Local Breakfast Choices: Is Dim Sum Healthy?

Dim sum

Unhealthy breakfast options

Steamed dim sum can be high in sodium and fats from the meat fillings.

Singapore is known for its variety of food, ranging from high-end cuisine to local hawker fare. Local breakfast favourites are usually found in places such as hawker centres, food courts and coffee shops at affordable prices.

How can you resist the temptation of fried carrot cakes (fried radish with egg and sweet sauce), breakfast beehoon, noodle or kuay teow with choice of sides (such as fried chicken wings, luncheon meat, fish cake, sausages, vegetables etc.), roti prata, mee siam or mee rebus etc.

Dim sum

Singaporeans like fast, takeaway breakfast options, including popular dim sums.

Choose wisely from the vast options available in Singapore. Here is a listing of nutritional content for various dim sum, to enable you to make healthier choices:

Food Items	Lor Mai Kai	Dim Sum, Siew Mai, Steamed	Pork Pau	Dim Sum, Spring Roll, Deep Fried	Dim Sum, Har Gow, Steamed	Chee Cheong Fun With Char Siew	Dim Sum, Yam Cake, Steamed
Per serving size	149 (1pc)	16g (1pc)	123.6g (1pc)	22g (1pc)	18g (1pc)	80.5g (1pc)	133g (1pc)
Energy (kcal)	322	29	360	70	27	65	193
Total fat (g)	7	1	16	4	1	1	3
Saturated fat (g)	2.7	0.4	5.6	1.7	0.3	0.6	1.3
Trans fat (g)	0	0.03	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.	N.A.

Source:

Health Promotion Board

Although fat is a concentrated source of calories, weight loss still depends on the overall energy intake throughout the day and physical activity. It is important to remember that calories are also found in foods containing carbohydrate, protein and alcohol.

Unhealthy breakfast options

Both pancakes and Danish pastries are made from flour, eggs and milk, etc., either topped with a sweet spread (maple syrup, jam, honey, etc.) or a savoury mixture (margarine, nuts, etc). Danish pastry is also very high in fat. Whilst providing energy, fat and carbohydrates, they don’t provide many important nutrients. "This also applies to local breakfast ideas e.g. fried carrot cake, roti prata, kaya and butter toast," say dietitians from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), a member of the SingHealth group.

Healthier choices include lower fat options: tuna bun, Japanese style pancake, vegetable pau, etc. Choose soup noodles instead of dry noodles and chicken porridge instead of pork porridge.

Ref: O17

Contributed by