Cooking For One

There are many cooking recipes on the Internet, however I could not easily find recipes that make use of local (or at least easily found locally) ingredients and recipes that are designed for one portion. Therefore, I started this post as an attempt to record my journey in cooking a “healthy”, one-portion dish using ingredients that are available in Singapore. Moreover, I will report my findings on my cooking experiments :) and also tips & tricks to finding good but cheap ingredients!!

Oil Selection and Smoke Point

Smoke point is the temperature at which the oil starts to smoke as the fat starts to break down, releasing free radicals and a substance called acrolein, the chemical that gives burnt foods their acrid flavor and aroma (Source). With higher smoke points, you can use more cooking methods (but this has no bearing with its notion of healthiness). Following is the list of common smoke points in various oils that I often use:

Usually, when we are talking about the “healthiness” of oil, we are talking about its fat composition. Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat are considered ‘healthy’ fats. They can help to maintain healthy cholesterol levels. While, saturated and trans fat (the terms cis-trans and saturated come from Chemistry) are considered to be unhealthy as it raises bad cholesterol which can clog your arteries.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil is often considered the healthiest choice due to its high content of monounsaturated fats and antioxidants. It has a lower smoke point, so it’s best for lower-heat cooking or as a finishing oil. However, other oils such as Sunflower oil also contains Vitamin E.