Low-Fat Cooking for Healthy Eating

Cooking for a family can be difficult, as you have to satisfy a range of different needs and tastes. How can you reduce the amount of fat in your daily diet? What does it mean to make healthy choices? If you frequently asking yourself above questions, then the recipes in this 101 Healthy Easy Food Recipes website will help to translate all the confusing advice into real food and well-balanced meals.

The art of cooking is by nature a very personal things. What I find intriguing about cooking isn't so much the cooking itself, but the science behind the cooking - the cooking styles that you can actually tweak to cater for individual tastes and needs, the ratio of the ingredients that do the magic to your finished dish, the heat control that ultimately gives the wow factor to the dish. The most important factor besides this "oomph" factor is you are liberal to add a "healthy" touch to your piece of culinary art! Try these easy, low-fat, low-carb and low calories recipes, you can be inundated with low-fat dishes without compromising on taste, and may your low-fat regime last!

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Thai Style Steamed Fish Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

This recipe remains quintessentially Thai at heart, with the subtle combinations of sourness from Tom Yam, fish sauce and lime juice, evocative aromas of lemongrass, kafir lime leaves and coriander leaves, a hint of sweet touch from sugar, tangy flavor from galangal and a spicy kick from bird's eye chillies.

After having a good experience with Nyonya-inspired dish - Nyonya Style Steamed Fish, it did pique my interest to reinvigorate the palate with Thai-inspired meal - Thai style steamed fish. Both Nyonya-inspired and Thai-inspired dishes bear a strong resemblance between them, you can observe both dishes harmoniously blend locally grown roots, grasses, aromatic herbs and spices to perk up the flavors and at the same time retain their distinctiveness.

I made a little tweaking to the recipe which is calling for fish head and used whole seabass instead. Opt for an addition of chopped bird's eye chillies and you get spare little pinpricks of heat as counterpoint to opulent fishy sweetness. I still can remember the twitch of my tongue the moment I placed a spoonful of fluffy rice caressed by thick, lumpy Thai sauce into my mouth, utter bliss! The savory gravy is good until last drop.

If you're hankering for a taste of Thai cuisine but too lazy to drive that far to reach a cozy Thai restaurant in town, you still can enliven your Thai palate with this home-cooked dish.

Here's Thai style steamed seabass recipe. 泰式蒸鱼食谱

Ingredients :
1 whole seabass, about 600-800g, cleaned (with scale, gills and intestines removed)
3 tbsp lime juice
some coriander leaves

Spices (chopped and blended together) :
6 shallots
2 stalks lemongrass
2 pieces kafir lime leaves
1cm galangal
6 bird's eye chillies

Seasoning :
1 tbsp Tom Yam paste
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
70ml water

Method :

1. Combine all the chopped spices and seasoning, mix well to form a gravy, then pour over seabass in a steaming plate.

2. Steam at high heat for 15 minutes or until the seabass cooked. Remove the steaming plate. Squeeze some lime juice and sprinkle a generous amount of coriander leaves on top of steamed fish. Serve hot with white rice.

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Fried Chicken with Spicy Mayonnaise Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Fried chicken with spicy mayonnaise, as its name suggests, is a very typical affair, and you can pretty much figure out what I did by just judging from its name or looking at the plate. Fried chicken is dressed in a mix of savory and sweet sauce from thick, creamy, golden-hued mayonnaise, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, lime juice and sugar. A smear of this garlicky spread transported the ordinary fried chicken into something spectacular and lift the dish to the next level. It's a perfect balance of flavors and an utter delight to the taste buds.

Here's the recipe for fried chicken with spicy mayonnaise. 美奶滋炸鸡食谱

Ingredients :
2 chicken thighs, cut into pieces
5 cups oil for deep-frying

Marinade :
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn flour (粟粉)
1 tbsp plain flour

Sauce Mixture :
4 tbsp mayonnaise (美奶滋)
1 tbsp tomato sauce (番茄酱)
2 tbsp chilli sauce (辣椒酱)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lime juice (酸柑汁)

Method :

1. Combine chicken with marinade and marinate for 30 minutes. Deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown and cooked. Dish up and drain with paper towels.

2. Heat up 1 tbsp oil in a heavy skillet, sauce mixture and chicken are poured into the skillet, toss and mix well. Dish up and ready to serve.

