Vitamins B-complex and C are water-soluble and thus may be lost through leaching during prolonged cooking. Steaming, which minimises the food’s contact with water, appears to be the best method for retaining the nutrients in vegetables. Quick stir-frying of vegetables in just a little oil also enables the retention of about 85% of their vitamin C and folic acid, while blanching of vegetables retains only 55% of their vitamin C and 60% of their folic acid (table 2)

Healthy cooking ideas from Cherry:

• Use low-fat cooking methods, such as steaming, blanching/poaching, roasting/grilling and stir-frying in a little oil.
• Use non-stick pans to reduce the need for cooking oil.
• Blanch vegetables before stir-frying to reduce oil and cooking time.
• When blanching food, immerse the food in just enough liquid. This will help preserve the nutrients.
• Before roasting/grilling, dip the food in egg white, and then coat all sides with cornflakes. This will create a crispy texture without the need for deep-frying.
• Pan-fry meat first, and then transfer it to the oven to preserve the tenderness of the meat and reduce the need for oil.

When steaming food, do not forget that natural seasonings such as ginger, spring onion, vinegar, aged citrus peel, Sichuan pepper and star anise can all be used to boost flavours immensely, thus reducing the need for salt.

Table 2: Effects of different cooking methods on nutrient retention

Food item	Cooking method	Amount of vitamin C retained (%)	Amount of folic ccid retained (%)
Leafy green vegetables (e.g. Chinese flowering cabbage)	Blanching (and draining)	55	60
	Stir-frying	85	85
Root vegetables (e.g. sweet potato)	Blanching (and draining)	65	65
	Steaming	75	80
	Grilling	75	80
Other vegetables (e.g. eggplant)	Blanching (and draining)	75	65
	Steaming	85	85
	Grilling	85	85

Source: Centre for Food Safety,