Lunar New Year Food - Healthier Choices

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. So guys, are you and your family busy shopping for the festival?

It is a festive time full of joy. Friends and relatives will come visit you during this festive occasion. An assorted snack box ("chuen haap") is a must when it comes to entertain your guests.

However, the conventional items in the assorted snack box, such as sweetened winter melon ("tong dung qwah"), sweetened lotus seed ("tong lin ji"), sweetened lotus root ("tong lin ngau"), sweetened coconut shreds ("tong ye si"), candies and chocolate, melon seeds, and deep fried crispy triangles ("yau gok"), are high in sugar and fat and low in nutritional values. For health conscious guys like you, why not try something new and prepare a "healthy" assorted snack box by including festive snack items which are low in sugar and fat and high in fibre? The following are some healthier choices:

• Unsweetened dry fruits, like prune, apricot, mango, raisin, apple, banana etc.
• Nuts which are not deep fried or salt-baked, such as almond, walnut and pistachio
• Sunflower seeds
• Rice crackers
• Whole wheat biscuits
• Unsweetened, unsalted pop corns

Apart from the many snacks in the assorted snack box, let's not forget the conventional Chinese New Year pudding ("nin go"), turnip pudding ("lo bat go"), taro pudding ("wu tau go") and water chestnut pudding ("ma tai go"). They are great in taste but they are usually high in sugar content and are prepared with high-fat ingredients such as preserved sausage and preserved meat, so their excessive consumption shall be avoided. You and your family may consider preparing these puddings yourself at home, with healthier ingredients such as mushroom, straw mushroom, Jew's-ear, silver-ear, dried shrimp, dried scallop and carrot instead of fat meat and preserved meat or using less sugar for sweet puddings. Also, cook or reheat puddings by steaming, baking or microwave, and avoid frying with egg or excessive oil. Avoid excessive sauce and seasoning such as chilli sauce, sweet sauce, sesame paste and seafood sauce when serving the puddings.

For New Year presents, choose food items that are healthier, such as fresh fruits, tea, mushroom, silver-ear, dry scallop and seaweed.

So, smart guys, go share with your family these more innovative and healthier ideas on festive food for the Chinese New Year and have a healthy and happy Year of the Dog.

For more information on healthy eating, you may wish to visit "Eat Smart" page of the Men's Lifestyle section of our website.

(Last Updated on 25-01-2006)