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Steamed Herbal Seabass (Ikan Siakap) Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

This Chinese herbal fish recipe entails the subtle use of herbal ingredients that is initially bring to boil into a thick stock, then the herbal gravy is poured over the fish and steam at high heat until cooked. The herbal gravy bestows a myriad of health qualities, gives a potent punch, has a delicate taste and bear an aroma of Chinese herbs.

You can hop on the health bandwagon with this quick and easy dish - steamed herbal seabass which brings an irresistibly down-to-earth herbal whiff of home-cooked goodness. Famously lauded for its prized disease-busting and remedial qualities, Chinese herbal broth can be easily assimilated by taking simple gulps or take a step further by steaming with fish, which you will have one-in-a-plate-dish that is chock full of luscious herbal goodness and protein-laden.

Google for some medicinal functions of herbal ingredients used in the dish and summarized as below.

• Codonopsis pilosula or dang shen (党参) : lower blood pressure, increase red and white blood cell count, cure appetite loss, strengthen the immune system and replenish qi.
• Chinese Angelica sinensis or dang gui (当归) : treat gynecological ailments, fatigue, mild anemia and high blood pressure.
• Poria cocos or fu shen (茯神) : remove spleen dampness and used in herbal remedies for insomnia, restlessness, fatigue, sleep disorder, tension and nervousness.
• Polygonatum odoratum or yu zhu (玉竹) : traditionally used in a range of afflictions from menopause to broken bones, such as expedite the healing of cuts and bruises, skin irritations and inflammations, good for acne, blemishes and all kinds of imperfections of the skin, alleviate a range of symptoms associated with menopause, indigestion, diabetes, broken bones, insomnia, kidney pains, and even infertility.
• Red dates (红枣) : strengthen the functions of heart and lung, nourish stomach and spleen, increase blood flow and oxygen to the brain to improve memory and promote clear thinking.
• Chinese wolfberries or qi zi (杞子) : has antioxidant properties with potential benefits against cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, vision-related diseases, having neuroprotective propertiesor as an anticancer and immunomodulatory agent.

Shelving nutritional goodwill aside, this easy yet healthy dish is also a smart choice for those who keep a tab on their waistlines. This is one of the dish that I would go for whenever I feel low on the health level and require some tonic replenishments, without sacrifying the time, taste or nutrient.

Here's the how-to recipe for you to make your own steamed herbal seabass at home.  药材蒸石甲鱼食谱

Ingredients :

1 seabass (ikan siakap), about 600g, cleaned (石甲鱼)

some coriander leaves and spring onions for garnishing (芫茜葱)

Herbal Ingredients :

6 pieces Codonopsis pilosula or dang shen (党参)

2 pieces Angelica sinensis or dang gui (当归)

1 piece Poria cocos or fu shen (茯神)

6 pieces Polygonatum odoratum or yu zhu (玉竹)

6 red dates, seeds removed (红枣)

1 tbsp Chinese wolfberries or qi zi (杞子)

300ml water

Seasoning :

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp shaoxing wine (绍兴酒)

Dash of sesame oil and pepper

Method :

1. Bring all the herbal ingredients (above-mentioned), 300ml water and seasoning to boil. Lower the heat and simmer until half of the original stock left. Remove the stock and set aside.

2. The cleaned seabeass is placed in a steaming plate. Pour the herbal gravy over the fish and steam at high heat for 12 minutes or until cooked. Remove the steaming plate, sprinkle coriander leaves and spring onions on top. Serve hot with piping hot fluffy rice.

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Prawn In Spicy Milk Sauce Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Prawns are deep-fried and then coated in a sweet sticky glaze of evaporated milk and given depth of flavor with the addition of butter, curry leaves, curry powder and bird's eye chillies. Mouth-wateringly different, it's a harmonious blends of  'chilli hot' with subtle additions of aromatic curry leaves and sweetness of milk to lessen the 'bite'.

Moving beyond a big dose of fatty pork dishes, we are now shifting the attention to seafood treat, which is also calorie-laden. Sorry for those weight watchers, you have to temporarily endure the temptation that the dish induced.

