“Are veggies healthier if they’re half-cooked?”
One of our two resident chef experts, Chef Benjo Tuason of Urbn Bar and Kitchen, spills on the nutritional value of half-cooked vegetables, a different way to serve cream dory, and how to make caramel icing from scratch.
Bianca Fernandez writes: “Is the nutritional value of vegetables higher if you eat them half-cooked? Why?”
Chef Benjo says: With cooking, many nutrients may be lost (such as the water-soluble Vitamin B-complex group and Vitamin C), but many nutrients are also made more absorbable. When vegetables are heated, softened and moistened, they become easier to digest, which means your body can absorb their beneficial compounds quicker.
Also, if you cook vegetables in a soup, you don’t lose their water-soluble nutrients. They stay in the soup for you to eat.
See, it goes two ways. Cooking can destroy some phytochemicals in vegetables, but it can also enhance others.
A raw carrot, for example, has a chemical group called polyphenols which have antioxidant properties that lower risks for heart disease and cancer. Boiling destroys polyphenols. Cooked carrots, on the other hand, as well as cooked spinach, asparagus, cabbage, peppers and several other vegetables, contain more of the antioxidant carotenoids, compared to the raw form.
Similarly, lycopene found in tomatoes, is an antioxidant associated with the prevention of cancer. Research shows that cooking increases the lycopene content in tomatoes.
Sometimes raw is better and sometimes cooked is better. So then, it is advisable to have a balanced intake of raw and cooked vegetables.
[Also check out what Bahay Kubo can do to your health.]
Bianca also writes: “Other than sweet and sour sauce, how else would you prepare cream dory fish?”
Chef Benjo says: For a healthy option, I would place the cream dory on a bed of sliced lemons, white wine, lemon juice, olive oil. Then I’d top it with fresh soft herbs like flat leaf parsley, tarragon, and basil. Cover it with foil and bake it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 160 degrees. If I wanted something Asian-inspired, I would steam it and infuse it with Asian ingredients like light soy sauce, sesame oil, Chinese rice wine, ginger, corriander, Thai basil, and spring onions.
Michael writes: “How can you make caramel icing from scratch?”
Chef Benjo says: You will need 5 tablespoons of butter, ¾ cup of heavy cream, 1 cup of brown sugar, and 1 ¾ cup of powdered sugar. In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, heavy cream and brown sugar over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil the mixture for about 2 minutes with continuous stirring, then transfer to a bowl and let it cool. Once cooled, add 1 ¾ cup of powdered sugar and beat vigorously until the mixture becomes thick enough to hold its shape.
[Also check out the recipe for the Creamiest Leche Flan.]
