish looks like a   big health hazard! It is the sad truth that many delicious delicacies are very unhealthy and this is why more and more people in Singapore are becoming overweight and obese, which could then lead to many other health problems, e.g. hypertension and heart attacks. Also, being overweight affects one's confidence and self-esteem. To further complicate the matter, food is one of the great joys in one's life, thus leading to the big question of which to compromise. Health or happiness? 

In the Food and Nutrition module, I have learnt that it is possible to have both! 

Modified Hokkien Mee recipe :

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil Enova-brand oil 

a blend of soybean and canola oil, contains the least amount of saturated fat as compared to all other types of oils, at 0.5 grams per tablespoon, which is 3.5 percent of its make-up. On the other hand, the type of oil usually used in hawker centres is olive oil, which contains the second highest amount of saturated fat of  about 2 grams per tablespoon. 

1/2 packet of Hokkien Mee, about 250gram

4 - 6 medium-sized prawns, shelled with tail intact

Prawns have very cholesterol and sodium levels. A serving of 100g of raw mixed species of prawns contain:

Calories 106
Fat 1.73 g 
Protein 20.3 g 
Omega-3 0.49 g 
Cholesterol 152 mg 
Sodium 148 mg 

(source: USDA)50 grams of lean pork hind chicken breast, thinly sliced

Instead of using lean pork hind, which is non-halal, using chicken breasts is not only halal but also the part of the chicken which contains least fat.  1/2 cup of Chinese cabbage, cut

+ 1/2 piece of carrot, cut

Carrots are very nutritious as it contains high levels of Vitamin A which helps to prevent night blindness and contains dietary fibre which aids in bowel movement. 

Ingredient	Energy (kcal)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Carbohydrate (g)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Carrot, mature, raw, peeled	17	1	0	0.0	0	3	2.3	30
Total (per serving)	17	1	0	0.0	0	3	2.3	30

2 artificial crab sticks, halves lengthwise

Crab, like prawns, are high in cholesterol and sodium due to the high-salt sea conditions. 

1 egg (no oil)

Eggs are very high in cholesterol and can be done without. However, the amount of fat can be reduced by adding no oil to cook it. This is possible with the help of a no-stick wok. It can be used as an added decoration as well to add some colour to the dish. 1 1/5 1/2 cup of water, or more

This version is drier than the usual as with less water, less sauce (which contains high amounts of sodium) is required to bring out the taste.

1/2 clove of garlic, minced

 + 1/2 clove of onion, minced

The main ingredient that makes Hokkien Mee tasty and fragrant is prawns. Here, we can use onions instead of prawns to add flavor to the dish as it is a healthier choice.

1/3 tablespoon of dark soy sauce (thick soy sauce)
1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil oyster sauce

The main purpose of using sesame oil is to add flavor. By using oyster sauce, it is not only able to add fragrance to the dish, it is also less fat and cholesterol as compared to sesame oil. Also, less dark sauce is needed when used with oyster sauce.

Marination for pork slices:
1/2 teaspoon of light soy sauce
Sprinkle of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

There is no need for marination of the chicken slices as the oyster sauce and dark sauce already enhances the taste of chicken. This reduces the fat level and sodium level of the dish.

Method of cooking: Healthy Stir-fry 
(http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=whfkitqa&dbid=35)

The traditional way of stir-frying a dish is to add oil into the pan and heat it up. In the healthy stir-frying method, we do not use any oil at the beginning. Instead, we use broth. The onion is added in first as it contains moisture and adding it first would allow it to release its moisture to ensure that the rest of the ingredients would not stick to the pan. After adding in onion and garlic, the chicken (which contains moisture as well) would be added in and 1/2 a cup of water is added to allow the carrots to cook faster. 


Without the oil, which can be harmful when heated to high temperatures, this method of cooking is a lot healthier! :)