KUALA LUMPUR, 31 January 2022 – Nutritionist Elisa Eu Zhen Rong from Malaysia’s largest prescription pharmacy, Alpro Pharmacy, put her chef hats on and has come up with healthy recipes to indulge in this Chinese New Year. The recipes include healthier versions of CNY essentials such as Prosperity Yee Sang and Sugar-Free Osmanthus Wolfberry Jelly.
Together with Alpro Pharmacy, Elisa aims to encourage Malaysians to approach the Chinese New Year and holiday period in a healthy manner by trying their hands at these easy-to-make recipes.
“The spirit of Chinese New Year lies in indulging with New Year cakes and sweets which are often high in sugar, fat and calories. In the pandemic era, we must pay extra attention to our diet as food intake can influence our natural immunity to infections like Covid-19”.
Unhealthy eating habits can also amplify our likelihood of developing future health problems such as obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and various other complications”, said Alpro Pharmacy’s Director of Branding, Promotion and Trade Marketing, Lee Yin Chen.
Lee also shared that taking note of the portion is an important aspect of ensuring a good eating habit, especially during festive celebrations where some foods are only available for a certain period of time such as Yee Sang and etc.
She said “While it is difficult to avoid tasty and savoury foods during celebrations, especially when Malaysia is blessed with some of the best-tasting dishes, being mindful of the portion will help keep the sugar, calory and cholesterol level at bay”.
Here are the detailed diet tips and recipes for a healthier Lunar New Year celebration with your beloved friends and families.
Prosperity Yee Sang
Serving 5
Ingredients
Yee Sang
100g Salmon
100g Carrot
100g Red pepper
100g Cucumber
100g Mango
100g Purple Cabbage 100g Wakame Seaweed
Sauce
2 tbsp 1 tbsp
Passion fruit Plum sauce
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Lemon juice
As required Warm Water
Garnish
2 tbsp Healthy Breakfast Cereal
1 tbsp White Sesame
1 tbsp Black Sesame
Steps
Prepare the sauce dressing
- In a bowl, mix 2 tbsp of passion fruit, 1 tbsp plum sauce, 1 tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of honey and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Slowly add in warm water and stir until well dissolved to get a thinner consistency according to personal preference.
- Cover with cling wrap and chill in fridge until ready to use.
Prepare the Yee Sang ingredients
- Wash the veggies (carrot, red pepper, cucumber, purple cabbage and mango) thoroughly and drain it dry.
- Shred the veggies using Julienne cut technique. Cover with cling wrap and keep in fridge until ready to use.
Assemble the dish
- Assemble all the veggies and wakame sesame in a big dish.
- Roll the salmon fillet until it forms into a rose and put the salmon rose in the middle of the plate.
- In another bowl, mix the 2 tbsp of Healthy Breakfast Cereal, 1 tbsp of white sesame and 1 tbsp of black sesame.
- Garnish the assembled dish with the premixed nut in (7).
Tossing time
- Gather everyone around the dining table.
- Pour over the plum sauce dressing and start to toss as high as you can!
Sugar-Free Osmanthus Wolfberry Jelly
Serving
2 trays of Koi Fish Jelly Mould
2 trays of Yuan Bao Jelly Mould
Ingredients
5g Osmanthus
30g Goji Berry
6 drops Artificial Sweeteners
10g Agar-agar Powder
5g Jelly Powder 1300ml Water
1 Koi Fish Jelly
1 Mould Yuan Bao
Jelly Mould
Steps
Koi Fish Jelly Mould Yuan Bao Jelly Mould
- Rinse the Osmanthus with water, drain it dry and set aside.
- Soak the wolfberry until puffy, drain it dry and set aside.
- Add 400ml of boiling water to the drained Osmanthus and let it steep for 15 minutes. 4. In a small bowl, mix 10g of agar-agar powder with 5g of jelly powder. 5. Bring 900ml of water to boil then add the premixed powder prepared in (3) and stir well until well dissolve. On medium heat, bring the solution to a boil.
- Turn off the stove. Add 6 drops of Artificial Sweeteners to the jelly solution and stir well.
- Transfer the solution into the mould and add in the wolfberry.
- Let cool before placing into fridge. Best served chilled.
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Consultation with a professional pharmacist at any of Alpro’s 165 outlets is free. Alternatively, the public can also chat with a pharmacist via the e-pharmacy Whatsapp hotline at 019-7021923.