THAILAND EDITION> Healthy snacks in Bangkok: バンコクのコンビニでのヘルシースナッグ

I know I haven’t update my posts for a (long) while. It is because I’m back to Bangkok for a while! And….because of my love for combini discovery is very persistent, I roamed into Seven-eleven in Bangkok to figure out how much snacks industry in Thailand has developed. The result: I was fairly impressed with the products though the variety isn’t much many as in Japan (dah!).

Most snacks I spotted are crispy and packed in small packages, which is a new trend of snacks I saw lately. Before, snacks were sold in relatively larger package, meant to be shared among friends. I’m gonna show you 3 snacks that I found very tasty as well as reflect Thai flavors.

1. Entree’s “Crispy roasted pork” 
Very crispy and good combination to go with drinks. Only 45 kcal per package (14 g.), 5 g. of sugar, 5 g. of protein, and NO FAT. Note that there are 10 mg. of cholesterol though. 🙂

 

 

 

 

2. Sanaku.
Meant to mimic the word Sunaggu (スナッグ) in Japanese, this snack is made with anchovy fish, so flavorful with salty flavor. I can guarantee the crispiness!! Nutritional label: 150 kcal, 10g. of fat, 14 g. of protein, and NO SUGAR

3. Chao Le’s crispy white-scaled fish in Larb flavor (just as written on the package).
If you’re a fan of spicy Thai salad dish called Larb then you might like this as well. Nutritional label: 130 kcal, 5 g. of fat, 12 g. of protein, and 5 g. of sugar.

 

Now…if you happened to be travelling in Bangkok and feel like crunching something in the hot afternoon (as often I do) then try find these alternatives to potato chips in any convenience stores near your stay!

Have fun snacking healthy!

Must-try healthy Japanese menus at Ootoya! : 大戸屋の「絶対ヘルシー」メニュ！

Okay, so if you have a chance to visit Ootoya (in case you don’t know where to go for a light and healthy dinner after you have a heavy lunch or sweets earlier in the day), try to find this page on the menu book. (near the back) Now that you’re in Japan, why not try something healthy in the Japanese style! I know some may look daunting to you and might raise your eyebrows about the taste. How are they gonna taste like? Don’t worry, though it might look unfamiliar to you, the way to eat is sooo easy.

Start with the top left: tofu, okra, natto (fermented soy beans), dry seaweed, grated yam and raw egg. To eat this, pour the shoyu (soy sauce) provided at the table into a little vessel that have a drop of wasabi (the green spicy stuff eaten with sashimi or sushi), and use chopsticks to mix just a bit of wasabi with the shoyu. Don’t mix the whole thing if you’re not good with the wasabi taste. Then pour it into the bowl, then mix it together. Don’t be afraid to break the tofu. It’s meant to be soft acting as a glue to hold all the ingredients together. Then use the spoon to scoop the mixture up. Try circling your spoon like a helicopter for a bit to cut the slime of the natto. Believe me, you belly will love you as the whole 247 kcal of that dish has all the glorious healthiest ingredients you want your body to have.

Similarly is the one below it called Bakudan. Basically, it has almost the same ingredients as the one above, except it doesn’t have tofu but instead have a few pieces of raw maguro (sashimi). Eat it the same way as above mentioned.

PS: These menus might be considered as side dishes but I would recommend those of you who really wanna go on a cleansing diet for a while to just pick item by item instead of going for a set. This way, you can cut the rice, and substitute it with sooo many more healthy side dishes. (just if you’re on a diet)

The ONLY Greek yogurt in Japan : 日本での一つだけのギリシャヨーグルト！

For those of you who are looking for a high-protein yogurt a.k.a Greek Yogurt in Tokyo, listen up…there’s only one product (with 4 variations) available, so don’t waste your time searching for the non-fat type.

Luckily, Morinaga decided to give Japanese a chance to experience the amazing sensation of greek yogurt. It launched PATHENO, the first ever greek yogurt in Japan (and so far the only one) featuring super creamy and dense texture. The yogurt itself is not sweet which is perfect when paired with the little cup of additional sauce provided. There are 4 variations in the market: plain (mainly for cooking, thus more weight than the other 2), honey, raspberry sauce, and passion fruit sauce. OMG…you’ll fall in love with all of them. Personally, I love honey and raspberry.

I also wanna recommend this to you all because (as you might know from my earlier posts, I’m crazy about yogurt) this yogurt is PACKED WITH PROTEIN while calories are kept at 86 kcal for the yogurt and about 30 kcal for the sauce. Protein: 7.9 grams! Carbs: 3.4 grams. Fat: 4.5 grams 

Stock this up in the morning plus with muesli and hearty soy milk, and you may easily stay til lunch time!

To be fair, though, this yogurt is priced higher than the other typical yogurt brands. It is widely sold at a constant price of 168 yen. HOWEVER, I found that if you buy this at Donkihote （ドンキホーテ）the price could go as low as 128 yen!!! Try look for them if you have Donki around your area.

Have fun and be healthy!

Squid as a healthy snack! ：おつまみの「いか」はスナックとしてすれば？

Now…If any of you are trying to go on a diet in this amazing land of sweets (I mean Japan of course), you might find it challenging when your stomach cries out for some late afternoon snacks and you know you CANT go grab that kit-kat or various good-looking chocolate at the combini. What you CAN grab, though, is all there in the Otsumami section! What am I talking about? I’m talking about certain kinds of snack that Japanese eat with beer. I am now a frequent to this section of the combini.

Most of the otsumami products is made of protein…like squid, dried fish, beef jerkey, and nuts. Now that’s healthy! This post will focus first on the squid. I didn’t understand the differences between each kind of squid products at first, so I tried out all of them. And now I have come up with my very own ranking of favorites in terms of taste and texture. I went from one combini to another to seek for the best flavor and I want to share with you guys so that you might try for yourself. You’ll discover that dieting is just a change from chocolate to something equally flavorful. (Just different flavor altogether lol)

Why am I trying to recommend this so much? First, its protein is the winner. For one serving, you can secure about 5-10 grams of protein already. Second, it’s low in carbs and fat. Nothing more to say, it’s like you’re eating tasty protein without taking in any refined carbs or bad quality fat that you might find from general snacks.

Let’s talk about the kinds of squid snack that you would find first.
1. Saki-ika (さきいか) or shredded squid. It is the driest and hardest kind,very chewy and salty.

2. Soft smoked squid (ソフトいか燻製）The kanji read as Kunsei. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this type of squid the most! It’s chewy but not to hard, not to salty, just about right. It’ll keep you chewing and satisfy your craving. I recommend this one from family mart! (only 105 yen)

3. Ring squid (いかくん）I think the “kun” part also comes from “kunsei” or smoked like the above type. Its chewiness is in between the first two types, a bit tarter, but has smoother texture, easier to eat.

Now…for the product I’m currently craving for is the CHEESE SOFT SMOKED SQUID! (チーズいか）And it’s not just ANY cheese squid, it must be the one sold by the station vendors and Newdays combini. It looks like this:

I can’t find its picture online so I took this by myself. Believe me, try this out! It’s very cheesy, sweet, and chewy at the same time. One of the best squid snack I have tried out.

If you like cheese, you can also try “Cheese tara”. Tara, a kind of fish, is mixed with natural cheese, and made into a short flat slices very easy to eat. I’m not such a cheese person but this is pretty acceptable for me lol

Anyway, please try out at any combini nearby your place. Go find the beef jerkey, this squid snack will be right by that! Actually, beef jerkey is also a good choice for snack, just don’t choose the sausage-looking one. That one is higher in calories.