Are dumplings high in cholesterol? Traditional Asian food is a whole new world to discover. The globalization process has helped us get to know it, but there are still palates to train.
Within the world of nutrition, traditional Asian food is interpreted in various ways. Some say that it is high in fat and others applaud it for its vegetable dishes. What is the reality?
The protagonists of today are the Dumplings. Small filled balls of dough that taste delicious and serve as a side or main meal if you like them a lot. Today we will take you to know everything about this Asian dish and the role it plays in your nutrition. Are you ready?
What are dumplings?
Surely you have seen them on television, on restaurant menus, or even in cooking magazines. Dumplings are filled pieces of dough that are served on a layer of liquid that can be soup, water, or a few drops of diluted sauce. It is very common to see them in anime and Asian programs since they are good companions. There are even restaurants specializing in dumplings!
Dumplings can be filled with sautéed vegetables, meat, or fish. Some fill them with sweet flavors. The filling varies from cook to cook and can change depending on who is going to eat it. The good news is that they all taste just as delicious. What would be your favorite flavor?
You can find them made with flour dough, bread, potatoes, and other dough mixtures to which they add spicy or sweet depending on the occasion.
As for its preparation, some dumplings are boiled in flavored water and others can be fried with a little oil. The important thing is that its texture remains smooth and delicious when it enters the mouth. The charm of dumplings is that they are easy to eat and you can count on them always tasting delicious.
Are dumplings high in cholesterol?
This is a question that everyone asks. Asian food tends to be associated with the image of a giant pan with a lot of fire and a lot of food cooking in it. Despite this, not all Asian food dishes have a large excess of cholesterol.
A single 5×5 cm dumpling has a total of 80 calories. If you eat a portion of dumplings, which usually have 6, then you would be consuming 480 kcal. If you want to add more dumplings, then you just have to add 80 to 80 kcal to know how much you are consuming.
This estimate of 80kcal is given for steamed dumplings and not for those that are fried in oil. Already by adding this other component to the preparation, then you are adding more fat and each dumpling can reach +120kcal separately.
On their own, the dumplings boast only 2 mg of cholesterol and 2.7 grams of fat, to be more specific. This can be good or bad depending on who consumes them. For those with cholesterol issues, one serving may represent a large cholesterol level, but for those who want to gain weight or are unconcerned about it, it may be insignificant.
Is it healthy to eat dumplings?
Along with other foods, dumplings are low in cholesterol since they do not exceed 3mg as does a chicken from any other Asian recipe. They are used as an appetizer for many other meals as they are a good side dish and even serve as a fun dish to share with your friends.
Asian food always manages to combine and give you a wide variety of options. For this reason, it is common to see how the recipe for dumplings has changed over time. Those fans of healthy cooking have been eliminating the oil and even changing the type they use (they can use olive or sesame oil).
The healthiest dumplings are those filled with flavored vegetables and accompanied by different low-calorie sauces. If you want to experiment much more leaving aside the vegetarian instincts, you can try stuffing them with seasoned meat, fish like tuna, and even pork if you like it a lot.
For the riskiest, there are sweet dumplings that even come in colored presentation and are very, very sweet. An explosion of flavors! They can have jams, dried coconut candy, peanut butter…
How do reduce the cholesterol of Dumplings?
If you want to avoid consuming more cholesterol than you should, you can try turning your dumplings into a healthy version. How to do it? Well, the best way is to eliminate the oil from the recipe. You can steam the dumplings and even though they won’t be as crispy as usual, the flavor will still be the same as it depends on how you fill them.
If you refuse to give up oil, you can try other types such as olive oil, sesame oil, and other types of natural-based oils.
Another way to lower at least a few milligrams of cholesterol is to stuff them with steamed vegetables. This is a way that many have chosen to create a healthy dumpling recipe and it has helped them a lot since they can play with the flavors. Broccoli, carrots, and even mushrooms are some of the most creative stuffing ingredients out there today.
A Quick Dumpling Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup of chopped onion
- 1 cup of carrots
- 1 cup of chopped celery
- Meat, chicken, or fish to fill according to taste.
- 1 cup of flour
- 2 tablespoons of baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup of 1% milk
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ¼ tablespoon pepper
Preparation:
- Sauté or boil previously cut vegetables. If you use meat, chicken or fish, you can cook them before as you like.
- Combine the flour with the baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
- Add the egg and beat everything until mixed and then gradually incorporate the flour until it thickens.
- Form a rectangle of dough in whose center you add the previously cooked filling.
- Close the rectangle of dough in the shape of a dumpling and seal the edges correctly.
- Place it to cook for 15 minutes or until the dumplings are golden on their edges.
Read also: What Chinese Food is Low in Cholesterol?; What Chinese Food is Vegan?
