In the nutrition world, there's a popular saying, "There are no unhealthy foods, only unhealthy ways of eating." Even nutritious foods can become detrimental or even harmful to health once subjected to improper cooking methods. Nutrition experts have summarized "a few dishes that are most detrimental to nutrition" for you.
Grilled Fish
In our country, grilled fish is one of the trendy ways to eat fish. A senior nutritionist points out that the grilled fish served in restaurants is often deep-fried before being braised. However, pan-frying is the most destructive method for omega-3 fatty acids (a type of unsaturated fatty acid beneficial for cardiovascular health), and it can also produce carcinogens in the process. Related studies have shown that eating deep-fried or pan-fried fish is not only unbeneficial for cardiovascular health but may even be harmful.
Healthy Improvement Method: Nutritionists say that a truly healthy grilled fish requires no cooking oil at all. It should be wrapped in tin foil and baked in an oven. If you don't have an oven at home, you can make steamed fish instead.
Sautéed Potato, Eggplant, and Green Pepper
This famous home-cooked dish, which many families prepare, features three main ingredients: potatoes, eggplants, and green peppers. After being deep-fried and braised, they become soft and rich in flavor. Nutritionists note that all three vegetables—inorganic salts like potassium—are lost in large quantities after high-temperature frying. Vitamin P, abundant in eggplants and known for lowering blood lipids, is almost completely lost because the eggplant acts like a sponge, absorbing a large amount of oil. Furthermore, the rich Vitamin C in green peppers and potatoes is also nearly depleted after frying.
Healthy Improvement Method: Nutritionists suggest modifying this dish to use less oil and salt. Start by sautéing minced garlic in a small amount of oil in the wok, add a starch-water mixture, and season with salt and dark soy sauce. Then, add the potatoes, eggplants, and green peppers in order of their cooking time. This not only reduces fat intake but also ensures minimal loss of nutrients.
Sautéed Pumpkin with Salted Egg Yolk
This dish, with its soft and fragrant texture, is very popular. However, nutritionists point out that to prepare it, the salted egg yolks must first stir-fried in oil for half a minute to a minute to make them soft and crumbly and enhance their aroma. This process causes a significant loss of vitamins in the yolks, and the cholesterol is highly susceptible to oxidation at high temperatures and in the air, forming cholesterol oxidation products. Research has found that these products can damage the vascular endothelium and increase the risk of atherosclerosis. Additionally, the pumpkin in the dish needs to be deep-fried to achieve a crispy outside and tender inside, but this high-temperature cooking also leads to a large loss of nutrients like carotenoids.
Healthy Improvement Method: Nutritionists recommend mashing the salted egg yolks and soaking them in a bowl with scallions, ginger, water, and Shaoxing wine to isolate them from the air. Steam them for 10 minutes, then use the resulting liquid to cook the pumpkin. Add the mashed yolks during the last minute of cooking, thicken the sauce, and it's ready to serve.
Dry-fried Green Beans
Nutritionists note that Dry-fried Green Beans is a representative Sichuan dish, but its drawback is the excessive use of oil. The beans' skins must be fried until they have a "tiger skin" appearance. Besides being high in calories and causing a loss of B vitamins and Vitamin C, this method also poses a safety risk. Because the beans can be scorched on the outside while remaining raw on the inside, the cyanogenic glycosides they contain may not be fully volatilized during cooking, potentially leading to food poisoning.
Healthy Improvement Method: The nutritionist's suggested method is to de-string the beans, cut them, and drain them. Then, microwave them for 1 to 1.5 minutes; this achieves the same effect as frying. Add a small amount of oil and stir-fry with minced scallion, ginger, minced meat, dried shrimp, and preserved vegetable until the liquid is absorbed. This way, you can make Dry-fried Green Beans with less oil and more retained nutrients.
Spicy Shredded Potatoes
Nutritionists explain that when chefs make Spicy Shredded Potatoes, they typically wash the starch from the potato shreds with water, drain them, and then deep-fry them in 200°C oil until golden and crispy, before stir-frying them in a small amount of oil. After being rinsed, the potato shreds lose a large amount of Vitamin C, potassium, and magnesium. After being deep-fried, very few nutrients remain. Moreover, each shred is coated in oil, making the dish a "calorie bomb." Furthermore, starchy foods like potatoes, when cut into very fine pieces and deep-fried, can produce large amounts of acrylamide, an internationally recognized carcinogen.
Healthy Improvement Method: Nutritionists suggest that steaming potatoes without oil or salt has higher health value. If used as a staple to replace white rice and flour, it is beneficial for improving nutrition and controlling blood pressure.