Aromatic in nature, fresh curry leaves lend an irreplaceable fragrance to this dish and is enhanced by the sting from the bird's eye chillies and the lovely sweetness from the evaporated milk and sugar. Curry powder is thrown in to impart a little bit of local flavor, making this shrimp course bursting with flavors and unique on its own.

If you wish to lay your hands on the dish in your very own kitchen, here's the how-to recipe. 奶香虾食谱

Ingredients :
600g medium to big prawns, slit back and deveined
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp curry leaves
2 tsp chopped bird's eye chillies (cili padi)
100ml evaporated milk

Seasoning :
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp curry powder

Method :
1. Heat up oil in a large non stick skillet, when the oil turns hot, deep-fry prawns until cooked. Dish up and drain in paper towels.

2. Melt butter in a skillet, saute curry leaves and bird's eye chillies until fragrant. Add in evaporated milk, seasoning and bring to boil.

3. Add in pre-fried prawns and stir-fry at high heat, toss to mix well. Dish up and serve immediately while hot.

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Assam Pork Curry Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

This savory tamarind-based pork curry dish is perfectly complemented by the rich coconut gravy, chilli paste, curry powder, sugar and spices which adds a distinctive sweet, sour and spicy flavors that guarantee to spike the appetite. This Indian pork curry appeals to more than taste alone.

With rich cultural milieu, Malaysia is a culinary heritage that spans several hundreds years. Over a period of time, the culinary expertise of different cultures and races have been influenced by one another and have been brought together, resulted in a delicious fusion of local specialties and the original traditional fare. Hence, there's a different variation of pork curry dish, which is originally an Indians piquant traditional fare.

Below is a quick, easy and hassle-free recipe which calls for assam paste (or assam jawa), the Malay word for tamarind, which gives the dish its sour taste. To enhance the sourness, dried slices of tamarind fruit (assam/asam keping in Malay) are also added to the dish. Mouth-wateringly different, Indian food is generally 'chilli hot', blended with subtle additions of aromatic herbs and spices to lessen the 'bite'. This dish has no exception.

Mingling sourness from tamarind, sweet kick from sugar, spicy note from curry powder and chilli paste, the heady fragrant of curry leaves, distinctive richness of coconut gravy and earthy flavor from pork, this assam pork curry dish  is a harmonious blend of the sweet, sour and spicy flavors designed to appeal to both the eyes and palates.
While this may be one of the most easy pork curry recipes you can find, don't be surprised by its superior taste. Learn how to cook assam pork curry with below simple recipe.

加哩猪肉片食谱

Ingredients :
300g sliced pork (cut into strips)
100ml thick coconut milk
50ml water
2 tbsp tamarind paste ("assam" paste), mixed with 50ml water and squeezed out tamarind juice
2 tbsp oil

Curry Spices :
4 tbsp chopped shallots
2 stalks lemon grass, mashed up
2 tbsp curry leaves
1 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp chilli paste
3 pieces dried tamarind (assam jawa keping in Malay)

Seasoning :
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce

Method :
1. Heat up 2 tbsp oil and saute curry spices until fragrant.

2. Add in pork slices and stir well. Add in coconut milk, water, tamarind juice, seasoning and bring to boil. Cook until meat is tender. Dish up and serve hot.

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Black Pepper Chicken Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Packed with copious amount of black peppers, it does add a slight note of spiciness and wow factor to the chicken strips. Mingle together with strips of green peppers, you will be impressive of the "oomph" factor that every cook aspire to achieve!

黑胡椒鸡柳食谱

Ingredients: 材料

1 skinless and boneless chicken breast, about 8 oz. (cut into thin strips)
1 onion (sliced)
1 green bell pepper (cut into thin strips)

Marinade ：腌料
1 tablespoon soy sauce to marinade chicken

Seasoning : 调味料
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Maggi seasoning
2 tablespoons oil

Method: 做法

1. Marinate the chicken strips with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and let it stands for ten minutes.

2. Heat up a wok and add some cooking oil. Saute sliced onions in hot wok until aromatic. Stir-in strips of bell pepper and a generous sprinkling of black pepper. Stir-fry for one minute and add in the chicken strips. Continue to stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Add in soy sauce, Maggi sauce, sugar, and continue to stir-fry until the onions are caramelized. Dish out and serve hot with white steamed rice.

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