Doris said, “One may not be aware that the rice dishes that are widely available in restaurants in Hong Kong vary considerably in their oil and salt contents. For instance, one plate of steamed rice with beancurd sticks and roasted pork weighing about 770 grams may contain 62 grams of oil (equivalent to 12 teaspoons of oil and is higher than the daily upper limit of 60 grams for an adult with daily energy intake of 2000 kcal), while the same amount of steamed rice with roasted pork and sweet corn only contains 18 grams of oil (equivalent to 3.5 teaspoons of oil) which is definitely a healthier choice compare with the former.”

“Apart from choice of dishes, we could also reduce intake of oil by asking restaurants to serve sauces and sugar separately and avoiding having too much sauces. As plain rice contain less dietary fibre in general, we can increase dietary fibre contents of rice by mixing plain rice with brown rice, oatmeal, oats, vegetables, or dry fruit.”

“Congees generally contain fewer calories, but some animal ingredients in congees are high in cholesterol level. For example, one bowl of congee with pork liver and kidney (weighing about 500 grams) has 260 milligrams of cholesterol, in contrast with 38 milligrams in congee with dried fish, peanut and pork with equivalent portion size. Hence, think carefully before you choose! “

Table 1: Energy, proteins, carbohydrates, total fats, saturated fats, cholesterol and sodium content of selected congees, rice noodles, egg noodles and rice dishes