It’s not all that bad…
The term “hawker food” often brings an affordable yet unhealthy image to mind.
You’d imagine oily plates of fried noodles, huge mugs of sugary sweet drinks, and generally calorie-laden food drowned in gravy.
The idea of hawker food being unhealthy was enough to prompt authorities to push for a health programme known as the “Healthier Dining Programme”, which has been in existence since 2014.
In fact, The New Paper just reported yesterday that the Health Promotion Board plans to have at least one “healthier” dish out of every four hawker stores by 2019 as part of this programme.
While healthy hawker food sounds like an oxymoron, what if they were right? What if it’s possible to actually get…healthy hawker food?
Although it isn’t exactly the best meal to eat if you’re going on a detox or slimming diet, social gatherings or accessibility issues mean that sometimes you just gotta dig down and hawker it up.
If you know the nutrition, there are actually a couple of hawker dishes you can go for if you’re opting for healthier choices.
1. Fish Soup
I don’t know about you but whenever I get sick, Fish Soup is always my go-to comfort meal. It definitely makes sense though, because in terms of “healthiness”, the simple and humble fish soup definitely counts.
According to healthguru.sg, your everyday bowl of sliced fish bee hoon soup only contains 180g of calories, which makes fish soup one of the healthiest dishes you can find at a hawker centre!
Fish Soup, which usually comes with fish, vegetables, rice or noodles, only gives you 1g of saturated fat, and also gives you 22g of protein in a single serving.
Pro Tip: Some fish soups will offer you fried fish. Be strong, and say no. Go for the sliced fish slices instead.
2. Yong Tau Foo
The beauty of Yong Tau Foo is all in the choice. With the dish, you literally get to choose what you want to eat, how much you want to eat, and with which staple food.
So, if you make the right choices, a single serving of Yong Tau Foo could only set you back 165 calories!
They key is to choose the right ingredients. Picking side dishes, like eggplants – which lowers cholesterol – or eggs, is what makes Yong Tau Foo such a healthily spectacular dish.
Also, when it comes to staple, remember not to pick the yellow noodles. Most of the time, the noodles are yellow due to the addition of egg yolks, and this actually boosts up the calorie content by almost 100% as compared to other choices like bee hoon.
3. Fishball Noodles
While not the best, fishball noodles are also a great option when it comes to healthy dining.
One key move to make is to choose dry over soup. According to Shape, the amount of calories you consume is reduced by 33% when you consume dry fishball noodles instead of soupy ones. So, keep that in mind.
A traditional plate of fishball noodles has yummy fish balls, chye sim vegetables, and your favourite noodles. All this should give you a meal that only has 8 g of fat, 3.3 g of saturated fat, and 43g of cholesterol.
With Tai Hwa Fishball Noodles being certified with a one Michelin star, you can now enjoy it guilt free!
4. Wanton Mee
While the dish’s name in Chinese means heavy (one ton, get it?), Wanton Mee is anything but it.
While both are noodle-based dishes, Wanton Mee operates differently. While fishball noodles are healthier consumed dry, wanton noodles are surprisingly healthier when eaten with soup!
According to healthxchange.sg, a plate of dry wanton mee has 12g of fat and 5g of saturated fat, which is double the amount of fat inside a bowl of soup wanton mee (5g of fat and 0g of saturated fat)
That said, keep in mind that the soup usually has increased levels of sodium, so if possible, do try to ask for less soup or more veggies to make it a more wholesome meal!
Pinch of Salt
While the numbers in this listicle paint a rosy and much healthier picture of hawker food, do take note that these are just estimations.
No one, especially not us, can control the amount of salt, oil, and sugar your favourite hawker stall puts into their dishes.
Essentially, if you go on a fishball noodles diet and barely lose any pounds, please know that we are not responsible.
The key lesson here is that hawker food is actually not that bad. So, just know that the next time you chow on a bowl of yong tau foo, you can do so guilt-free!
