4 sweet dumplings = 1 bowl of rice with reduced calories and clear soup

Winter is the peak season for eating hot dumplings. There are many types of dumplings on the market. How can we choose them so as not to gain weight? Experts suggest considering the "filling" and "soup". The more fillings there are, the higher the calories. For example, for sweet fillings such as peanut or sesame dumplings, the calories in 4 dumplings are equivalent to 1 bowl of rice. Clear soup is the least burdensome soup. If it is paired with sweet soup, the soup alone has at least 200 calories, which is more than 1.5 bowls of rice.

How to eat glutinous rice balls without gaining weight? Experts suggest considering the "fillings" and "broth", using as little filling as possible and choosing a simple broth. (Photography by Huang Zhiwen)

Zhang Jiaen, personal trainer at the Chinese and Western Weight Loss Clinic at Wan Fang Hospital, said that the glutinous rice balls available on the market include small glutinous rice balls, salty glutinous rice balls with meat fillings, sesame or peanut glutinous rice balls with sweet fillings, and even some businesses have launched sugar-filled glutinous rice balls with glutinous rice skins dipped in peanuts or solidified chocolate. The calories of each filling are higher than the other.

Therefore, the more fillings you have in the dumplings, the more you need to control the amount. Based on a bowl of rice containing about 280 calories, this is equivalent to about 10 small dumplings with sweet soup, 5 bacon dumplings, and 4 peanut dumplings. Salty pork dumplings are usually served with clear soup. It is recommended to reduce the calories by adding less lard to the fried shallots. If peanut dumplings are also served with sweet soup, the total calories will reach 470 calories, which is more than the calories of 1.5 bowls of rice. If you often eat them as snacks, you will of course gain weight.

Zhang Jiaen said that from the perspective of weight control, the simpler the glutinous rice dumpling soup is, the better, but many people prefer the soup to be sweet. Generally, a bowl of sweet soup with pure sugar has about 200 calories. One way to reduce calories is to use sugar substitutes, such as adding longan and white fungus to the soup, which also has a sweet taste but greatly reduces the calories.

However, if it is paired with red bean soup or peanut soup, the calorie content of the soup alone is estimated to be as high as 430 kcal and 470 kcal respectively. This is because in addition to the sweet soup, the calories from red beans and peanuts are also added, and one meal is equivalent to the calories of a regular meal.

The calorie content of common soups on the market is ranked from low to high as follows: clear soup, sugar-free pure grass jelly, longan and white fungus, granulated sugar sweet soup, pure grass jelly sweet soup, glutinous rice wine sweet soup, glutinous rice wine sweet soup with egg, red bean soup, and peanut soup. Zhang Jiaen suggested that if people want to control their weight, they should choose soup with higher calories, control the amount of glutinous rice balls they eat, or even not choose glutinous rice balls with fillings.