Healthy and nutritious rice dumplings have less oil and more fiber, and they won’t cause obesity

The Dragon Boat Festival is approaching, and many people are always drooling over the traditional rice dumplings. However, traditional rice dumplings are "high in oil, high in salt, low in fiber, and high in calories". If you don't control your appetite, you may easily become obese due to excessive calorie intake. In order to allow people to eat delicious and healthy food, a nutritionist demonstrated how to make "healthy and nutritious rice dumplings" with only about 300 to 500 calories per piece, which attracted many mothers to inquire.

The nutritionist demonstrated how to make "healthy rice dumplings", which attracted the interest of many mothers, who rolled up their sleeves and started making rice dumplings. (Photo provided by Tong General Hospital)

Nutritionist Xu Dongying from Taichung Children's Hospital said that "healthy and nutritious rice dumplings" are different from traditional meat rice dumplings. The ingredients use lower-fat lean meat and a small amount of squid shreds instead of high-fat pork belly, and the cooking method uses steaming and braising, which reduces the amount of oil used by about half. In addition, the use of whole grains and root vegetables such as black beans, yam, walnuts, lotus seeds and water chestnuts can increase the amount of dietary fiber, which meets the healthy diet requirements of "less oil, less sugar, less salt, more fiber and low calories."

"Healthy and Nourishing Zongzi" is divided into three flavors: "Healthy Five-Grain Zongzi", "Nourishing Purple Rice Zongzi" and "Creative Flavor Zongzi". "Healthy Five Grain Zongzi" replaces part of the glutinous rice with whole grains, has a special taste and flavor, and is rich in dietary fiber, vitamins (B complex, A, D, E, K) and minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium), trace elements (zinc, molybdenum, manganese, germanium), and also adds black beans and wolfberries, two health-promoting ingredients, which not only make the zongzi more delicious, but also provide more nutrition.

Vegetarians love the "healthy purple rice dumplings" because purple rice is rich in anthocyanins, which is a good source of antioxidants; yam contains nutrients such as mucus protein, amino acids and multiple vitamins, which help digestion, blood pressure control and prevent arteriosclerosis; in addition, the slightly sweet lotus seeds and longans make the dumplings even more delicious.

"Creative Flavor Zongzi" uses healthy ingredients such as black fungus, walnuts, and water chestnuts to replace salted egg yolks and pork belly, reducing the intake of cholesterol and saturated fats and increasing dietary fiber. Black fungus is rich in protein, iron and gelatin; walnuts are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids such as linoleic acid and linolenic acid.

Nutritionist Xu Dongying recommends that "healthy rice dumplings" should be eaten in their original flavor without any sauce. Just pair them with a serving of blanched vegetables or vegetable soup, which is both healthy and balanced.