Under the “new normal” following the COVID-19 epidemic, ordering takeaway meals has become a common practice for Hong Kong people, many of whom would like to have healthy takeaway choices. Read on to find out tips from accredited practising dietitian Violet Man on how to attract customers with healthy takeaways.

Balanced Nutrition

Different types of food contain different nutrients. When preparing takeaway meals, restaurants should include grains, vegetables and meat (or its substitutes, such as beans). Grains are a vital source of calories and carbohydrates, whereas vegetables provide dietary fibre, carotene and folic acid. Meat and beans are both rich in protein. The nutrients in these foods help maintain a good immune system. To help customers eat healthily, the takeaway meals should be well-balanced in nutrition.

Choosing Ingredients Wisely

According to Violet, a healthy takeaway meal should not only be well-balanced in nutrition but also consist mainly of natural and low-fat ingredients. Green vegetables such as Chinese flowering cabbage, white cabbage and broccoli turn yellow easily and are not ideal ingredients for a takeaway meal. Instead, restaurants should consider using gourds, mushrooms or other vegetables that do not easily turn yellow. Some examples are eggplant, hairy gourd, zucchini, baby Chinese cabbage, cabbage, celery, wood ear fungus and oyster mushroom. For meat, restaurants should choose lean cuts, such as pork loin, beef chuck and beef sirloin. Other choices are skinless poultry, fish or seafood. Low-fat cooking methods such as stir-frying with less oil, steaming, baking and stewing should be used. In general, crispy fried foods will become soggy and look unappealing after being stored in a takeaway box for a while, and hence are not good for takeaway. Some healthy and budget-friendly takeaway meal choices suggested by Violet include steamed eggplant with minced meat, stewed fish cakes with baby Chinese cabbage and mushrooms, and spaghetti with beef and assorted mushrooms.

Healthy Soups

Being a popular choice of Hong Kong people, soups are included as part of a set meal in many restaurants. As pointed out by Violet, healthy soups are preferred over sugary drinks as they can facilitate customers to eat more vegetables and drink more fluids. She suggested that restaurants make healthy soups with vegetables and other low-fat and low-salt ingredients. For Chinese-style soups, Violet’s recommendations are lean pork soup with Chinese white cabbage and dried vegetables, dried octopus and pork shank soup with hairy gourds, and a vegetable soup featuring carrot, green radish, chestnuts, fresh Chinese yam, peanuts and black-eyed peas. For Western-style soups, she recommended mixed vegetable soup, tomato soup with cashews, and low-fat creamy pumpkin soup.

With a little extra effort, restaurants can surely attract more customers with delicious and healthy takeaways.