Adjust the cooking method by adding fruits to dishes to boost summer appetite

The high temperatures in recent days have made people feel lazy and have poor appetite. Nutritionists say that by changing the way food is cooked and adding a moderate amount of fruit to dishes, the food can be made cooler, more refreshing and more delicious, thereby boosting appetite.

Lin Jialing, head of the nutrition group at Taichung Dali Ren'ai Hospital, said that mastering the following dietary tips can boost your appetite in summer:

• Food temperature: Cold dishes can be used as a link between hot dishes, such as preserved egg and tofu, cold cucumber, chilled bitter gourd, and sesame vermicelli. These cold dishes are easy to prepare and do not require heating. They can also be refrigerated. They not only help boost appetite in the hot summer, but also save gas expenses.

• Fat in food: Sesame oil chicken, pork trotter vermicelli or ginger duck are delicacies in winter, but they are unpopular in summer. The main reason is that the greasy fat in the food is repulsive. It is recommended to adjust the cooking method to lighter and less greasy methods such as braising, roasting, boiling, steaming, etc. Common dishes include poached chicken, steamed pork slices with rice flour, and braised duck wings.

• The taste of food: Make good use of natural spices to cook dishes such as rosemary grilled chicken steak, lemongrass pork chops, and cumin pork slices to boost appetite. In addition, you can also add seasonings with different flavors such as sour, sweet, and spicy to enhance the layering of the food, for example: vinegar-fried cabbage and sweet and sour fish.

• Food changes: Add summer fruits to dishes to increase the variety of your diet, for example: winter melon soup, bitter melon pineapple chicken soup, mango fish strips, apple shrimp floss, cold papaya shreds, etc.

In addition, nutritionist Carina Lam also provides recipes and methods for "Colorful Cold Shredded Chicken" and "Passion Fruit Jelly". Parents can use the summer vacation to enjoy the fun of parent-child cooking with their children, and cool down in the summer!

【Colorful cold shredded chicken】

★ Ingredients: 1 chicken breast, 1 pack of enoki mushrooms, 0.5 carrot, 2 slices of fungus, 1 cucumber, 0.5 pack of agar strips, 2 red peppers, a little shredded ginger, a little garlic.

★ Seasoning: sesame oil, soy sauce, white vinegar, sugar substitute.

★ Method:

1. Soak the agar strips in water for 10 minutes until softened, squeeze out the water, cut into sections and set aside.

2. Blanch the chicken and then shred it.

3. Cut the enoki mushrooms in half and blanch them.

4. Grate carrots, blanch quickly and scoop out with a strainer.

5. Boil the fungus and cut into shreds.

6. Cut the cucumber into shreds, peel and cut the ginger into shreds, and chop the garlic.

7. Combine all ingredients and season to taste.

8. Place in a fresh-keeping container and refrigerate until the next day.

【Passion fruit jelly】

★ Ingredients: 5g agar powder, 5 passion fruits, appropriate amount of sugar substitute, water (water required = 500g - weight of passion fruit pulp)

★ Method:

1. Cut the passion fruit in half horizontally and scoop out the flesh, leaving the shell for later use.

2. Bring water to boil, add agar powder and stir until dissolved.

3. Add passion fruit pulp and bring to boil.

4. Add sugar substitute, pour into passion fruit peel and let set.