When Eastern and Western
With East-West cooking you need to develop a new attitude towards food. Today a lot of us have a grab and go mentality when it comes to eating. However, the East-West approach combines the latter’s science with the former’s philosophies.
The Eastern style diet has long been centred on vegetables making up the bulk of any dish. Eastern cuisine is about eating what you want but doing so in an intelligent and conscious manner, which is why it is often suitable for new parents. Check out Early Life Health Nutrition Coalition for advice on this. Combine this with Western advancements and you can be sure of ultimate nutritional value without compromising on flavour.
Some tips for East-West cooking
1. Eat Fresh Food, Not Processed
Processed food contains a wealth of fats and preservatives. If you opt for fresh food you will experience food that is healthier, contains less calories and tastes better too. You should always take the time to read the labels when you are buying food. If something contains a lot of polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat and sodium, then it’s going to be bad for your body and you should look for an alternative.
2. Pan-Fry Food, Don’t Deep Fry
A lot of people think that frying is frying, surely it doesn’t matter whether it is deep fried or pan fried? However, the difference is astounding. The number of calories in deep fried food compared to pan fried food is astronomical. You can achieve the same results, without all of the grease and all of the calories, by pan frying instead. When ordering from a takeaway or a restaurant it is also advisable to stay away from deep fried dishes as they can disguise stale food.
3. Steam or Boil
The best Asian restaurants will certainly offer an array of healthy steamed and boiled dishes. There is great emphasis placed on steaming dishes in particular, as this retains the original juices. You can cook virtually all foods in this way. Meat and vegetables are delicious when boiled, whilst fish tastes beautiful once it has been steamed.
4. Try Low Sodium
Last but not least, the final tip for enjoying tasty and healthy East-West cooking is to look for low sodium. Buy low sodium soy sauce instead of the standard option. You can also buy the likes of unsalted and unroasted almonds from health stores, as well as natural cashew nuts. They are great for you as they do not have any sodium in them.
