Coffeeholic Writes: Ways to Minimize Loss of Nutrients in Food Preparation, Cooking and Storage

Preparing food properly ensures the retention of more nutrients. Check out the following tips:

Cook fish quickly and at high temperature to retain its flavor and juices. Overcooking when frying or broiling dries and toughens the fish.

Cook eggs at low to medium heat to keep them from becoming tough and discolored.

As soon as hard-boiled eggs are cooked, dip them in cold water at once so that their shells can be easily removed. This will prevent the area around the yolk from turning green.

Meat drippings contain the B vitamins. These can be used to make gravies and sauces.

Before cooking rice, remove the dirt and husk. Wash the rice once or twice without rubbing the grains. Rice washings have nutrients and may be used for making soups, sauces or viand like tinolang manok.

Eat fresh fruits as soon as possible. Wash fruits to be eaten with their skin (e.g. guavas, sineguelas, duhat and makopa) with soap and water. If fruits have to be peeled, wash the fruit and pare thinly.

Cook vegetables in a covered pot with a small amount of water until they are tender but not mushy. Wash the vegetables before slicing them. Cut or slice vegetables just before these are cooked. Avoid stirring vegetables while cooking.

Use the water in which vegetables have been cooked for soups and sauces since most of their nutrients are dissolved into cooking water.

Handling Food

Food should always be handled with care and under the most sanitary conditions. Otherwise, it may be exposed to micro-organisms that can cause illnesses. A food handler should always be conscious of personal hygiene. Remember the following:

Wash hands and any exposed portion of the arms with soap and water and after handling food. Wash hands after touching anything that might be a source of contamination.